文、譯/王湘玥 張曉

“這個(gè)世界上，沒(méi)有什么地方比中國(guó)更讓我愿意停留……我每天早上醒來(lái)都很幸福，因?yàn)槲疑钤谥袊?guó)?！瘪R克·力文深情朗誦著自己新鮮出爐的原創(chuàng)吉他曲歌詞。今年，已經(jīng)是他來(lái)華的第17個(gè)年頭了。

馬克·力文是一位美國(guó)社會(huì)學(xué)家。2005年，他初次來(lái)到中國(guó)。先在江蘇省淮安市教授了兩年英語(yǔ)，后接受中央民族大學(xué)的任教邀請(qǐng)，搬到了北京，一待就是15年。在華生活期間，他創(chuàng)作了75首關(guān)于中國(guó)的美國(guó)鄉(xiāng)村風(fēng)格歌曲，任教超過(guò)65所中國(guó)大學(xué)，發(fā)表多篇文章，還撰寫(xiě)了幾本著作，其中有兩本是關(guān)于中國(guó)的。

在最新出版的英文圖書(shū)Singing My China Stories to the world（《向世界唱我的中國(guó)故事》）一書(shū)中，他介紹了自己在中國(guó)生活的經(jīng)歷。該書(shū)在北京冬奧會(huì)主媒體中心等地供志愿者、媒體、游客閱讀，獲得了極大關(guān)注。本期，《國(guó)際人才交流》特別邀請(qǐng)馬克談?wù)勥@本新書(shū)和他的中國(guó)情緣。

為周總理奔赴淮安

在馬克位于北京的家中，到處裝飾著中國(guó)風(fēng)的畫(huà)作、擺件，書(shū)架上也滿(mǎn)滿(mǎn)當(dāng)當(dāng)?shù)胤胖徒袊?guó)相關(guān)的書(shū)籍，如英文版的《紅星照耀中國(guó)》，多位外國(guó)老專(zhuān)家的著作《見(jiàn)證中國(guó)》《十里店——中國(guó)一個(gè)村莊的革命》等，還有近期幾位在華外國(guó)專(zhuān)家寫(xiě)的有關(guān)中國(guó)的書(shū)，如聶子瑞的《太陽(yáng)升起：“美國(guó)小哥”見(jiàn)證中國(guó)扶貧奇跡》。他的電腦桌前更是掛著一幅周恩來(lái)紀(jì)念館的照片。“這里我一共去過(guò)五次，里邊有一尊周總理坐姿的雕像?！彼χ貞浀馈?shí)際上，這位美國(guó)學(xué)者與中國(guó)故事的緣起與周總理有關(guān)。

社會(huì)學(xué)博士畢業(yè)后，馬克在美國(guó)大學(xué)教了幾年書(shū)，隨后選擇成為一名全職的社區(qū)工人組織志愿者，負(fù)責(zé)給如學(xué)生、小企業(yè)主、家庭主婦等其他志愿者進(jìn)行政治教育。“因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)有很多工人的工作條件都很艱苦，生活條件很差，薪酬很低。但能夠參加工會(huì)的人只占一小部分。”為了讓剩下的人也能夠了解到自己的合法權(quán)利，為自己和他人爭(zhēng)取權(quán)益，馬克整整在這里干了29年。也正是在這段不斷學(xué)習(xí)各國(guó)政治的過(guò)程中，他了解到全世界工人的抗?fàn)幗?jīng)歷，包括中國(guó)共產(chǎn)黨領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的中國(guó)工人，了解到毛澤東、周恩來(lái)等偉人的事跡，并深感于其不屈不撓、排除萬(wàn)難的精神和取得的偉大成就。特別贊賞中國(guó)共產(chǎn)黨不靠侵害他人利益，堅(jiān)持和平發(fā)展的理念。于是，他決定親自來(lái)中國(guó)看一看。

