my chinese dream essay

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Chasing The Chinese Dream — If You Can Define It

A woman in downtown Beijing walks past a building adorned with a patriotic mural by Chinese graffiti artists on April 22. Stephen Shaver/UPI/Landov hide caption

A woman in downtown Beijing walks past a building adorned with a patriotic mural by Chinese graffiti artists on April 22.

Forget about the American dream. Nowadays, the next big thing is the Chinese dream. In Beijing, it's the latest official slogan, mentioned on the front page of the official People's Daily 24 times in a single week recently.

With this level of publicity from the official propaganda machine, the Chinese dream even looks set to be enshrined as the new official ideology.

But what exactly is it?

According to Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Chinese dream is "realizing a prosperous and strong country, the rejuvenation of the nation and the well-being of the people." He first invoked the concept within two weeks of being elevated to party chief in November.

Since then, the Chinese dream has been on everyone's lips, even visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

"I heard today a very specific discussion from the president of China about the China dream," he said after his weekend visit to Beijing earlier this month. "I think that it's fair to say that the United States wants to do its part, if we build the capacity for the people of China to share in that."

Chinese Preisdent Xi Jinping (center) talks with members of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force in Beijing on Jan. 29. Li Gang/Xinhua/Landov hide caption

Chinese Preisdent Xi Jinping (center) talks with members of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force in Beijing on Jan. 29.

The Chinese dream is a handy feel-good slogan, which encompasses national pride, an improvement of the standard of living and military modernization.

Return To A Former Glory

But it's notable that Xi first brought it up at a National Museum of China exhibition devoted to China's recovery from more than a century of humiliation at the hands of Western powers.

The man who first made the phrase famous, Senior Col. Liu Mingfu of the People's Liberation Army, is uncompromising about what he sees as the main planks of the Chinese dream.

"One, it means to be No. 1 in the world. Secondly, it's the rejuvenation of the nation," he says.

Liu wrote a book called The China Dream three years ago, which is now taught in Chinese military schools alongside the work of Carl von Clausewitz. To Liu's great delight, it's also mentioned in former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's book On China .

In the book, Liu argues that China needs to return to its former glory — as the world's top superpower. He is sure that President Xi's version of the China dream is the same as his.

"I'm [just] a scholar at [China's] National Defense University, but when I talked about China wanting to be No. 1 in the world, Americans were very unhappy. If China's president talked about being No. 1 in the world, Americans would be unable to bear it," he says. "We can't use the same language. But my Chinese dream and the president's Chinese dream are in essence the same."

That's what he believes, but the official interpretation doesn't seem to bear that up. A commentary published in the state-run Global Times newspaper says foreign media defame the Chinese dream as "new nationalism."

A crowd strolls on a pedestrian street during a recent holiday in Shanghai. Eugene Hoshiko/AP hide caption

A crowd strolls on a pedestrian street during a recent holiday in Shanghai.

The piece goes on to spell out all the things the Chinese dream is not — it's not just about China's rise; it's a misconception to believe it's just a dream of human rights and democracy — without explicitly spelling out what the Chinese dream actually is.

But the ambiguity is proving useful. For instance, in his version of the Chinese dream, Xi refers to the restoration of China's golden age. But exactly which golden age is left unclear.

Writing in the South China Morning Post , Lanxin Xiang, a professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, says he believes this is in line with Xi's reputation as a "super-balancer."

"This is a very smart political move, for a Chinese golden age could be interpreted as a civilizational legacy as well as modern revolutionary heritage," Xiang wrote. "Thus, we have a one-size-fits-all dream that can attract a maximum number of people."

Whose Dream Is It Anyway?

Despite any convenient ambiguity, the Chinese dream will soon be on all school curricula: It must go "into students' brains," according to propaganda boss Liu Yunshan.

At one of the country's top universities, Peking University, students are enthusiastic about the concept of a Chinese dream, which they see as a unifying force, offering a better common future.

When asked about their own Chinese dreams, however, they respond with answers that are far more specific, more personal and — by insinuation — more critical of China's developmental path.

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"The air can be more clean and the environment can be better," says Zhang Yiying.

Fellow student Cun Rui's dream is "to find a good job and to realize my value."

"Previously Chinese don't have dreams, I think. For example, for students, they just follow their parents," Cun says.

Online, some have blasted the very idea of a Chinese dream as paternalistic.

"The power of defining this dream is in the hands of the government, the rulers," says independent commentator Zhao Chu. "So this dream itself is a very extreme form of nationalism and statism."

Dreams, Deleted

In his sharply worded essay online, Zhao compares the Chinese dream to the American dream, which focuses on the power of the individual. Zhao believes the top-down nature of the Chinese dream deprives ordinary people of the right to dream their own dreams.

His proof? The fate of his critique of the Chinese dream.

"It was deleted," Zhao says. "This is good evidence to show that the dream that unites the people is such a hypocritical concept. When this dream cannot be discussed, how can it be a real dream?"

It's not the only Chinese dream censors have deleted. So, too, have they deleted a song posted online by former factory worker Li Lei.

"The Chinese dream is not a dream of dictatorship," he sings. "The Chinese dream is not a dream of authoritarianism."

Nor, he sings, is it a dream of censorship or corrupt officials. His Chinese dream is one of the people, of democracy and freedom and the constitution.

Apparently, the authorities don't agree with his view. His Chinese dream is yet another one that's deemed unsuitable for the public.

Home » Reading and Writing the Chinese Dream: introducing a project

Reading and Writing the Chinese Dream: introducing a project

As of January 2016, the Thinking China section of The China Story has introduced several aspects of contemporary Chinese thought and debate under three headings:  key intellectuals ,  key articles  and currents of thought . We have been particularly interested in the interplay of intellectual and official perspectives on a range of pressing social and political questions.

Thinking China forms part of the overall approach of the Australian Centre on China in the World which we call New Sinology , first articulated in a short essay a decade ago, in May 2005. Since then, we have expanded our work in this area and founded a major research centre which attempts to put some of its motivating ideas into practice. We have been fortunate in that we launched The China Story in 2012 only some months before China’s new party-state-army leader, Xi Jinping, declared how important it was for China to ‘tell The China Story well’ 讲好中国的故事, and before it became evident that Xi himself was an unwitting advocate of the New Sinological approach to engaging with modern China.

In our work, be it through the research work at CIW, our China Story Yearbook , via this website, or in our public activities, we emphasise the importance of engaging with the broadest spectrum of Chinese ideas and concerns. In the digital age, officials, state propagandists, academics, journalists, people of conscience, and members of the general populace are co-creators of Chinese thought and public discourse. To better understand how ‘China’ thinks, we must heed those ideas and writings that have attracted significant interest among Sinophone readers, incited controversy or that, over time, have proved to be influential.

We are delighted to introduce a major new undertaking by colleagues in Canada, China, Australia and England to read, understand and translate key texts produced by leading Chinese thinkers.

The China Dream Project, the full title of which is ‘Reading and Writing the Chinese Dream: A Collaborative Research, Reading and Translation Project’, was initiated by Timothy Cheek ,  David Ownby  and Joshua Fogel in Canada. The three project directors are joined by collaborators at other institutions. They are: Liu Qing 刘擎, Gloria Davies, Michel Hockx, Liu Jing, and Jonathan Sullivan. Due to illness in 2014-2015, Geremie R Barmé was unable to participate formally in the project, but through his work for The China Story he is helping to introduce some of the work generated by The Chinese Dream.

To date, Thinking China in The China Story has featured the following work from or related to The Chinese Dream Project:

The Practice of History and China Today The Last Refuge of the Patriot Everything Old is New Again Hong Kong: China’s Other Carl Schmitt in China Wang Gungwu on Living Chinese History

The following project description was provided by Timothy Cheek. — The Editors

________________

This is a collaborative project that examines the published work of reform-era Chinese intellectuals (1995-2015) who are re-reading the past and re-writing the future in light of China’s emergence as a great power. The project is based at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver and is funded by the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. It is built on collaborations between a number of Canadian scholars, Chinese scholars and colleagues in Australia and the UK and is led by the project directors and project collaborators named above. This five-year project began in 2014 and will continue until 2019. Two meetings in 2015, one in Shanghai in May and one in Vancouver in August, have set the collaborative work in motion.

