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It is said that we can see the world in a grain of sand. Similarly, we can tell how the Chinese Dream is advancing by looking at the dramatic changes a city in China has been going through.
Pioneering Port City Embodies Chinese Dream of National Rejuvenation Coming True
William Neil Brown
1 When our family moved to Xiamen in the southeastern province of Fujian in 1988, it was hard to believe that only a century earlier many Westerners had claimed that Xiamen boasted (自豪地拥有) the wealthiest square mile on earth.
2 For centuries, Xiamen had been famed (出名) for both its deep natural port and "a kindlier spirit, a more generous (慷慨的) feeling, predominant (显著的) at Amoy [Xiamen], toward foreigners, and traders (商人), and visitors, than at other parts of China," as authors Thomas Allom and George Wright wrote in their 1843 book China: In a Series of Views, Displaying the Scenery, Architecture, and Social Habits of That Ancient Empire (帝国).
3 Xiamen was not only rich but also talented (有天资的), producing pioneers such as Dr. Lin Qiaozhi, mother of modern obstetrics (产科学) and gynecology (妇科学) in China, John Ma, father of modern Chinese sports, Lu Zhuangzhang, the first Chinese to propose a system of spelling for the Chinese languages, astronomer (天文学家) Yu Qingsong, and dozens of others who influenced not just the nation but the world.
4 But by 1988, the thousands of once elegant (优美的) Amoy Deco Style villas(别墅) on Gulangyu, the tiny island off the coast of Xiamen, which would later become a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage (遗产) Site, were in disrepair (失修). The villas, combining traditional (传统的) Chinese and Western architecture (建筑风格), had been converted (改建) into apartments (公寓) and dorms (宿舍). Xiamen's roads were narrow and potholed (坑坑洼洼的). We had daily power outages (断供期), and the foreign expert building's water outages sometimes lasted for three or four days.
Contagious (富于感染力的) confidence
5 Although we weren't happy with the living conditions, we fell in love with Xiamen's warmhearted (热心肠的) and hospitable (好客的) people. In spite of problems, they were cheerful and optimistic because life was already better than it had been in half a century and they were confident that things would get even better. Their contagious confidence so captivated (使着迷) us that I agreed to help Xiamen University's fledgling (刚刚起步的) MBA program for a year or two1 — and we're still here three decades later, and have no plans to leave.
6 As I learned about Chinese history and culture, and the pragmatism (实用主义) and efficiency (效率) of Chinese governance (治理), I too began to share the locals' confidence in the future, yet none of us dreamed that the transformation would be so rapid and complete. I thought we were simply planting trees for future generations to enjoy the shade, but within two decades we were enjoying life in a town that the UN had recognized as one of the planet's(地球) most livable (宜居的) cities.
7 What most impressed me about Xiamen was the leadership's holistic (全面的) and long-term vision. The mayor (市长) of Xiamen in the 1990s declared that the city would not grow at the expense of the environment and then try to restore (恢复) it, but balance growing and greening. As a result, Xiamen was grown and greened over a 20-year period. Its unique mix of rich business opportunities coupled with a garden island environment made the city a magnet (有吸引力的事物) for investors (投资者) from all over China and abroad.
8 Yet even though I had witnessed Xiamen's impressive (给人深刻印象的) changes, I had no idea of the sophistication (复杂性) of the visionary (有远见的) and holistic urban planning that had made those changes possible until 2002, when I spent eight months helping Xiamen prepare for the international competition for livable communities in Stuttgart, Germany.
9 After eight months of research, I was confident that our city would do well, but never imagined that the six international judges would not only vote Xiamen but also admit that theirs were far behind. After my presentation, many leaders from other countries bombarded (大量提问) me with such questions as, "How could a city change so rapidly and completely?" "How did they grow without sacrificing the environment?" "How do you get so many volunteers for everything?" "Do you believe Xiamen will continue improving?”
Art of governance
10 In 2004, Xiamen also received the UN-Habitat Scroll (卷轴) of Honour Award asa tribute (表彰) to its contributions to developing housing. Our city has improved to this very day, thanks to visionary leadership and a capable (有能力的) populace (民众). But much of Xiamen's success is also due to the support of a national system of governance that even centuries ago astonished Western observers (观察者).
11 In 1731, British politician (政治家) Eustace Budgell said China had many great inventions but the entire world recognized that its greatest achievement was its "art of governance." Great thinkers such as Voltaire even urged (力劝) European monarchies (王室) to adopt China's governance principles and to choose leaders based on competence (能力), not connections or heredity (世袭).
12 Over the years I helped a dozen cities enter the international livable cities competition and all but one won the gold because Chinese cities have what most foreign cities do not—a system of governance in which all levels, from township (镇区) to national, are integrated to efficiently pursue (追求) a common goal grounded in pragmatic (务实的) economics, sciences and engineering to meet the needs of one fifth of the world's population.
13 In 1994, I drove 40,000km around China, even to Inner Mongolia Autonomous (自治的) Region (区域) in the north and Tibet Autonomous Region in the southwest, to see the extent of changes, and retraced (重走) that trip in 2019. I saw firsthand (一手) that not just Xiamen but even remote (偏远的) cities in the west no longer endure power and water outages because of such historically unparalleled projects as the Three Gorges Dam (三峡大坝), built for flood control, irrigation (灌溉) and clean electricity production, the Westto- East Electricity Transmission (传输) Project to divert (转移) electricity from the powersurplus west to the densely (密集地) populated (有人居住的) east, and the South-to-North Water Diversion Project to bring water to the drought-prone (易干旱的) north.
14 And not just Xiamen buteven remote mountain towns and villages are connected by the world's most extensive (广泛的) high-speed railway and highway networks. These transport (交通) facilities (设施) are benefiting the rest of the world through the Belt and Road Initiative (倡议).
Dream coming true
15 Today, Xiamen is worlds apart from the backwater (闭塞的地方) town we moved to in1988. Our beautiful garden island not only attracts business and hi-tech innovation but also tourists, often ranking first or second in China as a holiday destination. While most people must travel to Xiamen and stay in hotels, my wife and I enjoy a Xiamen holiday 365 days a year, and we never tire of it. We also never take it for granted because we remember too well how much Xiamen has changed thanks to visionary local, provincial (省的) and national leadership.
16 In spite of (尽管) the great changes in Xiamen and the rest of the country, we are confident that the best is yet ahead. As American missionary (传教士) Mary Gamewell wrote a century ago, “China is not like ancient Egypt, whose greatness has departed (离去) though she still lives on. China is a vital (生机勃勃的) force whose largest possibilities of development lie before and not behind her. A new fresh life is beginning to course through the nation's veins (血脉)."
17 Her words are even truer today. I believe that China has achieved the Chinese dream. My dream is that the world can learn from China and make it the world's dream.
