Memories reflect changing China

I can only pause to reflect on changes I have seen over the past twenty five years in China, coming back to my “second home" and seeing the tremendous differences in the environment, transport, communication, education and citizens’ lives.

I still remember the first time I arrived in China from Hong Kong all those years ago by train — the crowds, the long lines at passport control, getting our luggage from the end freight car, a foreigner meeting the friendliest of peoples in a totally different land.

So many changes I have seen, both happy and sad: old buildings not there anymore, people squatting on the foot path sorting out daily rubbish to sell, small shops replaced by big department stores, the smells of the sidewalk resaturants, having to go to the shop to make a phone call, catching a crowded bus on a hot summer day, hearing freight trains at all times of day roaring past our apartment, the crowded local market selling everything fresh, the coal briquettes delivered by bicycle for cooking and heating.

On one of the city’s main roads was a metal refinery spewing thick yellow smoke from tall chimneys. A mountain of coal dust stored at the nearby railway yard would scatter fine black particles over everything in sight at the hint of a breeze.

Now the air is cleaner — no smog and, the sun shines brightly in blue skies.,Waters of lakes and small rivers meander through tall apartment blocks cleaned of rubbish by responsible local committees. Factories have lost their evil-smelling chimneys and coal dumps.

Wherever we travel now we see large tracks of freshly planted trees, mountains that were once bare are now a sea of green. We see freeways lined with beautiful flowers and freshly mown grass.

If we did any banking , it was always a hassle — so many forms and identification methods just for a simple withdrawal. We then had to change our Australian dollars into American dollars, then to yuan.

Now the RMB is part of the world currency basket.,We can trade in RMB, go to any Australian travel currency provider to get our currency and look at the nightly news to get the latest RMB rate.

Years ago when we first traveled back, it was always via another country then through Hong Kong. The planes mostly carried citizens returning to China or businesspeople flying back. Now multiple airlines service Australia, most with flights scheduled every day. The planes are full of tourists, students and businesspeople. Australian airports have signs in English and Chinese, and so do large department stores. Most stores, markets, tour groups employ Chinese speaking staff.

The author is a resident of Melbourne, Australia.

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not represent the views of China Daily and China Daily website.