by Tibebu Belete Tefera
President of Ethiopian Mass Media Professionals Association, General manager at Ahadu radio FM94.3 and Ahadu Tv., Ethiopia
First impressions is good and bad.Why? Because you can see expected and unexpected things. In my country,Ethiopia, many people think China as china. Every where you go, every where you work china means in Ethiopia work and work, a word associated with labour and hard work. True, China is a symbol of hard work and hard results. If you want to be successful in life and get benefit out of your efforts, then you need to mention the exemplary deeds and achievements of the Chinese people.This is china, that is China, you hear always fruits associated to it. Then, it becomes normal and human to covet and want to see and visit China. Of course, China is huge, and big country in all aspects. It is magnificence and lovely.Beijing is enormous as well. There are so many interesting things to see, do and eat in china. You see huge numbers of people every where you go.
It’s completely different from the countries I’ve seen before, everything is so busy. The atmosphere is hot!
You see numerous bikes, crowded streets and huge buildings. All give a colossal feel. The smells of fish, fruits and alien flavors surround it. The food varies, with completely different ways of eating. Humidity make you tired most of the time, but mornings and late nights feel best. song of Chinese music through speakers does create a vivid atmosphere. Beijing, its capital city, is probably the hottest place I have ever been so, it means you need to shower at least twice a day. Beijing is definitely a place to see in China.
I couldn’t believe the height of the skyscrapers. They weren’t just tall but their designs were all very different.
I admit I did not know a lot about China prior. This is my first impression. I had heard magical and mystical things about this country. I also knew that Chinese people are world’s leaders in technology and innovation.
Upon arrival in Beijing recently, I found a sense of peace and hard work. The airport is marvelous. I admired and astonished the civilization as it was on the other side of the world from where I was from the language is different.
However, the moment of peace came with the realization that all the people traveling may understand and cooperate with you. Everyone on the way, by the way is nice.
Despite the language barrier, there have been so many helpful people I have encountered. While a translation was needed in order to convey the communication, more times than not, there has been a profound sense of goodness and patience from people.
A good lesson I have learned is that like any experience, the more times you try it, the more natural it becomes.
I have acquired an appreciation for the manner for which I displayed. All the areas that I have seen are clean and have this sense of comforting and refreshing. Every morning I would see various people on the track getting their morning and evening exercise. My personal favorite are Yogas. Women from ages in their twenties through sixties gather together in the evening or night to perform Chinese rural folk dances. It’s really special to see traditional music practiced and celebrated on a daily basis. There is also a strong sense of responsibility. It is such a practical and convenient yet thoughtful gestures that I have seen.
These first impressions have me that much more enthusiastic about knowing of china.
While I’m from the other side of the world, I have realized that there are some general differences, yet, people in general are a lot more alike than we may think. I look forward to the future experiences and adventures in China. While the first couple weeks have been a learning curve, it has been far surpassed by the little moments and efforts made by those I have met thus far. Even though I still have so much to learn about China, its language, culture and people, I look forward still to having those experiences. Ancient civilization of China also found in my country text book. I learned a lot of history about China . When I see the China for the first time several things are happened in my mind. The owner of big economy, 1.4 billion population, hard workers citizens comes in my mind.
Technical advancement of China also impressed me. In my country Ethiopia, I used many Chinese products like computers, cameras, electrical equipment and so many others. I always dream to see China how it look like actually. When I saw it, everything is impressive. Technology China is the leading country in the world.
Chinese roads, bridges, railway contractors are so many in my country. I saw there technological advancement during the duties. They are very fast economical. They are also created a lot of job opportunity to my country. In this regard also, I want to visit China. Its construction industry is so impressive. It is beyond my expectation. The road construction facilities are serving for millions cars at a time. Electrical train also serving so many millions of people at a time. The building construction technology and others impressed me so much.
The Chinese manufacturing industry like its textile production is very huge. In my country clothes that we used imported from China. Chinese products very dominant one. This technical advancement also makes me to visit China. When I visit China, its textile industry impressed me greatly.
As far as I know, Chinese history has one of the longest among some countries. Its writing system also counted thousands of years. The existing Chin is the product of long history and culture. This days, Chinese economy is the leading one. So it is the result of its excellence. The excellence is byproduct of education. Its educational system is home grown. That means cultural and historical advancement of the country. Chinese education also impressed me so much.
Chinese agriculture also impressed me because of its surplus distribution to all Chinese people. To feed 1.4 billion people within the country is impressive to me. In my country Ethiopia, our population is 120 million. But we can not feed our people sufficiently for many years. We have food shortage. But China for its people, delivered every day. It is impressed me so much. The tourism sector for China is very influential since it has a lots of historical cites. Arts, crafts also Chinese identity. So all of its heritages are valuable ones.
In general, my first impression to China is so great. Because my dream comes real. It was vision to visit China.
*The views and opinions expressed in the articles are solely those of the individual authors and do not reflect the position of the Secretariat of the Belt and Road Journalist Network.