The public conversations and debates in China that we study range over many topics but they reflect a common aspiration to secure China’s future through interrogating the status quo and asking what lessons the past has to offer. This intellectual discourse is distinct from yet intimately related to the official China Story presented by the Communist Party state. The fact that senior Party officials and the state media have frequently reiterated the importance of ‘telling China’s story well’ 讲好中国的故事, since Party General Secretary Xi Jinping first issued this directive at the National Propaganda and Ideology Work Conference in August 2013, makes the alternative stories being told in the Sinophone public sphere all the more important. We propose to analyse the efforts of China’s public intellectuals over the past twenty years to fashion a livable, marketable Chinese dream.

Our subjects are academic public intellectuals — scholars who have chosen to use their specialised knowledge and status to engage with the public conversation on the Chinese Dream. The historians among them are re-examining China’s past to uncover themes, practices, forgotten traditions and missed opportunities that might fill the void at the core of China’s current political/ cultural identity and help to create China’s future. These debates are subtle, varied and wide-ranging, and they suggest a breadth and sophistication rarely hinted at in media discussions of China’s intellectual world.

The goals of our project are:

• to analyse and make available the knowledge production of these Chinese intellectuals who debate China’s history, future, and place in the world, for the benefit of Canadian/ Western scholars, policy-makers and citizens; and,
• to build a style of academic work and training to produce transnational knowledge about China through collaboration with Chinese academic partners with the goal of training a generation of ‘new-style scholars’ who work with Chinese and non-Chinese colleagues to study China and the world. Thus, the ‘product’ of this project is both a process of scholarly knowledge production (that also provides graduate training) and the resulting texts (scholarly articles and translations) created by it.

The initial meetings have addressed some of the following questions:

• What are the basic contours of intellectual agency for university professors and public intellectuals in China? What can they argue about with impunity, and in what settings? • To what extent does politics remain at the forefront of intellectual life in China, and how should we understand the content of intellectual politics ? The main textbook division of reform-era Chinese intellectuals has been into the categories of Liberals, New Confucians and the New Left. Are these categories adequate? • What ‘ public ‘ do China’s ‘public intellectuals’ address? How should we understand the ‘directed public sphere’ of post-Mao China? Why, for example, is Liu Xiaobo in prison and Han Han still on Weibo? • What are the economics of intellectual life in today’s China? Does an intellectual get rich from a best-seller? What are the economics of a successful web site and Weibo following? • How do China’s public intellectuals understand the life of ideas in contemporary China? What are the most prestigious journals? Publishing houses? Web platforms? What are the strategies employed by intellectuals who want to get ahead? Have an impact? Stay safe? • How do political pressures make themselves felt within the worlds of public and less public intellectuals?

We have chosen collaborative translation as the method to achieve these goals. Pairs of Chinese/ non-Chinese young scholars collaborate in selecting and translating texts from notable intellectuals under the supervision of the project directors and collaborators. These seminars are text-focused and led by senior scholars. They serve the dual purpose of producing both readable (and annotated) translations and training ‘new-style scholars’ among young Chinese and non-Chinese academics through their working together to address the particularities (linguistic, historical, contextual) of Chinese texts that make translation and understanding difficult yet enriching. The project will also involve graduate students in Translation Studies who will contribute both to the work of translation and to our understanding of translation techniques and key differences between English and Chinese styles of writing and argumentation.

We began with a schema outlining public intellectual life, based on the changes we have seen in Chinese discourse over the past fifty years and with a preliminary ‘intellectual topographical map’ produced by Chinese intellectuals themselves. Chinese intellectuals under Mao resembled Chinese scholar-bureaucrats during the dynastic era in that they served at the state’s pleasure and defined themselves and their roles accordingly. Literati in dynastic China and intellectuals in the Mao era served as moral and professional exemplars: their technical knowledge and their intellectual mastery were seen as being secondary to their roles as exegetes of classical Confucian or Marxist-Maoist knowledge and administrators of a society in constant directed transformation ( jiaohua  教化 under the dynasties; xuanjiao  宣教 under Mao).

All of this began to change in a fundamental way in the 1990s, after Deng Xiaoping’s reaffirmation of reform in his ‘Southern Tour’ of 1992. Although the post-Mao regime maintained its commitment to basic socialist principles, ideology lost its preeminent role under Deng and his successors (Xi Jinping may be changing this…); the ‘Four Cardinal Principles’ and similar ideological underpinnings often played a secondary role to pragmatism, economic growth and market forces. At the same time, China opened up to the international world in ways unseen since the 1920s and 1930s. ‘Knowledge’ became multiple rather than unitary, secular rather than sacred; it included scientific and technical discourses as well as a wide range of social science and other theories Chinese scholars were quick to explore and import from the 1980s.

The impact of these changes on Chinese intellectuals has been profound. Although the state has hardly disappeared — instead it has erected a ‘directed public sphere’ with significant rules and protocols — reform-era China has developed markets for books, ideas and intelligence that could not have existed under Mao. In addition, the state has invested significantly in education, and in the process it has given considerable status to those who have studied and worked in the West. As a result, Western (and neoliberal) university models of professionalism and career management have come to compete with older Chinese modes of loyalty and factionalism, and Chinese scholarly life has developed its own dynamics which are, to some degree (but only to some degree), independent of party-state control. The Internet added important new facets to the scene beginning in the 1990s, allowing writers, scholars and other intellectuals to reach a large public particularly through social media (the present favoured medium being weixin 微信/WeChat) without having to deal with the complexities, and political dimensions, of the book and journal publishing industries.

We began our effort to map this intellectual public sphere by adopting a widely accepted Chinese division of the world of public intellectuals into three ‘lineages’ or ‘clusters’ (see Gan Yang’s Tong san tong 《通三统》, 2007): Liberals, the New Left and New Confucians. Our use of this Chinese taxonomy of intellectual ‘lineages’, ‘clusters’ or ‘types’ is, however, critically motivated. We see it as a useful classificatory scheme but we are more interested in exploring the politics that have informed (and continue to inform) its production. We ask if this current taxonomy has created or exacerbated divisions within mainland intellectual circles. Does the taxonomy have the effect of excluding intellectual positions that fail to accord with one or another designated ‘type’? We are also interested to see the extent to which texts labeled as ‘Liberal’, ‘New Left’ or ‘New Confucian’ do or do not conform to the prescribed attributes.

We naturally draw on the work of international scholars, for instance, from Merle Goldman and Joseph Fewsmith to Geremie Barmé, Gloria Davies and William Callahan. New work on knowledge production in Republican China (up to 1950) led by Robert Culp and Eddy U provides one useful baseline as many Chinese intellectuals in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s were similarly engaged and independent.[1] We embrace this historical-comparative perspective. In addition, a project led by Leigh Jenco looks at Chinese thought for what it can contribute to general social theory, and provides a vocabulary for comparing Chinese knowledge production with Western examples, particularly in the context of political philosophy.[2]

Our approach builds upon this research by giving priority to Chinese voices over Western frameworks and by working with Chinese scholars in collaborative translations and interpretations of these vital contemporary debates over the Chinese dream. We take as our inspiration  New Sinology , an approach advocated by Geremie R Barmé of The Australian National University, and which combines both theory and method.[3] New Sinology is grounded in respect for Sinophone discourse, and insists that research on China be based on a deep knowledge of Chinese sources, both literary 文言 and vernacular 白话 texts. Classical Sinology focused largely on the formative texts of China’s traditional civilisation, while the New Sinology extends its focus to modern and contemporary Chinese discourse and their political and social contexts. This theoretical/ methodological perspective in no way excludes mainstream historical and social science approaches, but it demands that scholarship on China be grounded in Chinese-language sources and that today’s New Sinologists work ‘with Chinese’ rather than simply ‘on China’. What this means is that we are engaged in collaborative research with Chinese colleagues to investigate problems of shared concern while coming to appreciate more fully our differing standpoints and interests.

The collaborative translation seminars are running in 2015 and 2016 with preliminary reports being posted here or on our project webpage.

