Joy of purity, simplicity: People and Stories of Kulangsu author's life

Zhan Zhaoxia is a scholar specializing in Gulangyu studies. In the mid-1990s, she was assigned to Gulangyu for work. Although grew up in the Tibet autonomous region, she calls Gulangyu her second home and finished the book People and Stories of Kulangsu based on her experience on the islet. She recently shared details of her life on the islet with China Daily reporter Li You.

Twenty years ago, you stepped onto Gulangyu, which is known as Kulangsu in the local dialect. What was your impression at that time? What are the differences compared with today's Gulangyu?

At that time, there weren't so many tourists on the islet. The residents were mainly elderly people and working staff of governmental departments.

With a total population of 20,000, the settlement was immersed in a strong atmosphere of life. The hospitals, schools, bookshops, drugstores, dry cleaners, bakeries hadn't moved out.

I remember the air was very clean, the leather shoes still shone without polishing for two weeks. The streets were also quiet, especially at night.

The music of piano could be heard from time to time. Today's Gulangyu has changed from a human settlement in many ways with its fame as a scenic hot spot spreading.

In former years, visitors fl owed onto the islet, making it once a "dirty, messy and crowded" place.

Thankfully, the Xiamen city government was alert to the issue and adopted a package of measures to deal with it.

Currently, the number of tourists has been controlled, endangered buildings have been recovered, the blocks turned back its clean and quiet appearance, the living standard of the people has been improved. I'd like to say, I really enjoy seeing the changes and I am proud of them.

When walking around in Gulangyu every day, wandering around the winding alleys, what did you see and feel?

From the so-called roof of the world, the Tibet plateau, I came to this islet on rippling blue water and lived here for more than 20 years, I think this is my fate and also my luck.

The red bricks, arched corridors, cornices of Chinese and Western architecture are what I am accustomed to see every day; and the piano from courtyard is what I often heard. They influence me subtly day by day. It can be said that it is the architecture and music of Gulangyu that awake my aesthetic sense.

In earlier years, I frequently encountered Shu Ting, the well-known Chinese female poet. We sometimes sat down, had a brief chit chat and quickly said goodbye to each other. The humanity and cultures are rooted in those people in Gulangyu. Inch by inch, it was opened to me. I infiltrate into it and it unconsciously becomes a part of myself.

Under what condition did you finish the book People and Stories of Kulangsu?

I always have the feeling that it was not my intention to write this book. Because my experience let Gulangyu become a part of my life, the writing process of the book was a natural flow of my feelings, to record the people and things that I love, to record this islet where I live. I'd like to dedicate this little book as a small gift to Gulangyu.

Tibet is the place where you spent your childhood, while Gulangyu is now where you live. What's the difference between those two places in your life?

The remote, rugged and cold Tibet plateau endowed me with the positive and pure side of my personality; the delicate Gulangyu taught me how to behave elegantly and gently. Although they are totally different places, I still hold the ideal that they share something in common, which are purity and simplicity, in my opinion.

Contact the writer at liyou@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/11/2017 page6)