Visit to China: memories of a lifetime

BY BHISHAM MOHAMED

An 18-member Guyanese delegation travelled half way around to world to China for the 2016 Seminar for Media Officials and Journalists of Guyana.
The team was led by Director of the Government Information Agency, Beverly Alert and comprised media officials from both the State-

owned and the private media landscape of Guyana.
With a population of 1.3 billion people and 25 minority groups, China is definitely leading the way in technology and is now bracing itself for the 5G network in the near future.
Known as the country with the fastest growing economy, China’s media fraternity is gradually shifting from analog to digital and it is predicted that very soon, new media will take over.

During the three-week stint in the country that is almost 16,000 miles away from the Land of Many Waters, media operatives had the opportunity to meet new people, some who later became friends. Obviously, there was a language barrier but with the assistance of Project Manager Kevin Wang and his Assistant Stacie we managed.
The stay in China entailed lectures; visiting radio, television and newspapers companies; and more excitingly, site seeing. For some of us, being away from home and the Guyanese cuisine posed some challenges.
In the conference rooms, several key note people in the media fraternity made presentations on cutting edge technology that is available in China; something we could not compare with Guyana since we are struggling with 4G.
We have had the opportunity to visit the Yunnan Radio Museum which showed us where radio stations have come from and where they want to be in the modern era.
One of the highlights of the trip is the bonding of the participants from the various media houses. Although media personnel represented various companies, they laughed, talked and enjoy themselves as a family. Waking up early and rapping at the doors of my colleagues every morning was fun… Julia, fretted every morning and a few others as well…
Another aspect that must be highlighted is the visit to heritage village in the Yunnan Province where we were drawn into the deep culture of the minorities.
From music to the artifacts and crafts – it all made our trip to the village a memorable one. There I had the privilege of riding an elephant.
For me, the visit to Stone Forest and climbing the Great Wall of China will be cast in memories until my last breath. Although I climbed a short distance, it will be enough to tell my children and children’s children.
I remember climbing and panting for breath and as I moved upwards, my knees started to wobble but seeing my colleagues, Vindi, Mac and Breenka in front of me, I was determined to reach the first stop on the Great. Coming down was much easier since I felt as if I was flying.
Our final site visit before we returned to our country was the Forbidden City in Beijing – the city which was controlled by an emperor who had more that 50 concubines. It was indeed a fascinating site that is undoubtedly another major tourist attraction.
Another highlight of our stay in Kunming was having the opportunity to tantalise our taste buds with traditional Chinese food. I recalled after eating the first meal, I was ill for the next two days but promised from then on, not to try anything new unless it had chicken.
Eating different cuisines was a treat; one that saw my colleagues eating practically everything that was placed on the table – even if it meant eating frog legs.
As for shopping, it was an experience of a life time. We were introduced to the Silk Market and were taught to bargain for the best prices. Although some of us are still of the belief that some were robbed, others struck a few great deals.
The Silk Market is basically where tourists gathered to shop. The six-storey building has everything ranging from furniture to jewellery and clothing as well as craft. Shopping can be exhausting but some of my colleagues “shopped till they dropped”.
Shopping tea is another story… Before we purchase, we were given samples to taste but more importantly, we were told of the benefits. To me, those are some the most precious memories I will keep and share with those who intend to travel to China.
To date, as I am back home, I could imaging our Project Manager and his Assistant telling us ‘make sure you take all your belongings”, Yes, whenever we went out, before leaving the bus, we heard that phrase.
Commander Kevin and his Assistant, Stacie became a part of our Guyanese family… and while they would have taught us some Chinese words, they also leant some from us especially the famous one, “Noiiiiigeellll”.