Exchanges and Friendships between Students across the Straits

By Fu Qi

I received a call from my instructor one day in late June, 2009. It was a day just after all the final exams were over. I was asked if I would be free from July 24th to August 1st to take part in a cross-straits student program. Some collage students from Taiwan would visit Hangzhou. I had signed up for a special course in the summer break, but I agreed to participate. In the end, six of us from the foreign language department of Hangzhou Normal University joined the program.

My generations impressions of Taiwan include the funny mandarin accent, the Ali Mountain, the Sun-Moon Lake, and soap operas. And we know the Taiwan Strait has been a barrier for decades. What would college students from Taiwan look like? Would they subvert our impressions of the Taiwan people? What would the mainland look like in their eyes?

The answers began to trickle in on the afternoon of July 24. That afternoon, students from Shih Hsin University of Taiwan were to arrive at Xiaoshan International Airport in Hangzhou. On the way to the airport, we learned about the details of the visiting schedule. The theme of the program was to seek the roots of the ancient Wu and Yue kingdoms and experience the charms of the ancient capital.

It rained. The flight was delayed. When I finally saw about forty students and three teachers troop out of the terminal building, it was already four oclock in the afternoon. They looked wonderful. We finally got on the limousine and hit the road. When we introduced ourselves to our Taiwan counterparts, they responded warmly. I intuited I was looking forward to a good time with them in the following ten days.

I shared a table with nine Taiwan students at the welcome banquet. One dish at the banquet caught their attention: it was a local pastry. They liked it and said they had never had anything like it before. I promised to bring them more, since a street vendor makes it and sells it as breakfast near the gate of the residential community where I live. So the next morning, I brought in a large quantity of them. They enjoyed the delicacy very much.

Shopping in Hangzhou was a surprise to many Taiwan friends. We visited Hefang Street, a revived ancient shopping street in Hangzhou. I introduced my new friends to the history, culture and architecture of the street. We enjoyed the cooled tea at a TCM pharmacy there. We bought some chopsticks with our surnames printed on them. They cheered when seeing 85℃, a Taiwan bakery, in Hefang Street. They agreed that the delicacy tasted just the same in Hangzhou. They took great interest in the shops adorned in the ancient style and engaged in selling ancient goods. We also did some shopping in the downtown Hangzhou. They were excited to see all the luxurious brands they saw in Taiwan. The brands made them feel as if they were shopping in Taiwan.

In the following days and nights, I often found I was invited to be with the nine students who had the delicacy I bought at the first breakfast in Hangzhou. They photographed me. And I was invited to dine with them. As we sat together at meals, we jokingly called each other “dinner friends”. In the last evening they spent in Hangzhou, some of us were invited to their dorms to play pokes with them. We played some Taiwan games and we had a good time.

Three professors of history came with the students. Professor Lei Jiaji was the teacher of the other two younger professors. Professor Lei was very knowledgeable. He had published a few books under his belt. And he liked alcohol very much. During the stay in Hangzhou, he tried local beer brands. While sipping, he began to tell stories. We were fascinated by his drinking capacity and his profound academic knowledge.

I told myself not to cry, but tears came to my eyes when we said farewell to each other. Six of us Hangzhou students received small gifts from Taiwan students. I received a postcard. The card mentioned the tasty delicacy at the first breakfast! We hugged before we said goodbye again.

Nowadays, we keep in touch through email and MSN. The happy memories of these days and nights with them in Hangzhou often come back to me most vividly. Now, we are again on the two sides of the strait. I believe we will cross the strait to see them one day.□