Envoy delves into China's history in Shaanxi

According to the organizers, Wilson is the first ambassador from a major Western country to visit Liangjiahe since the 20th National Congress of the CPC in 2022.

At the invitation of local villagers, he sat down with them to eat locally grown apples and drink jujube-bud tea.

Asked what message he would share with other foreign diplomats in China after the trip, Wilson said that he would encourage them to travel more widely and see different parts of the country for themselves.

"We should do that in every country, rather than stay in one place," he said.

Wilson recalled that when he presented his credentials to Xi in January, the Chinese president encouraged the newly appointed ambassadors to travel widely across the country, gain a full and in-depth understanding of the real and multifaceted China, and actively contribute to deepening friendship and cooperation between China and their respective countries.

Wilson said that learning about a country also meant listening to the personal experiences of both its leaders and the ordinary people.

"I really enjoyed talking to people who live in Liangjiahe, hearing how their lives have changed, and also hearing about what life was like before."

As they walked through the village, Shi Chunyang, who worked with Xi when he lived in Liangjiahe, and then went on to become village Party secretary later, told Wilson that even the asphalt road beneath their feet had not existed in those days.

Before a biogas digester was successfully fired up in 1974, lighting the first biogas lamp on the northern Shaanxi plateau, villagers relied on kerosene lamps for illumination, Shi said.

Those stories resonated with Wilson, who has observed China's broader transformation since first visiting Beijing in 1981.

He last visited Xi'an in 2007. Much of the city he saw on this trip, he said, either had not existed or had yet to be developed at the time.

He was similarly struck by the ecological transformation around Yan'an.

"In the old photographs, almost everything was yellow. Now, everything is green," he said, referring to changes in the once largely barren landscape.

Wilson said understanding how China views the history of the CPC can also offer insights into how the country sees its future and shapes its policies.

Britain and China have different political systems, Wilson noted, but that made understanding rather than assumption all the more important.

For diplomats, Wilson said, gaining an in-depth understanding of their host country was essential both to performing their duties and helping their governments understand that country's perspectives.

More exchanges would not necessarily mean that people of Britain and China would see every issue in the same way, he said, but it would allow both sides to see more for themselves, communicate more openly and better understand their common ground as well as their differences.

As permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, Britain and China both bear international responsibilities, Wilson said, noting that understanding how China views its own history also helps explain how it sees the wider world, he added.

To address global challenges ranging from climate change and international conflicts to the governance of artificial intelligence, countries must understand one another's perspectives and work together to shape their shared future, he said.

In colloquial Chinese, he summed up the task more simply:

"Get things done together."