This year 2023 has fulfilled a dream and it was unforgettable, to get to know the ancient lands of the People's Republic of China. This desire has been increasing mainly since 2021, when I took online, 3 courses offered by the MOFCOM of the People's Republic of China.
Those 3 experiences were key to getting to know in greater depth the development and culture of a country so developed in various aspects such as, for example, the economic, social, ecological.
One of the courses explained to us the importance of the development of the rural areas of the country, with special support for citizens who are dedicated to agricultural production, with sustainable and innovative technologies, that caught my attention, the importance that the Chinese government gives to territories that are outside the urban limit of cities. In that course taught from Chengdu, the presentations were so interesting that they kept me attentive until the early hours of the morning for the change of schedule, but happy to learn and discover the millennial Chinese society. Even the official organization of the People's Republic of China of the Course awarded me a Diploma with the prize of best student of the course, for my active participation.
The other courses were about the governance model and high-speed trains, where it was learned about efficient models of public administration and about management for the implementation of high-tech trains.
In short, I realized that the People's Republic of China is not only a country, it is a model to follow in all areas of development and that not only had a push organized by its administration, but that the people themselves feel part of this remarkable growth of recent decades. And for some reason, today it is the country that manufactures the largest percentage of all the products in the world.
So after studying the distance courses in recent years, I longed to be able to be in the field in the country that I had only known through digital screens and that in terms of my profession of Civil Engineering, is the largest country that builds in the world in a sustained and robust way.
It was so that last May I landed at the Beijing airport!, my first impression when the Bus that was waiting for us and took us to AIBO in Beijing, was the level of a very well maintained infrastructure and with details about mobility and sustainability depending on all citizens.
The Course taught called "Transport Infrastructure Development" was very appropriate and interesting, because it implemented a good mix of technical learning typical of the specialty with academic experts, also of learning of the development of the People's Republic of China as a nation with experts from the Government and Ministries. And it was also complemented by a visit to another city called Linyi, located about 700 km to which we moved in a means of transport very relevant to the Course, on the HSR high-speed train, which traveled at speeds over 300 (km/h). And to give more satisfaction to the participants of the course, they took us to various cultural temples including the great Chinese wall.
The great wall is a special case, I have been lucky enough to travel many countries in the world from different continents, but seeing the wall at first sight is something unparalleled and impressive.
This program of activities was very well thought out, since it distributed the times very well for both learning and recreation. The entire coordinating team should be highlighted, always willing to support and help the participants, as well as the AIBO facilities and infrastructure.
Already analyzing China, we can say that it has implemented an exceptionally pleasant urban development with its citizens, since it has been able to establish critical decision factors in an appropriate way, for example, in transport, economic dynamism, logistics, etc ... all in a context of environmental objectives. The above, it was fantastic to see him highlighted in the urban and city planning building in Linyi. It could easily be said that it is a very well-planned model city not many decades ago.
Specifically, the urban location of the various commercial, health, educational, etc. facilities as well as energy infrastructures, transport, etc. are very well selected.
For example, the width of the streets are large and allow a flow of vehicles and cyclists in a comfortable way. When we were at the high-speed train stations, we also realized that they not only care about their capacity, but also about their architecture and beauty.
As for the culture, visiting various temples helped me to deepen my knowledge about the rich history of China. For example, I always had the unknown because they write down (vertically) and not like us horizontally and I was surprised with what I learned during the visit to the bamboo museum. (the answer was in the bamboo strips).
In short, Chinese culture is the creator of all the great inventions in the history of the world, and that have served for the integral development of all the inhabitants of the world, For example, paper, printing, silk, tea, porcelain, etc... That is why world society owes a lot to China.
My country Chile is one of the longest and narrowest on the planet, so it is important to highlight the relevance of looking at the development of the train infrastructure that China has had in recent decades. In that sense, Chile is a great gateway to the market from China through the Pacific Ocean. Therefore, the strengthening of relations between China and Chile is a common denominator in which both countries win in a win-win model.
In this area, an important issue for us is that we are one of the most seismic countries in the world, hit by major earthquakes. In that sense, I realized that Chinese constructions do present a very good standard of building and anti-seismic infrastructure, even with modern mitigation technologies (seismic isolation, etc.) for earthquakes, in order to make this type of natural disasters that China has also suffered.
Another positive point of the cities of China, is their safety, talking with citizens, they told me that they were very grateful that they can walk quietly on any street or public space of the city, they feel fully safe and that gives them confidence in their daily chores, it is a value very recognized by the population and that also many cities in the world would require with all the insecurity that exists
The food met my expectations, it is varied, tasty and spicy. See on the plate a Peking-style roasted duck with a unique flavor, and that is shared in types of restaurants, from the big ones to the small ones of some passage in Beijing. Also exquisite are those masitas stuffed with meat or pork steamed in some bamboo dishes. These flavors are also complemented in bars with live music where, for example, the Chinese youth had full fun.
For all of the above, I feel very grateful for life for having lived intensely this wonderful experience of studying, learning and knowing China by the Invitation of the People's Republic of China.
Would you visit China again? Of course, I would love to continue getting to know the country that is the center of the world and continue learning from the courses that the great People's Republic of China invites.
In summary, it is a momentous milestone for equity that countries that are at the forefront of global development are able to share their successful experiences as the People's Republic of China does so that developing countries can plan and initiate their concrete application in their territories together with their citizens. In this way, the People's Republic of China is consolidated as a friendly and sister nation of Chile and developing countries.