在網(wǎng)站上大量投送工作簡(jiǎn)歷后，他收到了很多來(lái)中國(guó)教英語(yǔ)的工作機(jī)會(huì)。他相中了一份淮安發(fā)來(lái)的英語(yǔ)老師的工作機(jī)會(huì)，因?yàn)槟抢锸撬鹁吹闹芸偫淼墓枢l(xiāng)。隨后，他從書(shū)架上拿下了一份刊物，這是一份1977年出版的英文版《人民畫(huà)報(bào)》，周總理的照片被用作了封面，還特意用塑料封裝了?！拔?005年來(lái)中國(guó)時(shí)行李并不多，但我?guī)狭诉@本刊物?！眮?lái)到淮安，馬克對(duì)周總理有了更加深入的了解：“我知道周總理是很多外國(guó)友人的好朋友，他對(duì)外國(guó)朋友對(duì)中國(guó)作出的貢獻(xiàn)非?？粗?，因此我愈發(fā)敬愛(ài)他。”

本來(lái)，馬克只計(jì)劃在中國(guó)待一年，后來(lái)事情發(fā)生了改變。在他第一年的一堂英文寫(xiě)作課上，馬克要求學(xué)生閱讀英國(guó)哲學(xué)家伯特蘭·羅素暮年撰寫(xiě)的《我為什么而活》一文，并暢想自己60年后是什么樣子，寫(xiě)下自己的“為什么而活”。除了三個(gè)人寫(xiě)到了要幫助殘疾人、縮小城鄉(xiāng)差距外，75個(gè)學(xué)生中有72人都寫(xiě)的是想讓自己和家人擁有更美好的生活。那一刻，馬克感受到了自己必須留下來(lái)。他想要告訴孩子們，這還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠。是的，這個(gè)答案雖然不是錯(cuò)的，但他希望人們不要總是關(guān)注自己，我們不能忘卻那些沒(méi)有我們幸運(yùn)的人們，那些沒(méi)有享受到我們擁有的資源的人?！熬拖裰袊?guó)共產(chǎn)黨的建立者們是為了整個(gè)民族的幸福而奮斗，所以才讓今天的你們有了受教育的機(jī)會(huì)?！庇兄@樣崇高的理想的馬克后來(lái)還帶過(guò)很多學(xué)生們?nèi)チ沂考o(jì)念館，告訴他們那里長(zhǎng)眠的戰(zhàn)士很多和他們一般大，只有十七八歲，他們都是為了建設(shè)新中國(guó)而犧牲的。馬克欣慰地回憶，參觀結(jié)束后，很多人告訴他：“謝謝你帶我來(lái)這里，我自己是不會(huì)想著要來(lái)的，我學(xué)到了很多，也很高興自己來(lái)了?！?/p>

為無(wú)窮的遠(yuǎn)方扎根民大

在淮安的任期結(jié)束后，馬克同時(shí)收到了位于北京的清華大學(xué)和中央民族大學(xué)（以下簡(jiǎn)稱(chēng)“民大”）的任職邀請(qǐng)。稍加思索后，他便選擇了后者。關(guān)于理由，他是這么說(shuō)的：“我做了近30年社區(qū)服務(wù)，無(wú)論我走到哪里，都希望為當(dāng)?shù)厝藗冏鞒鲐暙I(xiàn)。而我知道，清華的孩子們沒(méi)有我也會(huì)有燦爛的人生。所以我要來(lái)民大，這所為少數(shù)民族學(xué)生開(kāi)設(shè)的學(xué)校。因?yàn)樵谶@里，我更能發(fā)揮作用，我能夠教給這些孩子知識(shí)，當(dāng)這些孩子回到自己的家鄉(xiāng)，他們可以用自己所學(xué)作出貢獻(xiàn)?！彼€堅(jiān)定地說(shuō)：“英文里有個(gè)概念，secondguessing，是指人們?cè)谧龀鲞x擇后，會(huì)擔(dān)心放棄的那個(gè)是不是才更好？但我在選擇民大、放棄清華后從來(lái)沒(méi)有這樣的感覺(jué)。”

馬克（左）和他的中國(guó)朋友傅涵組成了一個(gè)名為“秀外慧中”的樂(lè)隊(duì)

