"Foreign" professor Pan Weilian's 33-year "Journey to the East" traveled 200,000 kilometers around China by car-Chinanews.com

　　[Simultaneous on-site] Pan Weilian, Professor, School of Management, Xiamen University

　　When I saw you for the first time, my heart was full of books, and the clouds and mist flowed through the ink and wash. Your exquisite wonder was you.

Today, parting is in the fragrance of tea, reluctantly waved your memory, Fujian is like you.

　　[Explanation] A song "Fujian Like You" tells the fate of Fujian's first foreigner and permanent foreign resident with a green card, Xiamen University professor Pan Weilian, and China.

Since he resigned as the vice president of the First Securities Company in the United States in 1988 and settled in Xiamen with his family for 33 years, Pan Weilian has dedicated the most precious time of his life to China's education industry and has also witnessed the historical process of China's reform and opening up.

　　[Concurrent] Pan Weilian, Professor, School of Management, Xiamen University

　　I came to Xiamen in September 1988. I had to stay for a year or two. Now I am reluctant to leave for more than 30 years. I will be here for the rest of my life. In 1992, I obtained a permanent residence permit and was the first foreigner to settle in Fujian Province. I am not the first one. I had it 700 years ago, so my whole family and I love Xiamen.

(Hokkien) I am from Xiamen, I have Monkey King (muppet), because I am a monkey, so this is my little idol.

　　[Explanation] When I first arrived in Xiamen, due to the inconvenience of transportation, Pan Weilian bought a tricycle and drove it around Xiamen.

In the early 1990s, Pan Weilian changed to a van and started traveling around China by car.

He often compares himself to Monkey King. The difference is that Monkey King traveled tens of thousands of miles to learn from the West, while Pan Weilian came from the West to the East. In 33 years, he traveled 200,000 kilometers in China by self-driving, and experienced this ancient country. Style change.

　　[Concurrent] Pan Weilian, Professor, School of Management, Xiamen University

　　I visited China in 1994 and drove 40,000 kilometers by myself. At that time, there were no good roads in Inner Mongolia and Tibet. At that time, I ran the country for three months because I wanted to see how China’s development was. It's not easy. Now the west and east are not much different. I used to look at the west and it was really backward. Now the cities in the west are almost the same as those in the east.

　　[Explanation] Writing letters is a habit that Pan Weilian maintains throughout the year. He often writes about what he sees and hears in Xiamen, and the interesting things about traveling by car to his relatives and friends on the other side of the ocean.

In 2018, Pan Weilian selected 47 of the thousands of letters he wrote to his family in the past 30 years and published it into the book "I Don't See Outside-Old Pan's Letters from China".

　　[Concurrent] Pan Weilian, Professor, School of Management, Xiamen University

　　I am writing stories about Chinese people. From the first week of 1988 to now, I am writing stories about Chinese people, how their lives have changed, and what they hope to do, so the main thing is for foreigners to understand The Chinese are also humans. Like them, we all have the same dream. We all hope that we can develop peacefully and that our next generation will be better.

　　[Explanation] Now Pan Weilian has written more than a dozen books one after another, and now he is also trying to use the lens as a pen to shoot videos that young people love and see. Pan Weilian hopes that through his sharing, more foreigners will come to China to learn about China .

　　[Concurrent] Pan Weilian, Professor, School of Management, Xiamen University

　　They (some people in the West) are afraid of China, because they are afraid that China will be like them, so I also want to let them understand that Chinese people have never been like this in history. Confucianism has taught the Chinese people's moral values ​​to develop peacefully, so A win-win situation is not a win-win situation, a win-win situation.

　　[Explanation] 2021 coincides with the 100th anniversary of Xiamen University, and Pan Weilian was awarded the "Medical Award for Outstanding Contribution to Xiamen University Nanqiang".

The reason why he came to Xiamen University with his family was precisely because Xiamen University was the only university in China that provided housing for foreign students and their families.

Even if more than 30 years have passed, Pan Weilian has never been tired of Xiamen University. During a leisure walk, he walked through the Jiageng building complex, which is a combination of Chinese and Western styles, and encountered little squirrels looking for food on the lawn to admire the dancing black swans in Furong Lake. , It is really an adventure to come to China to live.

　　[Concurrent] Pan Weilian, Professor, School of Management, Xiamen University

　　When we were born, we couldn’t choose where we were born, but if we could, I might choose to be born here (China), so I’m fine. The outside is "foreign devils", but the inside is Chinese.

　　Reporter Li Siyuan reports from Xiamen, Fujian

Editor in charge: [Ji Xiang]