For further information, contact the project directors:

Tim Cheek: [email protected] Josh Fogel: [email protected] David Ownby: [email protected]

_______________

[1] Robert Culp, Eddy U and Wen-hsin Yeh, eds, Knowledge Acts in Modern China: Ideas, Institutions and Identities , Berkely: University of California Institute of East Asian Studies, 2016.

[2] Leigh Jenco, ed., Chinese Thought as Global Theory: Diversifying Knowledge Production in the Social Sciences and Humanitie s, Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2016; and, Michaelle L Browers, Democracy and Civil Society in Arab Political Thought: Transcultural Possibilities , Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2006.

[3] Geremie R Barmé, ‘On New Sinology’, 2005; and, ‘Worrying About China and New Sinology’, 2008. For these essays, and related material, see the New Sinology section of The China Story website.

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My Chinese Dream

Filed Under: Essays Tagged With: Dream

Since used by incumbent Chinese president Xi Jinping on November 29, 2012, the term meaning to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, Chinese dream, has been a catchword. Every Chinese is talking about it. “My Chinese dream is to get a stable job”, a laid-off worker said when investigated. “Mine is to give birth to lovely twin brother and sister”, a pregnant woman claimed. If asked, as a grassroots undergraduate, my Chinese dream is that we young people have confidence in and hope for a bright future.

Many cases of college students killing their schoolmates draw people’s attention. To name a few, this April, a junior undergraduate Jiang in Fudan University was poisoned by his roommate Huang to death just because of a small quarrel. In 2010, one was killed and two were wounded by student Zeng of Sichuan University only for mocking his plain appearance. A versatile student Zhu from Tsinghua University was poisoned by an intimate of her according to the police in 1994. How ridiculous these top students’ behaviors are!

They are smart and hard-working enough to enter college, but they are stupid and diffident enough to give up their years of hard work and decades of bright future in the blink of an eye just for an ill-considered impulse. They may be top students, but definitely not excellent students. As the old saying goes, man proposes, God disposes. We students should strive for a bright future through our competence, rather than turning to some evil deeds or impractical shortcuts.

The Essay on Challenges Face by First Year Students at University

Education can be referring as the pathway of success for students striving in the learning process of education system. However on the other hand this seems not true and easy for students that are beginning their first year of study at university level, as often there are several factors relating to the life at the university. These generally become a great deal of challenges especially for first ...

No one is perfect, so what’s important is to correct your own demerits, not to bear a grudge on others’ merits. “I worked hard for 18 years, only to have a cup of coffee with you. ” This phenomenon is getting more and more pervasive. Nowadays, the gap between the rich and the poor is so big that those born poor are likely to toil all their lives to catch up with the rich second generation. As a result, many young people become cynical and begin to lose heart on their comparatively slim chance of success.

Of course they have good reason to think that way. It’s proved that the better family background one has, the easier he gets a job and the higher his initial salary is. There is no doubt that students by no means start from the same point and rich students are easier to achieve success. However, should we grassroots students give up our dreams just because some stupid gaps? Should we lose hope on our future just because we’ve seen through the merciless reality? Should we let down our loved ones and ourselves just because of our own cowardice?

No! As young and energetic college students, we must be confident and hopeful that a bright future is beckoning to us somewhere. We just need to stay hungry for knowledge and stay foolish about the cruelty of life. We don’t love life for its perfection; we love life because of its authenticity. Realizing its flaws and still love it, that is real love. Let’s unload unnecessary items, take our Chinese dreams, embark on a raft and start our wonderful journey. Thank you!

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The Chinese Dream vs. The American Dream

Qin Xiaoying

The current Chinese generation’s knowledge and understanding of the American dream is neither abundant nor far-reaching. Younger generations have a sense of the American dream from Pretty Woman , a popular film starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. For the middle-aged, William Manchester’s The Glory and the Dream provides a four-decade insight into the American dream. And, for many older generations in China, their limited understanding of the American dream likely came from Martin Luther King’s famous I Have a Dream speech. 

The American dream and its influence in the world is an objective reality. Since the founding of the United States of America, with unique natural resources and geographical environment, creative transplantation of progressive European ideas of equality and liberty and a powerful union of individualist values, many people have made or are making their dreams come true. Even in today’s information age, successful entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs of Apple and Bill Gates of Microsoft have offered great examples of how one can achieve the American dream. Therefore, it begs the question:  How is the Chinese dream, as proposed by President Xi Jinping, different from the American dream? 

Xi’s Chinese dream incorporates a dream that has been cherished by the Chinese people for over a century. The desire to do better and break out of the protracted state of poverty and weakness has become China’s national dream. In other words, the so-called Chinese dream actually represents a desire to be free of suffering and misfortune. 

Such a mentality first appeared 170 years ago out of the Opium Wars. When Japan launched massive aggression, it soon developed into a strong awareness to save the nation and ensure its survival. For a civilization of several millennia and with high self-esteem, the bullying and humiliation suffered in the 19 th and 20 th centuries has become an internal wound suffered by the whole nation. In this way, the Chinese dream is first of all a collective concept where a rich country and strong army are paramount. Such a collective appeal and vision is quite different from the individualist values of the American dream. 

As the Chinese dream is distinctly collective and involves the nation as a whole, it naturally embodies bolder and clearer moves in diplomatic and military fields as well as in overall national strength. The dream may be disaggregated into a diplomatic dream, a strong army dream and a (growing) national strength dream. In his frequent diplomatic activities this year, Xi stressed again and again that China and the world were interrelated and interdependent, demonstrating an apparent hope for changing the irrational international economic order. His warning against disturbance in regional situations and world peace out of “selfish interest” shows China’s increasing sense of responsibility in international affairs and can be seen as an expression of the diplomatic dream. Furthermore, the announcement that over 40 military exercises of various kinds will be held this year is the most direct proof of the military or strong army dream. 

Some people may wonder whether the endeavor to realize the Chinese dream with a strong collective characteristic of the whole nation would turn into a threat to the outside world. This may be an unarticulated doubt haunting many Western analysts and media. However, Xi has actually given his answer to it. According to him, the Chinese dream can only be realized by seeking China’s own path. Where is this path? It has been trodden with over 30 years of reform and opening up, through profound lessons from the past 170 years and on the basis of the five millennia of Chinese civilization. Just as a person’s DNA does not change over a lifespan, the nation’s code of survival does not easily alter. For China, a country that has traditionally found self-restraint a virtue and never engaged in expansion or pursued hegemony, the historical trajectory cannot be changed. 

The Chinese dream is neither Bismarck’s blood and iron policy, nor the Yamato nation’s greater East Asia co-prosperity sphere, nor “the sun never sets on the British Empire” type. The dream for a reinvigorated stronger nation is ultimately a dream in pursuit of happiness . In this sense, the Chinese dream and the American dream indeed have similar objectives achieved by different paths.

Qin Xiaoying is a Research Scholar with the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies.

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The Chinese Dream Is the People's Dream

The Chinese Dream Is the People's Dream*

September 22, 2015

Since the founding of the PRC in 1949, and particularly since the start of reform and opening up in 1978, China has completed an extraordinary journey, in which people of my generation have been personally involved.

In the late 1960s, when I was in my teens, I was sent to a small village named Liangjiahe in Yan'an, Shaanxi Province, in western China. There I worked in the fields as a farmer for seven years. Like the locals, I lived in caves dug out from loess hills and slept on an earthen bed. The locals were very poor, and they could go for months without a bite of meat. I grew to understand what they needed most. Later when I became secretary of the village's Party branch, I set out to develop the local economy, because I knew what they needed. I very much wanted to see them have meat on their dinner tables, and I wanted to see that often. But that was a hard goal to attain.

This Spring Festival I went back to Liangjiahe, which now has asphalt roads, tile-roofed brick houses, and internet access. The elderly enjoy the basic old-age pension, the villagers are covered by medical insurance, and the children receive good education. Having meat for dinner is of course no longer a dream. This made me feel strongly that the Chinese Dream is the people's dream, and that if it is to succeed, it must be based on the Chinese people's aspiration for a better life.

Changes in the small village of Liangjiahe epitomize the development and progress of the Chinese society since 1978. In less than 40 years we have boosted our economy to become the world's second largest, supplying 1.3 billion people with food and clothing and basically achieving moderate prosperity. The people enjoy dignity and rights at an unprecedented level. These changes have not only affected the lives of the Chinese. They also signify remarkable progress in human civilization and China's important contribution to world peace and development.

