China In My Canvas
Dr. Bishnu Bahadur GC
A visit to China was in my wish list for a long time and it finally happened on 24 th
Nov. 2023. The Centre for Language Education and Cooperation under the Ministry of Education in China organised an observation trip to China for the Principals of some schools in Nepal, so in courtesy of the Centre, a team of 16 people led by the supervisor of Volunteer Chinese Teachers in Nepal Dr Liu Yunhai left for Beijing on 24 th Nov, 2023. As a founder Principal of Elite Grand School and contributor to the Chinese volunteer teacher/s, I was also one of the members in the team of Principals to visit China. The flight carrying our team and other passengers flew for Beijing a little later than its scheduled time at 8.10 am from Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA). The plane flew over the high mountains on the north from Kathmandu to almost to the east border of Nepal. The white snow-capped Himalayan range attracted the eyes and cameras of many passengers in the aircraft. Amongst many other mountains, Mt, Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, and Makalu (more than 8000 Meter high) could be accessed for photos from a close distance. As soon as the plane crossed Nepal border, one could enjoy the view of Tibetan land peacefully stretched over a large area. There were many dunes of sand and dust in the area, I think. Some clustered buildings could be seen near small streams. Keeping behind all these scenery, the plane was approaching a flat and
farming area, the mid and northern part of China. Finally the aircraft landed at the
Daxing Aiport Beijing around 5 pm. Dr Liu's mother was at the airport to receive
him and that was a chance for us as well to meet her. On the second day of our arrival, the visits to the National Museum of China, Forbidden City, Palace Museum, Beijing National Olympic Park and walking through Tiananmen Square gave me a bigger picture of China; an attractive, large and well managed nation. The guide of the day who was carrying a stick with a flag at its tip told us to follow her. She was trying to give her best and detailed information of the area with the context of history and present scenario of her country. We came to know that the Tiananmen Square a monument for parade attracts thousands of people every day from around the world. The Forbidden City covers large area; many palaces and beautiful architectural monuments. The
columnist of these lines was surprised by the imagination of then emperor/s who
envisioned such a wonderful multifaceted palace covering a large and far distant
area for various activities and programs. As described by our guide, The Forbidden
City is a palace complex at the centre of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples. This City was constructed from 1406 to 1420, and was the former Chinese imperial palace and winter residence of the Emperor of China from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty, between 1420 and 1924. The Forbidden City served as the home of Chinese emperors and was the ceremonial and political centre of the Chinese government for over 500 years. Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artefacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City). The Forbidden City was declareda World Heritage Site in 1987. The excitement to visit the Badaling Great Wall came into reality when we reached the base of the wall in the morning of our third day after a drive of around 2 hours from Beijing. Here was more cold (minus 7 degree Celsius) than in Beijing city. After the Bus stopped at the base of Great Wall, a short walk took us to the nearest point to climb the Great Wall. This point may be one of the convenient bases to climb for those coming from Beijing city. All of us were eager to start climbing, so we did it with an excitement along with many other tourists who were going up and coming down. Each of us reached the highest spot that we wished and backed by our legs. Two hours was gone for this adventure and everyone felt worth climbing the wall. According to our tour guide, the Great Wall is the largest
defense work of ancient China and one of the wonders of the world's architectural
history. The construction of the Great Wall lasted for more than 2,000 years and is
more than 20,000 kilometres in length. The walk ended with a feeling of an
achievement and finally followed by a relaxing cup of coffee. After this adventure,
we were taken to one of the Acrobatic Centre in Beijing, where many other audiences were entering into the hall while we reached there. Soon after we took the seats, the audience hall became full. The program started by the performers who were around the age of 20-25. The unbelievable performance of the young chaps at the Acrobatic Show of the evening was mesmerising; beyond my imagination. A meeting with the officials at the language Exchange and Cooperation Centre of the Ministry of Education of China on fourth day, impressed me by the attitude and behaviour of officials; the gesture this composer understood was their readiness to support Nepal. Soon after this meeting, we headed to the airport for the departure to Guangzhou. On our fifth day, we visited Aisha International School (AIS) where a conference had held with the theme of ' Education for International Understanding'. We appreciated the theme of the conference, discussed and shared our views. This is one of the take away, we can introduce and apply in our schools. The school focused ISA (Inquiries, Succeed and Action) in its teaching andlearning.
