My Family and France—China Friendship

The first trip I made to China， together with my wife in 1981 was pure sightseeing. For years， we had always wanted to make such a visit. We thought then that it could be our only chance， so we read lots of books on history and culture so that we could enjoy the travel as much as possible. In those days， China had not yet started on its great “rise” and there was no developed and modern transportation to speak of. Our journey began in Hong Kong with Guangzhou as the first stop.

We did not enter the PRC by car or plane， nor on the back of a camel or horse， like in the times of Marco Polo； instead， we took a train to a station in the “New Territories” on the boundary with China. Alighting， we carried our bags across a bridge and finally “walked” into China. The river underneath.

Fascinated by that first journey， we went to China again in 1983 by pinching and scraping. After returning to Besancon， the hometown of Victor Hugo where I lived， I gave a slide show on China for my friends， who then asked me to organize a trip to the Far East for them. The visit finally materialized in 1985. In 1986， I， and my fellow travelers established the Franc-Comtoise （our region） Association of French-Chinese Friendship. In the years that followed， I organized 36 trips to China and accompanied them all during my vacations. Besides， our association has joined the Federation of French-Chinese Associations and， under this organizational framework， I made 15 study tours to China at the invitation of the CPAFFC. If entering China on foot of my first visit was something special， then the way I ended my 47th visit and left China was even more exceptional. As a representative of the Federation of French-Chinese Associations， I was attending a friendship cities conference in Chengdu along with representatives of more than 20 cities from different countries. I was packing for the trip back home after the conference concluded when I had a sudden illness—enterobrosis. I was rushed to the hospital immediately， being operated on for the next few hours， and remained unconscious for two days. When I awoke， I unexpectedly saw at my bedside two French-speaking friends from the CPAFFC in Beijing. My vital signs in the first three days were not optimistic， but this Chinese hospital saved my life. On the fifth day， at the request of my insurance company， and when my condition finally permitted travel， I was taken to Hong Kong by a medical helicopter and 10 days later returned to France safely accompanied by a doctor and a nurse. Now you know how I left China in my 47th visit.

I took my 10-year-old daughter to China for the first time in 1985 and after that she accompanied me to China many times. During her first visit， she stayed for a day at the home of a Chinese friend in Shanghai， communicating with the host’s son of her own age and making dumplings together. We have been keeping in touch with them ever since. Three years later， the Shanghai Municipal Government and a local publishing house contacted the associations in cities that have established friendship-city relations with Shanghai in the hope of publishing a book with the title Shanghai and I. The Franc-Comtoise Association of French-Chinese Friendship and its branches participated. We sent my daughter’s article about her and her Chinese pals as well as her impressions of China. Friendship organizations in over 20 countries contributed to the book， which was published in the authors’ native languages and Chinese. Four articles written in French were included： one by a Belgian， one by a Swiss， and the other two by French authors — a university student and my daughter， the only child among all the authors.

When I was seriously ill in Chengdu， my daughter came all the way to visit me. Seeing my bad physical conditions， she told me： “You have to fight for your life. Don’t forget that you have promised your grandson to take him to China. You should keep your word.”

Therefore， in August 2013， I organized my 50th visit to China， which was also my first “family trip”. The 10 relatives that I took on the trip， except for my daughter， were first-time visitors. My eight-year-old grandson also got to know the country well through the typical travel route of Shanghai， Guilin， Xi’an and Beijing.

Every evening during the visit， my grandson would tell me what he had seen and heard during the day — things that were interesting， amazing and curious， and things that adults would miss but would be engraved in a child’s mind. He put photos， and wrote down bits and pieces from the trip， in his travel diary. In the future， whenever he opens this diary he will remember his first contact with China.

Written in March 2014