China News Service, Dali, July 10th, telegram: American Linden's 35 Years of Chinese "Adventure": In the Countryside, Understand China
Author Hu Yuanhang Huang Xiaotong
"In rural China, the Spring Festival is the busiest time of the year. The sounds of firecrackers, joyous gatherings, and children’s noises constitute a comfortable and harmonious resonance. But this year’s Spring Festival is very different. The streets of Xizhou are empty. There is no one, only the staff members regularly spray disinfection water, and everywhere are slogans reminding us to wash our hands, wear masks, and stay away from the crowd, inspiring our villages to work together to fight the virus..."
The 16th year of American Brian Linden's settlement in Xizhou, Dali, China, opened in an atmosphere different from previous years. He also took advantage of his rare leisure time to start writing books and comprehensively review his 35-year story with China.
Linden's Chinese "Adventure"
Linden was one of the earliest foreigners who came to China to study after the reform and opening up. He has many well-known identities: the founder of the famous boutique hotel "Xilin Garden", the "foreign village chief" of Xizhou Ancient Town, "China-US Cultural Exchange Ambassador", and even the protagonist of the movie "He Is From the Pacific".
But few people know that he comes from a poor family in the United States and has been working 14 hours a day since he was 16. In the 1980s, when cleaning a carpet at a professor’s house, Linden first knew about China. Later, he applied to study in China.
"When I received the admission notice from the Chinese Embassy in the United States, I repeatedly asked,'Are you sure I am Linden, who is doing carpet washing?' The staff told me,'OK! Because you are the most proletarian.'" Linden recalled. In this way, he came to China to start the "exploration" in his life.
——First studied Chinese at Peking University, starred in a movie, and then applied for an internship opportunity with CBS in China. Immediately afterwards, Nanjing University and Stanford University extended an "olive branch" to him.
"Why is Stanford willing to ask me? Because I value my experience in China." Linden said that China, let him this downcast American guy completely change his life.
While studying in China, Linden traveled to all provinces and regions except Hainan. Even after returning to the United States, he often returned to China.
"My predictions about this country are often overturned by facts, which keeps me humble, and I want to delve deeper into why there are misunderstandings." Linden wrote in the new book.
Learn more about China, starting from the countryside
In 2004, Linden and his wife, who were married and had children, returned to China again with two sons. This time, they quit their jobs in the United States, sold their houses, and wanted to settle in a Chinese village. After traveling around, they fell in love with Xizhou among the Erhai Lake of Cangshan Mountain at first sight.
"The soul of Chinese culture is hidden in the countryside." Linden said.
Located in the corner of Xizhou and next to the rice fields, a house of "Yang Pinxiang", a Bai's dwelling in one courtyard and two courtyards, became the place where Linden's dream started. It took them several years to repair the old house as old, and then it became a "Xilin Garden" integrating boutique hotels and educational and cultural exchange camps.
"During the repair process, I have a better understanding of Chinese culture." Lin Deng introduced that the second gate building of Yang Pinxiang's house adopts the Baizu's unique three-drop water gate system. When it rains, the rainwater must drip onto the ground after passing through the triple eaves. "This is as subtle as the Chinese." It can be seen vaguely in the carvings, the "innocent heirlooms" and other family mottos around Zhaobi, which also make him feel the unique wisdom of the Chinese.
In Xizhou, in addition to the old buildings, the most attractive to Linden is the villagers and daily fireworks. Almost every day, Linden would carry his back to the morning market and go to the streets to say hello. Everyone kindly called him "Lin Village Chief".
In the summer afternoon, the sun was shining, and as usual, Linden delivered ice-cola to the villagers who worked in the rice fields. "Don't bring it back to the family, drink it yourself." "Yang Village Chief" urged. But everyone still put the Coke away.
"You see, this is our'Golden Flower', this is the Chinese who always think about their family." In Linden's view, this group of hardworking and kind people is the real soft power behind China's rapid development.
Let the world understand China
In 35 years of coming to China, Linden witnessed the rapid development of China. Take traffic as an example. In 1985, he came to Dali from Kunming for the first time and took a bus for 10 hours. Today, it takes only 2 hours by train.
"My friends are now rich in economic life, and there is an unimaginable political and intellectual opening 20 years ago." Linden said that if it was not in China, he would have difficulty seeing and understanding these changes.
Having settled in Xizhou for more than ten years, Linden took hundreds of thousands of travelers from all over the world and many schools and institutions to enter the local morning market, rice fields, workshops and experience, just to share the softness he touched The real "China".
Today, despite the spread of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic worldwide, tourism in Dali, where Linden is located, is gradually recovering. The rooftop of Xilinyuan is once again filled with travelers of all skin tones.
"We should not look at China from a single perspective. She has more than 5000 years of pioneering values. If we are too confident and stubborn like a hedgehog, we cannot fully understand the courage behind the Chinese economic miracle." In doubt, Linden gave a sincere answer.
In the introduction to the memoir, he wrote: "Let us deal with the differences between China and the United States in an open and pragmatic manner. Being a fox instead of a short-sighted hedgehog will allow us to understand China and go further. It can be foreseen, My soul will always walk on the path of Xizhou." (End)