Nonetheless, we are fully aware that China remains the world's biggest developing country. China's per capita GDP is only two-thirds of the world average and one-seventh that of the United States, ranking about 80th in global terms. According to our standards, there are still 70 million people living in poverty in China; according to World Bank standards, 200 million Chinese are still living below the poverty line. In urban and rural areas 70 million people rely on subsistence allowances, and there are 85 million people with disabilities. Over the past two years I have visited many impoverished areas in China, and paid personal visits to families in need. Even now I can still see their faces and feel their longing for a better life.

All this demonstrates that we in China must continue our hard work. Development remains the top priority for contemporary China, and the primary task of China's leadership is to focus on improving people's living standards and achieving common prosperity. It is to this end that we have put forward the Two Centenary Goals. The first is to double GDP and the per capita incomes of urban and rural residents compared to 2010 levels, and to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020, as the centenary of the CPC approaches. The second is to build China into a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious, and achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation by the middle of the century, which will see the centenary of the PRC. All that we are doing now is designed to accomplish these goals. We must achieve the first goal, and in order to do that we must drive reform to deeper levels, we must thoroughly implement the rule of law, and we must run the Party with strict discipline. This is what we call the Four-pronged Strategy.

* Part of the speech at a reception in Seattle, Washington State, the United States.

(Not to be republished for any commercial or other purposes.)

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Qiushi Newsletter, a bimonthly on China's governance and perspectives, targets at online readers. With important articles selected or translated from the Chinese or English versions of Qiushi Journal , the Newsletter gives details of the CPC's theories, policies, and practical experience in national governance for domestic and foreign readers.

International Students' Chinese Dreams

Every year, I assign a speech to the newly enrolled international students, entitled "My Chinese Dream". Speaking in either rusty or skilled Chinese, they talk passionately and sincerely about their Chinese dreams: Fidele from Rwanda says the dream that brought him to China was to learn kung fu and become a kung fu superstar like Jet Li, but now he's determined to be a pilot soaring in the blue sky; Marwa from Egypt wants to "work for the freedom and equality of women", and her dream is to be an English teacher; Yonas from Ethiopia used to dream of being an oil painter, but after becoming a master's student in civil engineering, he now aspires to be a bridge expert like Mao Yisheng; Nazif from Turkey would like to be a trade agent of intraocular lens made in China; Nizi from Pakistan hopes to do business in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Hearing their pursuits, I wrote them a song called We International Students' Chinese Dreams .

"Living in China, I hear all of my classmates talking about Chinese dream

I ask my teacher what Chinese dream is about, she says

The Chinese dream is about rejuvenation of the nation

The Chinese dream is about protecting the civilization with solidarity

The Chinese dream is about building a democratic, free and harmonious society

The Chinese dream is about giving people a secure, and happy life

And the Chinese dream is about carrying out the ecological conservation

Ah, my teacher mama, I also have a Chinese dream

Here in China I wanna learn how to fly a plane

I wanna learn how to build bridges

I wanna learn how to impart knowledge to others

I wanna learn how to practice Chinese medicine

I wanna learn how to build 5G networks

I wanna learn how to be a businessman"

Fidele—my dream is up in the sky

There are two famous quotes from The Analects—Isn't it a pleasure to learn and apply what one has learned? Isn't it a pleasure to greet friends from afar? After I finished explaining their meanings in a Chinese class during Fidele's first year as a graduate student, he came to me and asked what if he changed the last character of his Chinese given name  勒(le)  to  乐(le) , since the latter one means pleasure and happiness in Chinese. I told him it would be a great new name and taught him another Chinese ancient classic De Le Tian Shu (" Receiving a letter from Letian ") written by Yuan Zhen in Tang dynasty, whose title also contains the character  乐 . This poem depicts the true friendship between the two great scholars, Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi. By chatting with him about this book, I expressed my wish for him to be always happy and make best friends here in China.

Fidele is a master's student of NCHU in aeronautical engineering. As a child, he watched many Chinese kung fu movies such as " Shaolin Temple ", " Fist of Fury ", " New Dragon Inn ", " Once upon a Time in China ", etc. Amazed by the martial skills of Jet Li and Jackie Chan, he dreamed of going to China one day to learn Shaolin kung fu. His family rejoiced when he was admitted to the School of Medicine at the University of Rwanda, the best university in his country, with top results of his university entrance exams. When he was still a freshman, Fidele met a martial arts teacher from China. The teacher told Fidele that if he could master martial arts well, he would get the opportunity to learn more at Shaolin Temple in China. So Fidele studied hard and practiced with the teacher every day. Finally all his hard work paid off, as he was selected to study at Shaolin Temple. He told his family the good news, but his mother had some concerns. She wanted Fidele to pursue a career in medicine after graduation, after all it is a well-paid and decent job. But Fidele felt that it would be a unique opportunity to not only learn martial arts and Chinese at Shaolin Temple, but also to pursue his medical studies or other more interesting professions in China.

Fidele has finally arrived in China. To his surprise, there were many more fresh experiences waiting for him, besides the opportunity of learning Shaolin kung fu.

Coming from the tropical Rwanda straight to the freezingly cold Beijing, and then from Beijing International Airport to Songshan Shaolin Temple, Fidele was completely unaware of and unprepared for the extreme coldness. He still remembers the excitement of seeing the snow-capped mountains for the first time in his life when he was on the airplane and the double-decker bus.

The Shaolin Kung Fu program is no joke. Every apprentice has to wake up at 5 am every day and go through a series of training such as leg press, leg planking, staking and gymnastics. On top of that, they have to run between the Daxiong Grand Hall and the Dharma Cave, go over the mountains, carry water buckets and chop wood to build up their muscles and stamina. Exactly at 8 o'clock, they will have breakfast, and then continue to practice until noon, with no rest in the afternoon.

A year later, as the representative of foreign apprentices in the Shaolin Temple, Fidele participated in the 2014 CCTV4 Spring Festival Gala, and toured all over the country with the monks of the Shaolin Temple to do martial performances. During those tours, what stroke him the most is to know that anyone in China can fulfill their dreams as long as they work hard, and that one will also gain respect if one respects others.

Fidele wins the team champion of the First International Shaolin Wushu Festival in Kaifeng, Henan (the first from left).

Fidele fell in love with Chinese culture. He began to know more about China's developed aviation industry in the two-year nationwide tour, which made him believe that the aircraft manufacturing is one of the fields Rwanda should learn from China. He then decided to choose aviation manufacturing to continue his study. That's why he came to study at NCHU.

Fidele is fluent in English, French and Chinese. He studied professional courses with Chinese students, and his grades were the top among his peers. Therefore, he received the CSC National Full Scholarship, and became the only international student who won the Tellhow Scholarship Nomination Award. What he enjoys most is to do internship at Hainan Airlines where he could learn how to maintain large planes and fly one in a simulated cockpit at the aviation base. Flying in the sky is his biggest dream.

Fidele learns to maintain aircrafts at Guanyi Aviation.

Fidele strives his best at learning Chinese. I often say that Chinese characters are the essence of Chinese culture, however, some of the international students are only willing to learn pinyin (the pronunciation of the characters). Different from others, Fidele would memorize all the texts in both Pinyin and Chinese characters, among which "Sun Tzu's Art of War " and " Thirty-six Strategies " are his favorites. He would often ask me to share more stories in these two classics. Through him and other international students, I also learned what kind of Chinese culture foreigners may be interested. He repeated several times to me that his greatest achievement in China is becoming a person who is self-disciplined and not afraid of difficulties, just like an old Chinese saying goes, "there is no insurmountable mountain in the world, as long as you are willing to climb it".

Marwa and her dream of being a university teacher

The beautiful Arabian girl Marwa in the photo, who comes from Egypt, is a master's student majoring in English. She once told me that in Egypt, there's a saying "Seek knowledge even if it's in places as far as China".

