Australian publisher embarks on his own Long March

CANBERRA－Australian publisher Harold Weldon believes that he has embarked on the Long March three times, literally and symbolically.

"It teaches us all to never give up, whatever your circumstance," he says.

Weldon, 56, is a writer and China adviser whose first Long March started in 1985.

Growing up listening to stories of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, soldiers during World War I, a period significant in the founding of Australia's national identity, as a teenager, he found himself fascinated by the story of the Long March embarked upon by China's Red Army.

An opportunity came in 1985, when his father Kevin, owner of publishing group Weldon International, talked with the Chinese government to do a special commemorative album on the 50th anniversary of the Long March.

"We thought it would be a good idea to show the world the unknown China through the story of the Long March," he recalls.

They invited dozens of photographers from around the world to visit sections of the routes.

But Weldon, a 19-year-old who just left school, of course didn't complete the journey. "When we did that trip, we were tired and hungry, and we only walked about 50 kilometers of the 10,000 kilometers," he says, laughing.

It was his most impressive experience in China.

"A good beginning is half the battle won," Weldon says in Mandarin, quoting a Chinese proverb.

He remembers being warmly welcomed everywhere he went, especially in the villages. The team went to beautiful mountains and visited different ethnic groups with their unique culture, and believed that the album showed the whole world "the beautiful China that they didn't realize existed apart from the rice paddy".

He showcases several diaries he kept along the way. On the yellowed pages were old photos, beside which he recorded his experience. On one page, he posted a photo of the Red Well in China's Jiangxi province, and wrote down the story: it was dug by the Red Army and the late Chairman Mao Zedong for villagers who lacked drinking water.

In another photo, Weldon, a thin man at the time, was swimming in the Dadu River in Southwest China's Sichuan province, which became famous after Mao mentioned it in his famous poem, The Long March.

Twenty-five years later, he did the project again, which he then called the New Long March.

"So much had changed," Weldon says, looking back at the two journeys.

He notes that 1985 was around the time when China's rapid growth began. "I've seen the rise of China," he says, adding that the country has embraced the world and become more globalized.

During the years, he also saw a growing interest in Chinese culture in Australia.

"China has had this great civilization for 5,000 years," he says. "The Chinese culture is so strong."

The Melbourne Chinatown is believed to be one of the oldest in the West, and the oldest of its kind in the southern hemisphere. Currently, Australia is home to more than 1.2 million people of Chinese ancestry.

Weldon says the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing promoted Chinese culture around the world. "That was an amazing time … The opening ceremony was Chinese culture at its utmost."

Talking about his life involved in the cultural industry, Weldon describes it as "passionate". He is convinced that culture can help enhance understanding.

"Through that, you build trust," he says. "We were able to introduce our Australian business friends (to China) … and invite Chinese businesses to come here.

"The cultural projects are like the real bridge, and using that bridge, we have been able to help with trade and business."

In his view, people-to-people ties are at the center of any bilateral relationship.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Australia, which the publisher says, for 37 years, he has been a part of.

He is confident about the future of China-Australia relations.

"It's just like the Long March. It's one step at a time."

As Weldon sees it, the Long March spirit was "never giving up".

"We needed that sort of spirit to keep us going," he says, citing an old Chinese saying, "10,000 li (5,000 km) begins beneath your feet."

Weldon says he would like to play his "small part" in the efforts. "I arrived (in China) in April 1985 and began a journey that I'm still on. I'm still on the Long March."