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Preface
Preface I
A True-to-Life Account of China's Epic Changes
- Thoughts on Liu Weibing's New Book

By Li Zhaoxing 
Liu Weibing, a senior photographer and a guest professor at the School of Journalism of Renmin University of China (RUC), is an old friend of mine though he is many years my junior. Here is his new book Stories of China's Reform - a Photographer's Personal Experiences, which I read at onesitting. The book is so dear to me - and also so new to me even though Iam familiar with many events cited in it.
China has changed with each passing day since it launched the reform some 30 years ago. And never has life in the country been so lively and full of vigor like today. Basing himself on a wealth of experiences he has acquired through work as a photographer at Xinhua, the State news agency, Weibing has written candidly to provide a true-to-life account of those epic changes.
I experienced numerous events cited in the book. I was able to go to school only after New China's birth in 1949. Never had I dreamed thatI would be able to stand on Tiananmen Rostrum watching the military and civilian parades marking New Chinas 60'h founding anniversary onOctober 1, 2009. With tears in my eyes, I saw the characters reading Longlive the people" formed by students in Tiananmen Square using flowers intheir hands. I was deputy head of the Chinese delegation to the 1995 WorldConference on Women and I was on the Beijing Bidding Committee forthe 2008 Olympic Games. I was involved in the negotiations on HongKong's return to China, in the negotiations on Chinas accession to theWorld Trade Organization and in the rescue and relief operations after the2008 Wenchuan earthquake.
Despite my personal experiences in those events, I feel Weibing'snarratives and photos new to me. I was at Shatoujiao announcing Chinastakeover of the Kowloon Customs on authorization of the CentralGovernment at zero hour of July 1, 1997, a moment of nationwidejubilation for resumption of Chinas exercise of sovereignty over HongKong. Despite that, I have found things new in Weibing's comparisonbetween Border Street and Silk Alley, a business street in Beijing, which hedoes by transcending time and space and using plain language.
As deputy head of the Chinese delegation to the 1995 World Conferenceon Women, I was able to listen to speeches delivered by delegates fromvarious countries. Weibing's new book, which I read 18 years after theConference, tells me many things of which I had no idea as a leaderof the Chinese delegation - his amiable encounter with some Africandelegates, those "surprising discoveries" he made at Huairou, venue for theConference's non-governmental forum. Just for one thing: the Chinesedelegates were customarily reserved, busy taking notes while a leader oftheirs was reading from a text in all seriousness on the rostrum, in contrastto foreign delegates who were vivacious and bold, never hesitating to airtheir views.
I was impressed by Weibing's interpretation of those events, Chineseand foreign, bygone and of today, which I found profound in meaning."Ihe book tells about the progress Beijing has made, for example thetransformation of Longxugou, once a notorious slum area, into whatis now Longtan Park. Meanwhile, it provides a vivid account of thesmog that shrouded the Chinese capital for days on end in early 2013,making "environmental protectioff' household words. Here is the author'sconclusion: "Only by being friendly to environment can people enjoy anenvironment friendly to them." It falls in line with the call of the Chinesegovernment for attaching paramount importance to people's livelihoodand to attainment of sustainable development.
Another example is the book's account of migrant workers in Beijing.The author, full of sympathy toward them, uses a host of facts to highlighttheir role in promoting the development of cities and improving lifeof city people. Meanwhile, he is relentlessly scornful of those "swollenwith arrogance" toward migrant workers, those "holding a brief case inhand," "with a conspicuously extruding beer belly." Basing himself on hisown observation, the author notes that city people of today may well bedescendent of peasants or migrant workers. And proceeding from that,he dwells on some ups and downs experienced by foreign countries in thecourse of their development and pinpoints what China can learn fromthem.
I believe the book is of both historic and practical significance. It throwslight on the road we have followed and helps us in our understanding ofthe path we are to follow. It makes us proud of the progress we have madewhile alerting us to the need not to be self-complacent, so that we'll bemore resolved and confident in our march toward the future.
-June 25, 2013, in my office at China Public

Diplomacy Association"