-
My Story and the Chinese Dream
Behind It
In the past twenty
years, China has faced three American presidents,
but till
coming
to
Yale
today,
I
never
realized
that
China
really
just
faced
one
university.
Although,
through
these
three
presidents,
I
understand
that
the
quality of Yale
graduates is not so even.
Let me begin
my main subject and let me give it a title, called
“
My Story and
the
Chinese Dream Behind It
”
. I
want to talk about five particular years. The
first is 1968. That year I was born.
But it was also a chaotic year for the world.
In France, there was this huge street
disturbance, and in America, too. Then
President Kennedy was assassinated.
However, I really did not cause all of
these! But that year what
?
we remember more was the
assassination of Mr.
Martin Luther
King. Although he fell that year, his words
“
I have a
dream
”
stood up,
not only stood up in America, but across the whole
world.
But sadly, not only for me, but
for almost all Chinese, we did not know such a
dream. It was hard to describe each
Chinese as having his or her own dream.
China and America were so far apart, no
less far apart than the Moon and the
Earth. But I
didn
’
t care about any of
that. All I cared about was could I have a
full meal. Clearly, I was born at a
very inconvenient time, not only for China,
but even for the world, there were
problems.
In 1978, ten years later, I
was 10. I still lived in the very little city that
had only
200 thousand people at the
time I was born. It was 2000 km from Beijing. If
you
wanted to read the
newspaper from Beijing, you waited three days. So
for us,
there was no such thing as
news. That year my grandfather passed away. Two
years before that my father passed
away. So there was just my mother left to
take care of me and my brother. Her
monthly salary was not even ten dollars.
As a result, even though I was 10, the
word
“
dream
”
was still not in my
vocabulary, and I would never think of
it. I could not see hope in this family, but
only felt bitter cold every winter.
Where we lived was close to the Soviet Union.
Yet the 1978 in which I could not see
hope was also the year that a huge
change took place, whether for China or
for the relationship between China
and
America. That is a date that everybody here today
should remember.
December 16, 1978,
China and America officially established
diplomatic
relations. That was a big
event. And two days after that, December 18 was
when China opened the 3rd Plenary
Session of the Eleventh CPC Central
Committee. That was the beginning of
thirty-one years of Reform and Opening.
History, two great nations, and a very
pitiful family all became intertwined in a
theatrical way. Truthfully, from the
small personal family, to the big family of the
country, nobody then had any idea what
the future would be like.
In 1988, I
was 20. At this time I had already come out of the
little border town to
Beijing as a
university student. Although we have many people
in China today
criticizing
China
’
s university entrance
exams and see many many deficiencies
in
it, it must be said that it is such a system that
allowed very ordinary people
like me to have the opportunity to
change our lives. Of course, at that time,
America was no longer a very distant
country. It became very specific. It was
no longer the
“
Imperialist
America
”
of the
past slogans, but it became the
many
details in our lives. This was the first time that
I tasted Coca-Cola. When
I finished
drinking it I believed China and America were
truly so close, because
it tasted just
like Chinese medicine.
That was a time
when I took a crazy liking to
rock
’
n'roll. That was a time
when
Michael Jackson still looked
relatively handsome. More importantly, that was a
time when China experienced very big
transformations, as Reform and
Opening
had already gone on for ten years. That year,
China began
experimenting with market
pricing for many goods. It may feel like something
totally incomprehensible to you, but it
was a big deal in China, a huge step,
because before that the prices were
decided by the government. But in that
year, because price controls were
relaxed, the whole country went on a crazy
shopping spree. Everybody all thought,
how long could this last, so they had to
get a whole
life
’
s worth of food and
goods to bring home. That year symbolized
that China marched closer and closer to
a market economy.
Of course back then
nobody knew that market economy could also have a
subprime crisis. Anyway, I know that
1988 was an extra important year for Yale,
because a Yale alum once again became
an American President.
In
1998, I was 30. I had already become a news anchor
at CCTV. More
importantly, I had become
the father of a one-year-old child. That year a
very
important thing happened between
China and America, and the protagonist
was Clinton. Perhaps you remember his
sexual scandal in America, but in
China
what we remember is his visit to China that year.
In June, when he
visited China, he and
President Jiang Zemin held an open press
conference in
the Great Hall of the
People. Then he gave an open lecture at Peking
University. The live anchor for both
events was me.
During
Clinton
’
s lecture at Peking
University, because he used his own
translator the whole time, I guessed
that many Chinese viewers only knew that
Clinton was definitely saying
something, but what he said
wasn
’
t all that clear.
So near the end of my live broadcast, I
remarked that it looked like for America
to learn more about China, sometimes it
needed to start with language, though
for our two countries, face-to-face was
always better than back-to-back. It was
also at the beginning of that year that
I drove the first car in my life. For me this
was unimaginable before, that Chinese
people one day would also drive their
own cars. A personal delight can also
make a lasting impression, because
sometimes the first time is the most
unforgettable.
In 2008, I was 40. The
words
“
I have a
dream
”
that
haven
’
t been discussed
for many years now were heard among so
many Americans. It seemed like
Obama
really did not want to accept
Yale
’
s 20-year occupation of
America.
