By Khalil Roonjha,
LASBELA: Friends! You all might remember in text books of childhood the lesson “If you have to go, then to China” – a travelogue about China by the travelogue writer Ibne Insha. China might be the first country regarding entertainment and enjoyment that was mentioned in the text books. I too arrived in China as a foreign country traveler in my life, where repeated the lesson of Ibne Insha. A friend said’ friend, why did you go to Beijing? Sure this question would be on the mind of so many friends too and that is the first question on the arrival in the country that how the chance was got. The answer is simple that those who are in quest of learning and teaching finally find the chance to reach their destination. So I too got the golden opportunity to see Beijing Shanghai and Hainan that has been a superb experience. We five friends from Pakistan participated in a universal seminar relating to agriculture and modernism as part of ‘One Belt One Road’ plan. No doubt these twenty five days were matchless for learning. In fact we twenty five participants from the ten countries basically were the guests of agriculture and rural development with the financial assistance of Beijing Chamber of Commerce. The director general of Foreign Economy Cooperation Centre (FECC) during the inaugural ceremony explained the basic objectives of the seminar and stated the properties of ‘One Belt One Road’ project. Later on the Project Manager Ms Swing and project assistant Ms Alice and Ms Yvonne accompanied us till the next twenty days of learning and teaching, where the resource person guides kept on adding to our knowledge after learning session and visit and that was enough to refresh our minds. The first week we spent in Beijing, and there was autumn season and the cold was as fake as China fake materials. Jacket was not appropriate even when it was six degree Celsius and was difficult to take off once worn. But the Beijing residents were wearing such jackets and woolly coats as if it could snow any time. I asked our guide, why China was popular for the forgery. He replied that they make three kinds of products and we export fake goods as your businessmen demand, well as we as our luck.
On the second day of the training the organizer arranged a programme for amusement, where first of all we were shown The Great Wall of China. You can know through Google how when why and how long the wall was built but Google cannot give you the feelings and pain before you jump the stairs of the wall. Each stair is one and a half feet and looks as if we were exploring the Himalaya Mountains. After stepping five hundred stairs I and one of my co-traveler Farid Dilari passed a resolution that The Great Wall looks alike wherever you look from hence it’s useless to go more upstairs. Thus took you turn and returned. Obviously, it was one of the best decisions in life.
Generally the people are of the view that The Great Wall of China is a wonder but it may be misunderstanding because China itself is the biggest wonder of 21st century. The progress made by China in the course of last thirty or forty years could be seen in the recent history ever. When we set out for China, our first concern was what to eat there. It beggars my description how to state about the food there. There were no wheat bread or the like there but double bread French fries salad juice and non-spicy sea food were eaten during the twenty five days trip. We might have eaten undesirable edibles unknowingly. Our friend of Lasbela University Muhibullah Kakar served us with Kabuli fried rice and showed out the way to the hotel of a Pashtoon friend Khan Baba in Beijing, where we restored the efficiency of salt and chilies. Thanks Noman Hashim Roonjha for the halal milky tea who went to China from Lasbela for study. It is difficult in China for the social people like we who cannot live without Facebook Whatsapp or Instagram. It’s their concern whether there is democracy there in China or not but living without these applications was my serious concern. They had alternative for all these apps as they use WeChat – a Chinese social media app, instead of Whatsapp and Sogo instead of Google. Language was the biggest problem in China for the foreigners. No one understands English so if you want to know about the map, it’s useless to ask Chinese and there is no facility of Google map.
Special thanks to Lasbela University friends Shaikh Sana, professor Hakim, and professor Nisar who got free from China and asked us to install any Pakistani VPN to unblock any blocked application with the help of this because your Play Store even would not work there. This advice was so beneficial for us to utilize social media. The visitors from other countries could not use apps there without VPN, even the installation was impossible there. These days we too have security precautions in Pakistan. CCTV Cameras are installed at some places Beijing had too many as compared with any other city. There was nothing but cameras at cross roads. In buildings at public places and everywhere. The cameras were both for security and espionage purposes. Only a single face scanning could tell what you did from morning till evening. All were equal in the eyes of law. Here the youngsters respected the elders; no one commit crime; no one was involved in nudity or laziness but every one would work.; they got emancipation from drugs addiction; there was no red tapism at offices; the officers serve the masses that’s why respected. There was an atmosphere of affection between the youngster and elder. Opposite to us, every one was not involved in politics but every one was active in life activities. The people of Beijing would drink warm water that is why they have good digestion system and live longer. Wherever you would be, you could get warm water. They love Pakistan and raise the slogan ‘Pak Cheen Dosti Zindabad’ in China language. Beijing was enough to take us a back before observing the progress of the rest of China. During the seminar session the progress of China was by dint of education, the resource person professor explained. The Mao of China gave first priority to education and the progress made by China in higher education over the last two decades is matchless. The secret behind advancement in China is the scientific and technological education that is why the USA is compel to value China. China has a high prestige in the world of business for its products and the whole world recognizes its emerging economic power. The people of China find good chances to lead a good life. Nine Chinese out of ten were prey to poverty but today the figure is opposite. The history tells that the nation who prefers education is always seen to have succeeded in every sphere of life. It is not less than a miracle if a poor country with dusty routes with cyclists defeat poverty and end the eternal threat of starvation over a period of thirty years. A network of roads could be seen from north to south; skyscrapers are the beauty of every city; shopping malls are everywhere and the emerging economy is a challenging one. We left the one week gorgeous memories of Beijing for our next destination Hainan.