Account of China visit – ‘Honesty, patience of Chinese people remain with me forever’ (Kalika Khadka)

Wow! What a beautiful city, lovely scenes of flowers everywhere, wonderful, quiet and giant buildings. Beautiful greenery everywhere, a wave of joy comes in the heart when seeing these scenes. These scenes are witnessed when reaching the Hangzhou city through Guanzhou in China.

“How could it be in order and beautiful?” Kamal Mani Gautam, who is together with us in the journey, expressed his curiosity, “Incredible development, when will Nepal be like this?” Another friend Dhurba Bhandari (Bishwo) spontaneously added to his question, “Rather than money, the leaders of the country should have a vision. The focus of the leadership of the country here seems to be on nature-friendly development.”

There are giant structures in big cities but people were nowhere to be seen. Only vehicles were scantly seen moving on the streets. A question came to my mind that where people of the city live. But there was no way of asking this question as we did not know the Chinese language. Curiosity remained in mind. I along with my friends was in China to attend a seminar on ‘the 2023 Economy Construction and Green Sustainable Development for Developing Countries’ sponsored by the People’s Republic of China and held in Hangzhou city of China from June 4-27, 2023.

On June 9, in the evening, we went outside to take a tour of the city. Todor Petrov, a former parliamentarian from Macedonia, who reached China to participate in the seminar, said, “Wow! I am surprised to see the development of the communist country. I did not think that this country is so much prosperous, beautiful and grand.” He told us about the situation of his country. There is somehow a match between his country and Nepal. He also inquired about Nepal. I tried to give him some information about Nepal except politics. I told him that Nepal is a small and beautiful country. I described about the world’s tallest peak, Sagarmatha (Mount Everest), Lord Gautam Buddha, who was born in Nepal, and other mountains of Nepal.

On my inquiry about his country, he said, “Many political parties, instable government, there is more focus on forming the government and remaining in power in Macedonia, instead of development. I want to see the development of my country.”

There was light rainfall. Observing tangling leaves of trees in the surrounding, Petrov added, “Truly, everything here is orderly.”

The beauty of Hangzhou city is captivating. In other developed countries, physical infrastructure and information technology are highly developed. Additionally, natural beauty and greenery is equally alluring. One interesting context, we were scheduled to visit a museum with Chinese children. Chinese children may recognize Nepali people upon seeing them. Pointing to the national flag of Nepal, an about eight years old Chinese child handed me a pen asking me to put a signature on it. I looked at him.

There were flags of many countries. We were the total 33 participants from 17 countries. My curiosity was how the child recognized me as a Nepali among so many participants. The moment was joyful. I did put my signature on the flag of Nepal. Like the child, other three-four Chinese children asked me to put my signature on the Nepali flag. I felt jolly seeing the national flag of my country.

In the seminar, there was a schedule for a travel along with studies. We went to the West Lake in the Hangzhou city. The lake with clean water reminded me of the Rara Lake of Mugu in Nepal. The lake is considered very beautiful and famous to visit and observe for the people who have reached China. It is captivating with its natural beauty. It is found that many people visited here for observation. The lake is in the middle of ancient temples, beautiful garden and greenery in all four directions, which made anyone feel joyous upon reaching here.

The seminar was organised in the Hangzhou city. Although it has been developed lately, its physical and information technology are highly developed. In addition to this, the whole city is filled with flowers and greenery. Before attending the seminar, Rinan Pokharel, General Secretary of the Nepal-China Himalaya Friendship Society, said, “The city has been lately developed. It is known for its beauty and greenery.” Truly, its beauty cannot be described in words. There are flowers everywhere. Upon seeing them, the only word that comes from the mouth is wow! What a beauty!
During the seminar, we had an opportunity to visit the Silk Museum. Many objects relating to the ancient and prosperous culture, historic arts and objects, science, and tradition have been kept in the museum. The big city of Shanghai, China, an economic hub, is prosperous in everything. Many foreign tourists were seen in that city. Taking an evening tour of the beautiful lake at the lakeside decorated with electric lights in the surrounding reminded me of the visit of the Phewa Lake in Pokhara, Nepal. Their decoration, structures and cleanup are of a special type.
Before flying to China, I had heard about food culture in the country. People would say that meat of dog, cow and pig is consumed in China. Every food has a mixture of beef in it. I thought how it would be. I do not like eating sea food. But while many dishes were being served, I did not feel that much uncomfortable. Meal time was fixed. There were many dishes including boiled corn, yam, greens and fish, which were useful for me.

During my stay of 18 days in China, I enjoyed plain food. The venue for the conference was the Zhejiang Tongji Vocational College of Science and Technology in the Hangzhou city. The place is where hundreds of college students and staffs eat. Friends Gautam and Bhandari also consumed the same plain food. We Nepalis grew up eating oily and spicy food. One day while eating, Bhandari said, “I feel like eating ‘gundruk’ and rice after reaching Nepal. The boiled food is plain, neither sour nor spicy, I am tired of eating it.” “I remember ‘momo’ of Nepal. I will eat it upon reaching Nepal,” he added.

Green tea was served in the seminar. People in China were not seen drinking milk and black tea. But they were found drinking green tea. One day, I asked Sheng Yanpin, the director of the training department of the Free Trade Development Board of Zhejiang Province, is only green tea drunk in China? He responded, “Green tea is famous in China.

Green tea produced here is consumed within the country, and the surplus is exported to many countries.” Upon seeing Nepalis, he would smile calling them neighbours.

There were volunteers, Toybas and Penny, to ensure if there was any problem. They looked like naïve children. They were like our brother and sister. They would attend the college to work as a volunteer after studying. They were much dedicated to their work. They were punctual.

Penny would eat all food by holding a pair of chopsticks between her fingers. She would pick bones out of cooked fish with her tongue. It felt good looking at it. She would eat cooked rice grains with a pair of chopsticks. We faced much difficulties as we are not used to it. She taught me one or two times to eat food with chopsticks. China’s food culture is ancient. In fact, food culture has saved Chinese custom and culture.

During our stay in China, one day we, with friends, decided to go to the Citizen Centre, a famous market in Hangzhou. We had to make e-payment to the cabby but we did not have that facility. A Chinese woman booked a taxi for us. But the location given to the cab driver by the beautician woman was different than the one we had to go. The taxi left after dropping us there. We were the total five, three from Ghana and two from Nepal. Generally, Chinese people do not understand English. We were in a problem.

And friend Bishwo opened a translation app and asked a cab for a help by translating English into Chinese. The cabby readily accepted our request. The cab driver took us to that location we were supposed to go in the previous taxi. We requested the driver to accept cash money. We did not have digital payment facility. The driver refused to accept money, saying, “It’s okay. I am happy that I got an opportunity to help friends from the neighbouring countries.”
The beautician Chinese woman who helped us by booking a taxi also refused to accept money from us. Her saying comes fresh in my mind, “I feel glad to help the guests who visit our country. You are also our guests.” I can never forget the honesty and patience of Chinese people.