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China Elevator Stories
“Do You Know Deng Xiaoping?”
I take a cab in Shenzhen and chat with the driver.
11/01/2014
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
I take a cab in Shenzhen and chat with the driver.
He asks: “Do you know Deng Xiaoping?”
“I do.”
“He was a great man. China would be quite different without him. I mean, look at Shenzhen—it would still be a poor fishing village if it weren’t for Deng Xiaoping. He created millions of opportunities for people here. If Mao were still alive, all of this would never have been possible. China’s reform and opening-up wouldn’t have happened without Deng Xiaoping.”
I reply: “And I wouldn’t be sitting in your car chatting with you.”
He asks, astonished: “What?”
“Well, there weren’t many foreigners in China during the Mao era since it was closed to the outside world.”
“Oh, you’re right.”
He then asks: “Have you ever been to Chengdu or Jiuzhaigou?”
“I’ve been to Chengdu, but not to Jiuzhaigou.”
“Jiuzhaigou is very beautiful. It has large natural forests with big old trees.”
“I do like nature a lot.”
He tells me: “I like nature too. And I love the sea! Looking at the sea makes me feel very calm. I recently climbed Nanshan (南山, literally meaning Southern Hill, the hill Shenzhen’s Nanshan district is named after). You can see the sea from the top of the hill, and you can also see Hong Kong. You have a 360-degree view. All the anger and annoyances of everyday life seem small compared to the sea.”
“I’ll have to check out Nanshan one day. By the way, where are you from?”
“I’m from Guang’an in Sichuan, the same place as Deng Xiaoping.”
Have you ever had a conversation like this?
Explanations:
- Chengdu (成都): The capital of Sichuan province.
- Jiuzhaigou (九寨沟): Literally “Valley of Nine Villages,” a nature reserve and national park on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau in northern Sichuan.
- Guang’an (广安): A city and county in eastern Sichuan. Deng Xiaoping was born in Guang’an County.
This is part of the series ‘Conversations with Locals in China,’ where I share conversations with Chinese people on my blog.