Before coming to China, Marwa was a student majoring in English at Misr International University. One year, Mr. Huang, a visiting scholar at Cairo University from China, moved in next door to her house. She asked Mr. Huang why he had chosen Egypt as his destination. He told her that both Egypt and China boast the same cultural foundation and thousands-year storied history, so he decided to learn everything about Egypt and experience the land where the pharaohs had once lived. Huang introduced China and Chinese culture to her, and the two would often talk and compare the similarities and differences between their own cultures. Since then, Marwa has been deeply attracted by the mysterious Chinese culture.

In 2017, Marwa got a job as an assistant at Misr Internatioal University. In the summer vacation of her junior year, she applied for a one-month student volunteer exchange program in Hangzhou, out of her interest in China. After a 12-hour flight, she traveled from Cairo to Beijing, then took another 2.5-hour flight to Hangzhou. Getting off the plane, she saw a group of Chinese classmates who looked, dressed, spoke and did things in a different way from hers, but were highly hospitable and treated her nicely. The Chinese classmates took her and 5 other Egyptian students to the hotel, helped them get a quick check-in, carried their luggage to the rooms, and told them how to use the TV, WiFi, air conditioning, shower and other appliances. On top of those, they also invited these newly arrived international students to taste local cuisines and took them to appreciate the views in Hangzhou, which swept away all of Marwa's previous worries and nervousness before landing in China. During their talks, the confidence and pride of Chinese youth in the country's system and culture made her more excited about what she might experience next in China.

As a volunteer Marwa became an English teacher in a middle school in Shaoxing City, Zhejiang province, and has since been in love with the hard-working, brave, and warm-hearted Chinese.

In 2018, Marwa graduated with a bachelor's degree and tried hard to find opportunities to study for a master's degree in China. That's why she submitted her resume to Nanchang Hangkong University. I was touched by her love for Chinese culture in her personal statement and enrolled her as a master's student. Marwa is very smart and arduous. From classic masterpieces such as " Book of Changes ", " Tao Te Ching ", " Analects ", " Zhuangzi ", " Mencius " and " Records of the Grand Historian ", to Tang poetry, Song poetry and Yuan music, as well as other aspects of Chinese culture, I have tried my best to introduce the grand and sophisticated system of Chinese culture bit by bit to her. Watching her progress every day gives me a sense of pride and satisfaction. It's also because of my conversations with her that I completed the book "Key to Chinese Culture".

She once discussed with me the meaning of "the benevolent loves others", and I told her that by observing the Chinese character 仁( pinyin ren , which means benevolence), one can see that it emphasizes the relationship between people. In Chinese culture, “people” refers to the sum of social relations. Everyone has many of their own social roles, like a parent, a child, a partner, a teacher, a student, or a colleague, etc. Then she would still have more questions to ask, "Why do Chinese women have such a high status?" -"Because in China, 'women hold up half the sky'." "Why are most Chinese people born with a relatively good overall thinking?" -"Because in the eyes of Chinese people, humans, Nature and the society, the three form a whole, hence the long-held philosophy in China that 'heaven and humans are a harmonious one'." I would always patiently answer her questions.

Since her postgraduate studies, Marwa has taught the course of English Academic Paper Writing to undergraduate students. Now she's officially one of the foreign teachers working full-time at NCHU. Her classes are enthralling and very popular among the students. She is an excellent English user with an easily-understood accent, a grammatically high-standard writing style and a well-formed logic. During her teaching, she focuses on training her students' critical thinking. Interestingly, because of the lovely, beautiful and patient Marwa, this once-least-welcomed writing course among the boy students, became so popular that the guys would rush to the classroom just to secure a seat and compete to answer questions during her class.

Marwa with her Chinese student.

Nazif—China is where my dream life comes true

Nazif is a tall and handsome Turkish student of Indo-European descent who used to study at NCHU. Proficient in both English and Chinese, he was selected by his Chinese classmates as the best English male host in the International College. They invited him to be the host at various celebration occasions, which he quite enjoyed and would appear on one stage after another with a well-groomed hairstyle and decent formal attire.

Nazif likes Chinese a lot. He says that whenever he listens to people speaking Chinese, it's as if they were singing a beautiful song, which makes him enchanted. At a very young age, he longed to master Chinese so that one day he could go to China to study. In high school, there was an international Chinese teacher who taught him Chinese attentively and constantly encouraged him, which in the end helped him realize his dream.

At the end of August 2015, Nazif, having graduated from high school, flew from Istanbul to Beijing. Before departure, he asked a Turkish friend living there to pick him up at the airport at 5:00 am. However, after landing at the airport, his friend was nowhere to be found. Just when he was anxious and feeling helpless, a decent-looking airport policeman walked up to him and handed his own mobile phone to Nazif, telling him to call the friend. But the line was always busy. The policeman bought Nazif bottled water, bread and instant noodles for breakfast, and comforted him in English: "Don't worry, you can wait at the airport and come to me if you have any difficulties." Before Nazif could thank him, the police officer left and continued to work on duty. Wandering aimlessly at the airport for more than two hours, Nazif saw the police officer running to him, sweating heavily. He told Nazif that his friend had called and the reason he was late was because he thought the arrival time was 5:00 in the afternoon instead of 5:00 in the morning. He then told Nazif to go to Gate 4 and wait for his friend who would arrive soon. As a newcomer in China, Nazif immediately felt the warmth and kindness of the Chinese people.

After coming to China, he first studied Chinese at Tianjin University for a year, and was later admitted to NCHU. As a star of extracurricular activities on campus, he participated in the Jiangxi Provincial Chinese Language Competition for International Students and won the third place. He hosted the campus welcome party and the CPC history knowledge competition for Chinese/foreign faculty and students, and participated in the promo video shooting of the second "Poyang Lake International Bird Watching" organized by Jiangxi Jingshi TV. He also did dubbing work in a large number of the University's promo videos. In his senior year, considering his major was business administration and that he is good at English, Chinese, and Turkey, I put him on an internship at an  intraocular lens trading company to learn how to do foreign trade. There, Nazif took to the job like a duck to water and met many young, promising colleagues. He said that he saw the spirit of the Chinese people in them.

After graduation, he was recommended to continue his studies at NCHU for master's degree in business administration. During this period, Nazif not only studied each course diligently, but also actively communicated with teachers and classmates to better his scientific research thinking and teamwork ability. He said in his graduation speech: "During the past 7 years in China, I have been completely in love with this secure, peaceful and lovely country. The most precious years of my youth are spent in China, and my friends are all Chinese. So I no longer consider myself as a foreigner. If possible, I'm willing to be a bridge of friendship between China and Turkey. I really want to stay in China and use what I have to contribute to China. This land has shaped me, and given me a lot of opportunities. This is the place that allows me to live my dream life.”

Nazif learns to make ceramics in Jingdezhen.

Yonas—the young man who dreams to be a bridge expert

Yonas is from Shashamane, Ethiopia, a city rich in coffee and roses. This tall, handsome, gentle, and sympathetic man is interested in drawing and table tennis. The figures and scenery he paints are vivid and appealing. His oil paintings are bold and passionate in colors, completed with delicate brushstrokes and has a strong effect in terms of the depth of fields, which fully demonstrate the artistic conception and style represented by the objects in his works.

This year marks Yonas' fourth year in China. He is currently a master's student in civil engineering at NCHU. Due to his excellent expression skills, he was recommended by me to take part in a TV program made by Jiangxi Jingshi TV. Yonas made a feature film introducing Poyang Lake and migratory birds in fluent Chinese and English, which got viewed by people across the globe through social media platforms Facebook and YouTube. Because of Yonas, more people in the world have learned about Poyang Lake and the migratory birds. His parents, teachers and classmates in his hometown also saw the program and praised him, saying he looked so cool on TV, and that he did a good job introducing the beautiful Jiangxi to the world.

On weekends, Yonas likes to carry a drawing board to sketch in the old town of Nanchang, enjoy the lively streets and draw people passing by. He draws old ladies dancing square dances, sweet young couples holding hands, and kids capering about, all wearing a smiling face. The locals in Nanchang are very welcoming. When he's painting, many strangers chat with him, which makes him feel as if he were with his family; in the evening, he stands on the platform of Tengwang Pavilion watching the sunset and catching the gentle river breeze, knowing that Nanchang has become his second hometown.

