[Phoenix PEN] Aqi: Chinese workers who went abroad

[Phoenix PEN] Aqi: Chinese workers who went abroad Phoenix City Aqi In the early 1980s, China opened its long-closed door and implemented opening up to the outside world...

Phoenix City Aqi

In the early 1980s, China opened its long-closed door and implemented opening up to the outside world. A number of foreigners and foreign goods entered China, and Chinese companies also began to participate in the competition in the international market. In a fierce competition and by chance, our company contracted a construction project in Morocco, Africa. We workers also have the opportunity to go abroad. At that time, except for a few national leaders who visited abroad, even provincial governors and mayors had not yet had their turn! As a worker, when there is an opportunity to go abroad, everyone is eager to go.

We people have lived in the same place for generations. Let alone going abroad, some of us have never left the village. When we were in junior high school, we were catching up with the Cultural Revolution. Students took the train for free, and there were celebrities wherever they went. At the free guard reception station, my mother gave me the ten yuan she had saved so hard, and I took the train to Beijing with a classmate who was a few years older than me. I saw Chairman Mao from a distance in Tiananmen Square and waved to him. I continued on, and also went to Shanghai and Jinggangshan. I am the most outgoing and knowledgeable child in our family. Being able to go abroad this time will add a glorious touch to our family tree. A stream of clear smoke will rise from our ancestral graves. This is such a glorious thing to honor our ancestors. The curiosity of young people also encourages me. I really want to have a chance to see what the outside world is like? How do they live? Why do they have money?

At that time, the movies we often watched were "Tunnel War", "Railway Guerrillas", and eight model plays such as "Shajiabin" and "Red Lantern". The movie stars in the news briefing were Premier Zhou Enlai and Prince Sihanouk. Once, a "Flower Girl" imported from North Korea was released in the village. The Maiden was crowded with people and several people were trampled. This shows that after the Cultural Revolution, the people's hunger for culture reached its extreme. There are also very attractive conditions. It is said that the wages of those who go abroad are about three times higher than those in China. From the perspective of economic benefits, it is also very worthwhile. The only disadvantage is that I have to be away from home for three years and cannot go back to visit relatives in the middle. I am used to this. I remember that my wife came out to work as soon as I got married. They have a rural household registration, and they are not allocated housing at the mine. They have been living apart for seven or eight years. This will not stop me. As long as I have money to send home, my wife will take good care of my mother and children.

Because everyone had to go abroad for a mission, the leadership adopted a "mass line" approach, which was to ask the work team to discuss nominations. This method is often used in mainland China. It is called listening to the opinions of the masses, but it is actually a way for leaders to shirk their responsibilities. This type of method is commonly used in activities such as raising wages, worker promotions, and housing allocation, etc., where there are too many people but too little. It has caused many conflicts and disunity among the masses. Those slick leaders with evil intentions use the "snipe and clam to compete for the fishermen's profit" method to reap the benefits of the fishermen. Then there's the political scrutiny. Everyone must faithfully fill out the political review form, including parents, children, brothers and sisters, uncles and nephews, all of them must be submitted to the political work department for review. The first thing to look at is your family background. It depends on whether you have drawn a clear line between yourself and your family. This is a very vague condition, and political cadres can decide whether you stay or go based on their opinions; secondly, it depends on whether you have overseas relations with Hong Kong and Taiwan, and whether you have the possibility of going abroad and not returning; thirdly, it depends on how your political performance is? This is extremely difficult to determine using quantitative indicators, and relies more on the memories of leaders and political cadres. The last and most important thing is the unit leader’s approval. The leader has the final decision-making power, so some people use various methods to please the leader and visit the leader's home with gifts. At this time, power begins to generate money.

I finally passed all the review and approvals and became a member of the team going abroad. After the team is formed, there will be a 20-day training session. The training is divided into three stages: The first stage is to remember the bitterness and remember the sweetness. The old lady in the countryside is asked to tell the story of eating chaffy vegetables before liberation. She asks us to shed tears of sympathy, and then eat a meal of steamed buns made with whole grains and wild vegetables. We are asked not to forget the hardships of the old society and to strengthen our love for New China. Forgetting the past is tantamount to betrayal. The second stage is situation education. We specially invited professors from other universities to teach us about the situation. Just as we read the newspaper and listen to the radio every day, the domestic situation is very good, not a little good, and it is getting better day by day. When it comes to international affairs, we are relatively unfamiliar with it, and we can’t understand what we hear. We just feel that China doesn’t have many real friends. The capitalist countries in the world headed by U.S. imperialism are declining, and the socialist countries in Eastern Europe headed by the Soviet Union have all been transformed. Only Europe still has a bright light in Albania. There is a bearded Castro in South America and Kim Il Sung of North Korea who are our close comrades. What we want to unite are the third world countries in Africa. This knowledge has little relevance for us when we go abroad to work, but for political cadres, it is a course that must be arranged within the scope of their duties. The third stage is foreign affairs discipline. I remember that the leader emphasized the words of Premier Zhou Enlai: "There is no small matter in diplomacy." Everything we say and do when we go abroad represents China. This explanation suddenly made the burden on our shoulders heavier. The subsequent announcement that we must ask for leave when going out, three people traveling together and not allowed to enter bars, cafes, dance halls, no fighting, and being polite to others must be firmly remembered. Because everything we say and do represents the country, and we are a symbol of New China, we must be particularly careful in everything we do.

Three years of working abroad have passed in the blink of an eye. We live in a Chinese circle every day, speak Chinese, eat Chinese food, smoke Chinese cigarettes, drink Chinese wine, and live in Chinese-style shops. Moroccans admire and like us hard-working Chinese people with small eyes very much. Some of them wanted to recruit Chinese young men as their sons-in-law, but the policy at that time did not allow it, so they had to give up. Because we completed our task so well, when we returned to China and passed through Paris, the company allowed us to rest in Paris for three days and visit the famous Louvre Museum and Eiffel Tower. Of course, we all stayed together in the guest house of the consulate and took a bus to visit together. In the evening, we went to the famous red light district. We were in groups of three and were not allowed to stop or talk. I just followed the footsteps of the person in front of me without looking away, for fear of being contaminated by the muddy water of the bourgeoisie. I took a trip to the red light district, but I didn't seem to see any red lights. I only saw a few obese women standing by the door, which was not tempting.

This time we went abroad, a total of 108 people went abroad. Two people died in an accident overseas. A French translator went to Belgium and ran away from the team. A chef was left as a chef by the owner of a Paris restaurant because of his outstanding cooking skills (with legal approval). The remaining 104 people all returned to their motherland on time to reunite with their families.

Thirty years later, going abroad has become fashionable for Chinese people and is no longer so mysterious. As long as you have money, you can go wherever you want. The previous strict political review and three-stage training and education no longer exist. The Chinese government is no longer worried about citizens defecting or running away, but foreign governments are worried about Chinese people being stranded. The 1.3 billion Chinese people have awakened. They are going to every corner of the world, integrating into local life, and bringing Chinese culture to the world. Some people are worried about what changes this unstoppable "Yellow River (disaster)" will bring to the future pattern of the world.