As set in the schedule, we continued the program of the day to visit architectural site. The site we reached was the oldest settlement/city of the area, I guess. The narrow street took us to an inner part of the city where Bruce Lee's father had built the house and Bruce Lee was grown up there. The adjoining area we visited is historical and magnificent. The monuments in periphery is preserved attractively. The students who came along with us guided city tour and at the end they interviewed us regarding their school, program, tour etc. On our sixth day, a male guide led us to Huangpu Military Academy and 1911 Revolution Memorial Hall, which were about half an hour away from main road, Small Street only for walking, I think. We reached the well maintained Military Academy and Revolution Memorial Hall where we saw, read the history and
biography of the people/leaders who had contributed to change the nation. A visit
of two hours to Tianhe City of the same day kept each of us very busy going around the shops and purchase some gifts as we had only two hours for this activity. We had more programs of the day to be accomplished and among them was visit to Canton Tower. Reaching the highest sky as high as Canton Tower which servers thousands of people a day, was my first experience to this high. Popularly known by its name Canton Tower, the second highest Tower in the world at the moment, has 108 floors and it serves panoramic view of beautiful Guangzhou from its 107 floor. The time we were on the top was around 7-8 pm, so all buildings, road, bridges, nature and monuments that we saw from 360 degree of the Tower looked bright and beautiful with the lights twinkling on them. This trip gave me another experience of fast train (Bullet train) ride after in Japan I experienced for the first time, though the speed of Bullet Train in Japan is higher
than this. The speed of the train here as displayed on the screen was more than 200
kilometres per hour. We reached the city of Shenzhen on the seventh day of our trip by this train. Except at the stops, I hardly noticed the nature, buildings and objects while train was taking its high speed. It did not take long to feel the development of Shenzhen soon after we reached in the area. The history of development in the past and the architect of future city are being clearly visualised on large screens and walls of a huge Exhibition Hall. So, one could easily understand how visionary and dedicated the leaders and the people of Shenzhen are. The window of the world is also one of the best products in Shenzhen city; the displays of iconic items of different nations. We in a family trip had observed three years back the similar products in Canberra by the name of miniature garden, but little different than here.
On the day before last day of our visit, a conference was held at Nanfang College, where both Nepal side and College side shared the initiatives taken regarding teaching and learning in Chinese language, exchanging culture and overall teaching-learning in the classrooms. An experience of practical class on writing and understanding Chinese letters had also been given for us at the end of the program. During the sharing we were informed about Nanfang College thtat is responsible to prepare Chinese Language Teachers for abroad. Carrying a good memory of People's Republic of China, on 2nd of December, we flew from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport for Kathmandu and landed back at TIA, Kathmandu in the afternoon of the same day. The trip on the whole remained unforgettable and rewarding in many folds: it added the moments of
pleasures and joys in the list of my life, enhanced learnings by seeing, observing, meeting and sharing with people. People are helpful, open, friendly, positive,
hardworking, dedicated and eager to learn and share. The institutions where we visited are doing incredible job. People in these institutions from children to youth were very welcoming, friendly, open and generous. Children in these academic institutions were excited to share with us and learn from us. They guided us in various programs. On the whole the country has achieved the highest level of development and it is moving in the direction it has set. The country is consciously handling its nature and heritages. Moreover, the respect and love the Chinese people have for their country is really fascinating, captivating; a praiseworthy orientation of the people of China.
By witnessing all these developments, and attitude of the people what I imagined that the progresses and prosperity of China is a combined effort of all citizens and leaders. Among many leaders, the name of Former president Mao Zedong (1949- 1976), Den Xiaoping (1978-1989) and currently serving president of People's Republic of China from 2013, Xi Jinping, comes in the frontline. Mao formed "Red Army" of peasants rather than relying on industrial workers. Den Xiaoping once in power in 1978 normalized relations with the USA, negotiated the return of Hong Kong from British and introduced number of free markets. Xi Jinping, present president initiated anti-corruption campaign and pledged for common prosperity.
Before wrapping up the text, I like to remember those who were associated with the trip and writing the text, have tremendously contributed, and in particular, they are Ms Lyu Ying (well known by the name of Ms Sanskriti at Elite Grand School), Dr Liu Yunhai, Elite Grand School, The People's Republic of China and the colleagues of the trip. My profound gratitude goes to these people, my family members, the institutions and many others who came across during the trip and tried to make the trip meaningful and pleasant.