All the teachers and classmates love to ask Yonas to paint them portraits, to which he always happily accepts the invitations. His works are true to life. One day, he wanted to paint a portrait of me, but I didn't have time to model for him. Therefore, I gave him a photo of me. A few days later, he came to me with a painting. The short-haired woman in the painting looks exactly like me. However, as the painting was completed based on a photo, there were no highlights on my eyes and face. What's more, he carefully put the painting in a black frame with no blank space left at all and gave it to me in a solemn manner. I told him that the lady in the painting was more beautiful than me, while secretly thinking how I should explain to him the different customs of people from different cultures framing their portraits.

A few days later, I replaced the black frame with a wooden colored one and left some blank areas around the painting to be seen. I told him that when Chinese people paint living ones, there are several rituals to follow. There should be light on the face and sparkles in the eyes, the four sides of the painting should be left seen, the painting needs to be framed with light-colored wooden frames, and the black frame is only suitable for people who have passed away. At first he was a little embarrassed, then we looked at each other and laughed. "The differences between Chinese and Western cultures are really huge. Thank you, my teacher, for teaching me so much." He said. He picked up the brush again and added highlights to my eyes and face, and the portrait came to life instantly. I laid this portrait on my desk with alacrity.

Because of his love for painting, Yonas wanted to switch his major for his master's degree from civil engineering to art design. I took a few photos of his works and sent them to my painter friends for professional comments. They said in a sincere and straightforward way that as an amateur, he had quite a good painting skill, but if he wanted to make painting a career, there was still a long way to go. I couldn't tell him face to face the disappointing news that might curb his enthusiasm in painting.

Instead, I came up with an alternative idea. I took him to Bada Shanren Memorial Hall, where he got to understand the principles held by Zhu Da (aka Bada Shanren), one of the most famous ink wash painters in China, that “the artists should not rigidly follow the rules, but seek to innovate. In addition to pursuing the beauty of appearances such as shapes, lines, and colors, it is also necessary to convey the spirit and inner beauty of the characters and things in the paintings.” Zhu's works manifest the idea of “less is more”. Some of his paintings depict just one single bird or rock in a couple of brushstrokes on a large piece of paper, yet they are extremely lifelike and appealing; we then visited Cai Chao's Traditional Chinese Painting Studio, where he saw a variety of Chinese paintings, completed in different styles and skills, portraying the depth, broadness and the vicissitude of our life; next we had an enlightening trip to the lacquer art studio showcasing the works of Mr. Xiong Jianxin, a master of arts and crafts in China, where he witnessed how lacquer art integrates traditional techniques of carving, stacking, engraving, inlaying, painting and grinding with the art of modern oil painting; in the end, I showed him around the Ceramics Studio of Wu Tianlin, a luminary in the Chinese porcelain art, where he appreciated those exquisite ceramic works, on which beautiful patterns of landscape, flowers, birds and figures, together with famous lines from poems and essays complement each other harmoniously.

Clever as he is, Yonas quickly understood what I was trying to tell him through these tours. He told me he would continue to use his painting skills in bridge design, and that one day he would be Ethiopia's Mao Yisheng, a highly prestigious Chinese bridge designer. Once he made up his mind, his grades improved by leaps and bounds, thus winning a scholarship as a freshman in the graduate school. When Jiangxi International Company came to our campus to hire new blood, Yonas was the only student who received a job offer.

Yonas visits Jingdezhen Ceramics Biennale (the first from left).

Yonas participates in the soiree of Porcelain's Journey Along the Silk Road.

Yonas learns to make ceramics in Jingdezhen (the second from left).

Nizi—the dream seeker travelling in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

Nizi experiences skating at Mingyue Mountain in Yichun.

The fine-looking and eloquent Pakistani student Nizi is one of NCHU's first graduates majoring in aerospace engineering. Whenever he meets people for the first time, he likes to introduce himself in a passionate way: "My name is Zhuang Yili. Zhuang is from Zhuangzi, a respectful ancient Chinese philosopher. Yi comes from the word yili, which means perseverance. And li is in the Chinese word lirang, meaning politeness." He's very satisfied with his self-introduction, thinking it's kind of a special one. When he was studying at NCHU, he would always ask me, "Ms Xie, do you think I'm like a real Chinese now?"

Born in 1990, Nizi is a witty, sincere, funny and very communicative young man. He has a very high level of English listening, speaking, reading, writing, and translation. He is also proficient in Chinese with a HSK level-5 certificate. In addition, he can speak Urdu, Pashto and Hindi.

After graduation, Nizi was disappointed and frustrated by not being able to find a suitable job. He felt that the future was bleak, thus consulting me on WeChat from time to time. I suggested he use his advantage in mastering multiple languages and broaden the channels and fields when looking for a job. He followed my advice and became an IELTS tutor. Since 2014, he had worked as an ESL teacher at Webi, an English training institution, and concurrently as an overseas project manager of MAP Engineering Co., Ltd. Due to his outstanding performance in the team of the training school, he was then in charge of the Webi online platform team since 2016, responsible for developing course materials. He successfully built an IELTS course system suitable for part-time English learners, and managed a team of 6 teachers. By actively promoting the online learning platform, he had built a large client base of foreign language learning for the institution.

In December 2020, Nizi started an import and export trade company in Xi'an, whose business scope covers food sales, knitted textiles and raw material sales, metal material sales, technical services, technical development, consultation and exchanges, and etc. Thanks to China's national strategy "Belt and Road Initiative" and the ironclad relation between China and Pakistan, countless Pakistani like Nizi have been bringing Made-in-China products back to their home country.

Although his work is getting busier, he still misses his alma mater. Those wonderful tours he had when he was living in Jiangxi are still mentioned by him every now and then: going to Fuzhou to follow the footsteps of the playwright Tang Xianzu, known as the Oriental Shakespeare; visiting Jingdezhen, the thousand-year-old porcelain capital, to appreciate ceramics; traveling to Ganzhou to learn about China's revolutionary history; climbing up Mount Lu, described by numerous ancient poets, where Li Bai wrote down “its torrent dashes down three thousand feet from high” and Su Shi said one will never tell the true face of Mount Lu; and spending time on Sanqing Mountain, a famous Taoist mountain covered by clouds and fog. Of all the trips, the one that excites him the most is going to the Ski Resort on Mingyue Mountain in winter because it hardly snows in his home country. To him, snow is like a carpet of cotton batting, a bright moon in the sky and a crispy meringue tipped with yellow and pink. The buckwheat flowers scent the cold air, as if the snowflakes are fragrant as well. What a gorgeous view!

Nizi says Nanchang is his second hometown. The locals in Nanchang start a fresh new day with a bowl of Nanchang stir-fried rice noodles and some soup stewed in a pottery pot. When he first came to Nanchang, Nizi followed the local customs and quickly fell in love with the noodles and soup here. With a cost of only 5 yuan, one could get to taste a mouthful of smooth and fragrant rice noodles and the soup made with a secret recipe that has been passed down for thousands of years, one will enjoy the feeling of delicacies dancing on the tip of the taste buds. Besides the gourmet foods, Nizi still remembers the shock that Wugong Mountain brought him: when he reached the top of the mountain, he saw an endless lush prairie. White fluffy clouds and a seemingly endless grassland can make all troubles and worries disappear. At night, he and his friends lie in the tent, watching the starry sky, as if they were taken right back to their carefree childhood. His friends took him to eat Lianhua (lotus) braised duck cutlets in blood sauce. He thought it was too spicy yet tasty. He asked, "Doesn't the name of this dish contain lotus? Why are there only duck cutlets but no lotus?" Everyone at the table laughed.

International students have a more objective understanding of the richness and diversity of different civilizations. An unimpeded two-way exchange between countries enables the students to have an international perspective and philosophies, thus helping them form an ever-growing endogenous strength for the development of their own countries, the common well-being of mankind and the sustainable development of the world. Studying overseas is not only a good choice for young people from different countries to travel and communicate, but also a good opportunity to share global talents and resources for all countries. In the new era, China will cultivate more international talents in a further open and inclusive manner. (written by Yiqing)

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Xi: Chinese dream is the people's dream

Key concept has been abiding goal of CPC to seek national rejuvenation since 1921

Six years ago, President Xi Jinping shared his understanding of the Chinese dream with American audience when delivering a speech at a grand welcome banquet in the city of Seattle during his state visit to the United States.

