Written by: Zhang Tiejun Posted on: February 10, 2013 | | 中文
For Chinese people, the Spring Festival is the most important day of the year. I always used to look forward to the coming of this Festival when I was younger, because it was a great time to enjoy sumptuous dishes, pleasures and new clothes. Moreover, it was the day when children are gifted the most appealing item of all: hongbao, gifts of money wrapped in red paper. As I have grown up and life has matured, food and new clothes have lost the charm they used to have and there is no hongbao any more since I am an adult. I don’t wait for the Festival with the same anticipation as before. The Spring Festival now is more about being able to find time to enjoy being with family.
I celebrate the Spring Festival with my family every year. It was not until 2011 that, for the first time, I had an unforgettable experience celebrating The New Year abroad without family, due to my work. On that New Year’ Eve, we invited many Pakistani friends to celebrate with us. We decorated our rooms with couplets of Chinese characters, especially fu (happiness), and put them up on doors; we also hung lanterns from the ceiling. We made dumplings together with our Pakistani friends. Most of them hadn’t had such an experience before and were quite interested in it. They tried really hard to wrap the sauce with a thin layer made of flour, and although the dumplings they made were of very strange shapes, every one had a wonderful time.
An incident also occurred during our celebration. According to tradition, the Chinese people set off fireworks and crackers to scare away evil forces and bad luck. A friend had purchased a string of firecrackers from a store and set it off after confirming with the security guards that it would be alright. But once the firecrackers were set off, they sounded like a gun shooting bullets! All the university security guards flooded our hostel, thinking something serious had happened. It was then I realized that celebrating a traditional custom in a different society from you own may result in an unexpected outcome?
Celebrating the Spring Festival abroad, we naturally missed our family and friends back home the most. We kept making phone calls to China all day long. Due to the time difference between Pakistan and China, we were still in sunny afternoon here when our families there started the reunion dinner. I was overwhelmed by homesickness.
This year I will celebrate the New Year in Pakistan again. From a foreign land, I wish all my family and friends the best of luck and good fortune.
As the new year begins, let us also start anew. I’m delighted to extend, on behalf of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and in my own name, new year’s greeting and sincere wishes to YOULIN magazine’s staff and readers.
Only in hard times can courage and perseverance be manifested. Only with courage can we live to the fullest. 2020 was an extraordinary year. Confronted by the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Pakistan supported each other and took on the challenge in solidarity. The ironclad China-Pakistan friendship grew stronger as time went by. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor projects advanced steadily in difficult times, become a standard-bearer project of the Belt and Road Initiative in balancing pandemic prevention and project achievement. The handling capacity of the Gwadar Port has continued to rise and Afghanistan transit trade through the port has officially been launched. The Karakoram Highway Phase II upgrade project is fully open to traffic. The Lahore Orange Line project has been put into operation. The construction of Matiari-Lahore HVDC project was fully completed. A batch of green and clean energy projects, such as the Kohala and Azad Pattan hydropower plants have been substantially promoted. Development agreement for the Rashakai SEZ has been signed. The China-Pakistan Community of Shared Future has become closer and closer.
Reviewing the past and looking to the future, we are confident to write a brilliant new chapter. The year 2021 is the 100th birthday of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan. The 100-year journey of CPC surges forward with great momentum and China-Pakistan relationship has flourished in the past 70 years. Standing at a new historic point, China is willing to work together with Pakistan to further implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, connect the CPEC cooperation with the vision of the “Naya Pakistan”, promote the long-term development of the China-Pakistan All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership with love, dedication and commitment. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan said, “We are going through fire. The sunshine has yet to come.” Yes, Pakistan’s best days are ahead, China will stand with Pakistan firmly all the way.
YOULIN magazine is dedicated to promoting cultural exchanges between China and Pakistan and is a window for Pakistani friends to learn about China, especially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is hoped that with the joint efforts of China and Pakistan, YOULIN can listen more to the voices of readers in China and Pakistan, better play its role as a bridge to promote more effectively people-to-people bond.
Last but not least, I would like to wish all the staff and readers of YOULIN a warm and prosper year in 2021.
Nong Rong
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
The People’s Republic of China to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
January 2021
Video message by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Black Day of Indian Occupation of Kashmir
Video message by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Black Day of Indian Occupation of Kashmir, 27 October 1947, when Indian military troops forcibly occupied Kashmir illegally, claiming a fraudulent ‘Instrument of Accession’ which never existed as documented by eminent British historian Alastair Lamb! Kashmir & Palestine are examples of illegal occupation & continued Resistance to Repression! There are so many commonalities in Kashmir & Palestine: both under brutal military occupation of foreign powers, both are facing an indigenous, popular, spontaneous & widespread Resistance & Uprising, both are in violation of UN Resolutions which haven’t been implemented, both are witnessing an attempted change in the demographic balance, both are facing the use of rape as a weapon of war, both are testimony to double-standards & hypocrisy of Western powers on human rights & fundamental rights, and both conflicts have an element of racism and Islamophobia, while enduring peace, security and stability will remain elusive in both regions, South Asia & Middle East, until these issues are resolved in accordance with popular aspirations.
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