Using words like <
/p>
“
change
”
and
“
dream
”
, he even convinced Yale
teachers
and students to parade and
celebrate his election to the Presidency,
according
to what
I
’
ve heard.
But
this was also a year in which the Chinese Dream
showed clearly. After
encountering many
setbacks as any grand dream in the world is
destined to, it
came through. Whether
it was the long-awaited Beijing Olympics, or the
first
spacewalk by a Chinese aboard the
Shenzhou 7, these were all dreams which
we have waited for a long time since a
long time ago. But the sudden Sichuan
Earthquake made all this not as
magnificent as we had expected.
Eighty-
thousand lives departed, and made every day of
2008 seem like a year.
I
’
m guessing that
on Yale
’
s campus, on every
web site, in front of television
and
newspapers, were also many people from China, and
people in all parts of
the world, who
shed tears for these lost lives. Just like forty
years ago when Mr.
Martin Luther King
fell but allowed the words
“
I have a
dream
”
to stand
higher,
more enduring, and seem ever
more valuable, more Chinese people also
came to understand that dreams are
important, but lives are even more so.
During the Olympics, I passed my own
fortieth birthday. That day I was full of
emotional thoughts, because when the
day of my birthday approached, I was
broadcasting an exciting competition.
Twenty-four hours later, when my
birthday was passing, I was still
broadcasting. But that day I felt very fortunate.
Because it was such a
special fortieth birthday at the Beijng Olympics
that
made me realize the Chinese Dream
behind my personal story.
It was in
this kind of forty years that I went from a far-
away border-town kid
who had no
possibility of having a dream, to a newsman who
could be at a big
festival celebrated
with all of humanity and who could communicate and
share
the happiness with them. This was
a life story that took place in China. And in
this year, China and America were not
far apart. There was a bit of me in you
and a bit of you in me, we needed each
other. It was said that President Bush
spent the longest time in any country
abroad as President, and that was during
the Beijing Olympics. Phelps took eight
medals there, and his family was there
by his side. All Chinese wished that
extraordinary family well. Of course, every
dream will pass. In such a year, China
and America almost simultaneously
found
their new
“
I have a
dream
”
moment,
and it was so coincidental, and so
deserving.
America is facing
a very very difficult financial crisis, and it
isn
’
t only America,
but it affects the whole world
seriously. Yesterday I got to New York. As soon
as I deplaned, I went to Wall Street.
There I saw the statue of President
Washington. His gaze was permanently
fixed on the huge American flag on
the
stock exchange. Interestingly, the hall behind the
statue was holding an
exhibition on
“
President Lincoln in New
York
”
, so President
Lincoln
’
s huge
portrait was also on it, and he also
gazed at the flag. I felt the very solemn
weight of history. When I
left there, I told my colleague this. I said, many
many
years ago, if something like this
befell America, perhaps Chinese people would
have taken pleasure, because see,
America is miserable again. But today,
Chinese people would especially wish
that America get better soon. Because
we have hundreds of billions worth of
money with America. We also have a
huge
quantity of products waiting to be put on
freighters and sent to America. If
America
’
s economy
takes a step for the better, it means behind these
products,
another Chinese gets a raise,
it means he regains his employment and
happiness in the family.
In
the past 30 years, I don
’
t
know if you
’
ve noticed the
Chinese Dream that is
relevant to more
and more ordinary Chinese people. I
don
’
t know what other
country in this world, in the past 30
years, has changed the individual fates at
this magnitude. A kid from a remote
small city on the periphery, a kid in despair,
today has the chance to have an
exchange with these Yale students. Maybe
we can change the viewpoint, and look
at 1.3 billion very ordinary Chinese,
their down-to-earth dreams, their
impulsive drive to change their fates, their
still kindhearted temperament, and
their diligent character.
Today
’
s China is
made up of these words I just spoke.
In the past many years, Chinese seemed
to be looking at America through a
telescope. So everything good that is
in America was magnified by this
telescope. Frequently people mentioned
America was like this and like that,
then look at us, when can we be like
that. In the past many years, Americans
also seemed to be looking at China
through a telescope, but I am guessing
they held it backwards. Because what
they saw was a diminished,
always-
doing-wrong, full-of-problems China. They
overlooked 1.3 very
ordinary Chinese
people and this impulsive drive and urge of theirs
to change
their fate, which caused such
huge transformations in our country. But I also
always had this dream: why do we need
to use telescopes to look at each
other?
Of course I hope very
many Americans have a chance to go see China, and
not to look at China through the media.
You know I don
’
t really
trust all of my
colleagues.
I
’
m just kidding. Actually I
respect my American colleagues very
much. I only hope that more and more
American friends go to see a real China.
Because I can at least guarantee one
thing. Even if in America you ate what is
deemed to be the best Chinese food, in
won
’
t fetch a good price in
China. Just
like many many years ago,
in every city of China there was this popular
“
California Beef
Noodle
”
shop.
Many Chinese all thought, anything from
America was definitely very very tasty.
So they all went to eat. Although it was
not very tasty, they
didn
’
t complain because they
knew it was from America.
This fast-
food chain existed in China for many years, until
more and more
Chinese people came to
America, and searched every corner of California
for
a California Beef Noodle shop, and
could not find a single one. Only then did
more and more Chinese know that
California doesn
’
t have such
beef noodle,