With his personal stories, Xi recounted China's socioeconomic progress and the essence of the Chinese dream－an abiding goal of the Communist Party of China to seek national rejuvenation since its founding in 1921 and an ultimate theme that tied the CPC and the Chinese people together.

Xi's explanation was convincing in that his stories are exactly a demonstration of the people-centered philosophy of the CPC in governing the country. With such a philosophy, the Party has gone through a century with meticulous achievements in the Chinese revolution, construction, reform and opening-up and the modernization process.

The four-day sixth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, starting on Monday in Beijing, will review a key resolution on the major achievements and historical experience of the Party's 100 years of endeavors.

The milestone document in the CPC's history will help foreigners who are interested in China have a good knowledge about how the Party arrived in where it is today and how it will lead the country to a brighter future. And it will certainly help the audience who listened to Xi's speech in Seattle better understand why the Chinese leader cares so much about his people.

During that speech, Xi mentioned a small village of Liangjiahe in Shaanxi province, where he spent seven years working as a farmer from 1969 at the age of 15. "At that time, the villagers and I lived in 'earth caves' and slept on 'earth beds.' Life was very hard. There was no meat in our diet for months. I knew what the villagers wanted the most."

Later, Xi became the village's Party secretary and began to lead the villagers in production. "One thing I wished most at the time was to make it possible for the villagers to have meat and have it often. But it was very difficult for such a wish to come true in those years."

Great changes have taken place in the village with the development of China. When Xi came back to the village in early 2015, he found that villagers live in houses with bricks and tiles, they had Internet access, elderly folks had basic old-age care, children are in school, and all villagers had medical care coverage.

"Of course, meat was readily available," he told the audience. "This made me keenly aware that the Chinese dream is, after all, a dream of the people. We can fulfill the Chinese dream only when we link it with our people's yearning for a better life."

Just like in Liangjiahe, more and more people elsewhere in China are seeing their dreams for a better life come true under the leadership of the CPC, which is uniting and leading the Chinese people on the new journey of realizing national rejuvenation.

"The leadership of the CPC clearly has the support of the people of China," said Stephen Perry, chairman of Britain's 48 Group Club, told Xinhua News Agency. "The basic position of the CPC has been, is, and will continue to be all about the people, hear the people, and get the policies right to meet the needs of the people."

Recalling his meeting with Xi years ago, Perry said, "I looked into his eyes as he was talking. I could see a man who'd experienced poverty, who'd experienced the life of the farmers of China."

According to the Chinese president, the Chinese dream is also a dream about peace, development, cooperation and win-win result. It has resonated far and wide across countries as the world looks to enduring peace and common prosperity.

Howard Schultz, honorary chairman of Starbucks, who was among the audience who listened to Xi in Seattle, said the progress in Liangjiahe was a microcosm of the progress China has made through reform and opening-up in the last four decades.

In a letter to Xi on November 9,2020, Schultz said "the yearning for a better life that is part of the Chinese dream reminds me of the American dream". The stories happened in the northern Shaanxi village helped him gain a deeper understanding of Xi's words about how the Chinese dream and the American dream have something in common, he said.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, has said on many occasions that the Chinese dream is about pursuing strength of the country, rejuvenation of the nation and happiness of the people, and the dream of the world is about enduring peace and common prosperity. These two dreams can always be pursued together, he said.

Under the leadership of the CPC, China has embarked on the new journey toward socialist modernization and national rejuvenation after the Party marked its 100th anniversary of its founding on July 1.

"Looking back on the path we have travelled and looking forward to the journey that lies ahead, it is certain that with the firm leadership of the Party and the great unity of the Chinese people of all ethnic groups, we will achieve the goal of building a great modern socialist country in all respects and fulfill the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation," said Xi at the grand gathering marking the Party's centenary on July 1.

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Chinese People’s Dreams

Chinese Life – Bitter-Sweet Portraits

Executive Editor: Wen Fang

Price: RMB 128

Paperback, 225 pages

Published by Foreign Languages Press

AS humans hold cherished dreams, so do nations. In an era when everyone is discussing the Chinese dream, it is a necessity to understand that the Chinese Dream is in fact its people’s dream. This book tells the tales of 24 Chinese pursuing their dreams, following their trials and tribulations, it takes the reader on a captivating journey across their joys and sorrows, tears and laughter, and in doing so, also reflects the story of China’s development and transformation.

The book is divided into five different sections, which are Recreation & Sports, Science & Technology, Business Elite, Great Love, and Ordinary People’s lives, each representing stories of Chinese people in those areas. Among them are Mo Yan, a writer who won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature; Liu Yang, the first female astronaut who successfully completed an outer space task from the spacecraft “Shenzhou-9;” Ang Lee, renowned director who won the 85th Oscar Award for Best Director and is the first Asian director to receive the award twice; Jack Ma, an entrepreneur who is the first from China’s mainland to appear on the cover of the U.S. financial magazine Forbes; Ye Shiwen, an athlete known as “Flying Fish Girl” who broke world records and won two Olympic gold medals at the 2012 Olympics in London; Zhang Lili, a teacher praised as “The Most Beautiful Female Teacher” who lost both legs in a car accident in order to rescue her students; Peng Yan, a military nurse who is known as the “Alpine Snow Lotus”; and Cheng Junrong, a migrant worker who was also a delegate to the 18th CPC National Congress.

Their stories are pieced together to illustrate the common experience of the Chinese people and great transformation of the nation: its booming economy, strength in science and technology, people’s colorful lives, frequent business and trade between nations, surging happiness index, and people’s sense of gain and joy.

The book is authored by reporters who traversed across the country to do interviews inside farmer’s houses, at factories , and on farmlands. Their love for the motherland, industrious work, and vision urged them to record these stories on their journeys. As witnesses and narrators, their writings also make these characters come alive.

Chen Xiaoqing, general director of a food documentary A Bite of China which attracted great attention from home and abroad, is a major character of this book.

When Chen was asked about his purpose for shooting this documentary, he replied, “We hope to present to the audience the Chinese people’s living conditions, the relationships between food, people, and society, as well as multiple cultural traits of Chinese cuisines.”

Chen is a true gourmand, and is equally high spirited when at work. After graduating from the Beijing Broadcasting Institute in 1989 (now the Communication University of China) with a major in photography, Chen found a job in CCTV shooting documentaries. At that time, it was a very rewarding job. However, after 2000, documentaries had deteriorated and their broadcasting time was readjusted to midnight, which led him to depression. Even so, Chen never abandoned documentary filmmaking. He wrote on his blog then, “We are willing to be lonely since a documentary itself is lonely.” Things changed in 2003 when China faced an unprecedented fight with the SARS virus epidemic. Chen and his colleagues filmed Sixty Days in Ditan Hospital, a detailed record of the story of Chinese people who fought against SARS together. This experience enabled the world to realize the value of their documentaries. The old high-spirited Chen was back again.

Chen was also given a nickname “Street sweeping mouth” by his colleagues because he would like to conduct a blanket search along the streets of Beijing. Whenever he found good restaurants, he would find an opportunity to try them, and carefully record their names and addresses. His cell phone eventually became a treasure trove of names and addresses of the best cuisine available in Beijing. This in-depth knowledge led Chen’s documentary to become an instant success.

In the first week of the documentary’s launch, its rating on douban.com was as high as 9.6, higher than many Hollywood blockbusters. Chen, with his distinct taste for food, extensive knowledge of Chinese cuisine, and professional photography skills, presented the world with profound food culture and made those warm stories with a Chinese taste.

Besides well-known public figures, ordinary people’s lives are also examined in the book. “The Community’s Old Lady” is what Chen Fenglian is called by the residents of the community where she works. Like many women who were laid off by state-owned enterprises, Chen began to look for a new job when she was let go in 2002. Eight years passed, she has grown to be an outstanding community worker and the dean of the Neighborhood Committee of the community.

“Community work is like passing a thread through the eye of a needle which requires both patience and dedication.” Creating a harmonious community is the core of Chen’s work. As for her, a community is like a big family and a community worker who manages big and small issues should act as the head of a family. Everything she says and does aptly represents an ordinary community worker’s duty and dedication.

Many foreign readers cannot understand why the term Chinese Dream in government reports is the common aspiration of every Chinese person. Upon reading this book does one realize that the mosaic of diverse lives and hopes all comes together to form the tapestry bound together by the common Chinese Dream of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and its people.  

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My life journey in China

From MD HANIF AL SABBIR, a Bangladeshi student of Wuxi Institute of Technology.

Life is a journey. To see the world and discover ourselves through experience and travel.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Chinese Proverb. Everyone’s life has its own story. I have also. I begin my story today when I start my journey to China. A journey that changed my life for the better.

My name is Sabbir, I am from Bangladesh. I came to China in 2018 to pursue my study at Wuxi Institute of Technology, Wuxi City, Jiangsu province. Even though I was been told so many negative aspects towards this country which I didn’t care. I wanted to see through by myself. I believed China is much better and I wasn’t wrong. I’m enjoying my life and can dream up the best possible future in China.

It’s been almost 3 years since the first day I arrived in China. I was thought that I will face immense pressure and difficulties here. I was ready for that, however, it’s not like that. The hospitality of Chinese people is outstanding. I feel more comfortable doing anything in here. My Teachers are the best. No matter what circumstances I face here they always help me out. It goes for everyone which really touches my heart. Never less, every single time I can see the latest phase of development in this country. It’s hard to digest how incredible the Chinese people are. No matter what hardship they face still they work together. When a nation’s people are united for its ultimate goal, no one can stop them. We are seeing this first hand during this pandemic.

China keeps me surprise with its culture and development. It has 5000 years of rich culture, unlike anything we have ever seen. Chinese people respect their old ways and still following that despite so much modernization that took place. Its balanced society has been achieved under the Chinese Government. Their strong and clear regulations and right development schemes help the country to rise above in the world and soon going to take place the number one strong economic empire.

Back to myself, The Chinese education system is excellent and it really gives me new perspectives and ideas to reshape myself. Not only that but also I learned many things which give me a lot of confidence to do more. I can attend many prestigious competitions so far and achieved many honors. I never thought that I am capable of that kind of works but China changed me. All thanks go to My God, my teachers, and everyone else.

I can still remember when I first came this country. I was nervous, not sure what will happened but I was curious and confidence. Chinese people welcomed me with warm heart and open mind. I able to travel many cities so far in last 3 years. Suzhou, Changzhou, Nanjing, Suqian, Shanghai, Yixing, Hangzhou and so on. Everywhere the culture and the color of life is different and amazing.

Smart Manufacturing Technology Craftsmanship Spirit | Special TV broadcast of CETV4 in the "Double High 100" column of China Education Television Station "Into Wuxi Vocational and Technical College". My Interview.

During these 3 years, I have done so many activities which I can’t even count. In my Institute, I able to participate in many competitions. Also participated in many educational and travel videos and short films. Such as Videos about educational WeChat related English video 2019, The Chinese culture of pottery and my journey to china documentary 2020, The cultural journey in Jiangsu video 2019, Covid19 awareness competition video 2020, and many more.

If I really want to share and talk about my academic awards it won't be done in few words. Thanks to everyone I am having the highest number of awards and certifications among international students in my Institute. Among them, in the 2019 Fifth China Internet and University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship competition won the 3rd prize. Among more than 1000+ projects from all the Universities in China being in the top 3 is really something. Again in 2020 won the Silver award in the Online International Invitational Competition of Internet of Things. Represented my own country and winning is really makes me happy. The same year 2020 won 2nd place in the Third Foreign Education Club cup in Jiangsu Province. Won the most prestigious 2020 Jiangsu Youth Friendship Envoy, as the only foreigner Youth Ambassador in the group is a really remarkable achievement I got so far. Also, the latest Certification got from Alibaba group which is Alibaba’s Global Youth Training program of Cross-border E-Commerce Talent. Besides all of this, there are many other achievements I have earned with the help of the Wuxi Institute of Technology. The teachers are helpful. No matter what hardship I face they always helped me out from it. The friendly Chinese environment and facilities can give you easy access to catch your dream.

Jiangsu is really a remarkable place. When it comes to education I can say it’s one of the top choices by international students. The highest number of best Educational Institutes, vast opportunities in research and explorations, enough facilities, number of scholarships. All this makes it an easy choice. Apart from that Jiangsu is also full of natural beauty, ancient cities, and full of Industries. It’s still a growing economic zone which is why the number of foreign ex-pats coming each year and their numbers are increasing. The Taihu Lake is the beautiful creation of Mother Nature. Not only just beauty but it is an important key place in Jiangsu. Economic, habitat, nature everything is connected with this lake. It also makes me happy always.

There is a lot of propaganda we see about China on social media every day but we know the real truth. We live here and experience the best lifestyle we can possibly get from a country like China. We have our freedom of speech and freedom of religion and every civil right as a foreigner. We never feel under pressure by any means. The Government indeed took some extreme regulations which are for everyone’s safety. We have been seen that after the pandemic starts. But in reality, if we maintain these systems it will benefit everyone. Unlike many other countries, citizens don’t take it seriously which ends up in massive calamities. The Chinese citizens are very good to understand their well-being. As for that, they follow the rules. As a result, China has the lowest infection rates of Covid-19 today. Without a doubt, I feel safe and sound in China.

I am happy to become part of this great nation which helps to push me toward my life achievement. I really have no words on how to thank the people of China. As Tony Robbins once said – “The only impossible journey is the one you never begin”

I am glad that my journey begins in Jiangsu, China to this beautiful Wuxi city. My journey is not over yet. I am still continuing my life journey to see what else this magnificent country will offer for me in the future.

Let’s see, Love you China.

My name is Sabbir, my Chinese name is 沙迪, I am from Bangladesh. I came to China in 2018 to pursue my study at Wuxi Institute of Technology, Wuxi City, Jiangsu province. My hobby is photography, reading, video content creation, writing and traveling. Since my arrival in China, I traveled to many places and got in touch with Chinese culture and its ideals. As an Asian, I do understand deeply the Chinese morals and their ideals. I m passionate to do things I like and do leadership. In the last 3 years on campus and off-campus I attended numerous events and been honored with different awards and prestigious honorable mentions. Being an active Expat I able to participate in different local programs which shows me the inside of Chinese cultural heritage. I wish to do more and challenge myself to my limits. I want to experience more about the nature and culture of this land. I want to travel more which will satisfy my curiosity about China.

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of China Daily and China Daily website.

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Chinese dream and my dream Essay

“There would be no new China without the Communist Party”. I’ve heard of this stating since I was a small kid. From so on. the Communist Party has left a deep and elephantine feeling on me. China makes great advancement under the leading of the Communist Party which has ever been the belief of China. I’ve been told that it would be a great award to be a party member. So now I am a party member and the Chinese belief becomes my echt belief. However. as turning up. I begin to inquire whether all the party members can see the Communist party as their belief all the clip and whether they are making the things the party member should make.

The reply is so defeated. The power of Chinese belief and the consciousness of Chinese people of back uping the belief are going weaker and weaker. China needs a house and strong advocator of the belief. Many people can set up the belief of going a party member. but they can’t follow their original belief all the life-time. Gradually they lose themselves in the orgy lives and they forget what they have said under the flag. Other people without party association are harder to see their ain belief clearly.

A state without definite belief is deplorable and atrocious because it can be easy destroyed by the outside rumour. Chinese dream of demand a power to keep the belief is the same as my dream. We are confronting the similar state of affairs. It is easy for me to put up a end. but I can’t carry out the end from get downing to stop. Sometimes the obstructions or the outside environment do me give up the end. I lack the doggedness. I lack the power to keep the end. I’ m a member of the Communist Party. but I’m non true of the name for the ground I’ve mentioned above.

After many old ages. I’ m afraid of going the sort of individual I disliked before. I’ m afraid of losing myself in the busy universe. I’ m afraid of forget all the dream and belief made when I was immature. I truly necessitate the power to assist me keep the belief. China is developing and I’ m turning. We all portion the same dream. China needs the citizens to rouse themselves and I need the self-awakening. The glamor of the surface must be really vulnerable. We should be tested by the clip. Merely keeping the belief all the clip can we travel further towards the success. Chinese dream is my dream. Hoping the dream comes true.

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