在中央民族大學(xué)任教的15年里，他感觸最深的就是各民族學(xué)生、老師之間的和諧氛圍?！扒肌⒚?、壯、蒙、藏、滿(mǎn)、布依、朝鮮……”他字正腔圓地用中文說(shuō)起了好多少數(shù)民族的名字，“中國(guó)是個(gè)多民族國(guó)家，這里的學(xué)生70%以上都是少數(shù)民族。在美國(guó)，人們不理解中國(guó)作為多民族國(guó)家是什么樣的，如果聽(tīng)到一些故事，也一般是有關(guān)沖突的。我曾參與中國(guó)教育部對(duì)民大的評(píng)審，評(píng)審專(zhuān)家團(tuán)隊(duì)還有兩位美國(guó)人，一位說(shuō)這里有來(lái)自中國(guó)各少數(shù)民族的學(xué)生和教師，問(wèn)民大如何處理師生間的種族沖突。我回應(yīng)說(shuō)，在民大十多年我既沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)也沒(méi)聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)校園里發(fā)生過(guò)任何種族沖突事件。15年來(lái)，看見(jiàn)的是來(lái)自不同文化背景的孩子們和諧地在課內(nèi)和課外一起學(xué)習(xí)、玩耍、吃飯、購(gòu)物。如果同學(xué)或者室友中有一個(gè)是穆斯林，他們就會(huì)選擇去學(xué)?；蛘吒浇那逭娌蛷d吃，我還看到學(xué)生去西藏、新疆等地的少數(shù)民族地區(qū)進(jìn)行暑假學(xué)習(xí)，去哈薩克斯坦的大學(xué)交流學(xué)習(xí)?！?/p>

“我們大學(xué)有一個(gè)博物館，里面有幾個(gè)少數(shù)民族文化展覽館。來(lái)自不同民族、專(zhuān)業(yè)和地方的學(xué)生們會(huì)作為講解員向參觀者們介紹中國(guó)少數(shù)民族的特色服飾、習(xí)俗等。有的孩子會(huì)用英文完成，我就幫他們改善英文講解詞。這么多年下來(lái)，加上我的旅行見(jiàn)聞，讓我了解了中國(guó)文化的多樣性?！彼f(shuō)。

在2016年拿到綠卡后，馬克在中國(guó)的工作和生活更加便利了?！熬G卡讓我的生活和工作沒(méi)了年齡限制。甚至我不工作也可以待在這里。但是我非常想要繼續(xù)在民大教書(shū)。”他這樣描述自己和民大多年來(lái)的情誼：“這里是我工作的地方，是我的家。我和我的同事，包括很多學(xué)生都有深厚的友誼。我的廚房里還有朋友送來(lái)的胡辣湯呢?！彼哪樕下冻隽诵θ?。

歌唱中國(guó)

馬克的客廳專(zhuān)門(mén)有一隅是留給音樂(lè)創(chuàng)作的。在這個(gè)角落里，可以看到一把吉他，一個(gè)譜架，一個(gè)立式麥克風(fēng)，很多書(shū)和寫(xiě)著歌的筆記本。馬克從九歲開(kāi)始彈吉他，但一直沒(méi)有作品?！半x開(kāi)淮安時(shí)，我心血來(lái)潮寫(xiě)了第一首《淮安，未來(lái)的希望》”，從此他開(kāi)始寫(xiě)歌，歌唱中國(guó)和他在中國(guó)的生活?！?013年，周總理誕辰115周年，我唱了這首關(guān)于淮安的歌，隨后有人上臺(tái)向我敬了一杯白酒，我才知道他們是周總理的侄女周秉德與她的兄弟。翻譯告訴我說(shuō)，周女士很驚訝一個(gè)外國(guó)人能夠創(chuàng)作一首‘如此美麗的關(guān)于中國(guó)的歌曲’。幾年后她還邀請(qǐng)我在國(guó)家大劇院的周總理誕辰活動(dòng)上演出，那真是令人激動(dòng)?！?/p>

2013年，馬克和他的中國(guó)朋友、自小學(xué)習(xí)二胡的傅涵女士組成了一個(gè)名為秀外慧中的二人組合，中西結(jié)合，在國(guó)內(nèi)各地演出?！拔覀冞@個(gè)組合的英文名字是In Side Out,直譯就是（把衣服）從里邊翻到外邊，但還是同一件衣服。我們表演了很多中國(guó)名曲，如《敖包相會(huì)》，但我們會(huì)作出一些改變，比如在《敢問(wèn)路在何方》的曲子中用二胡演奏出馬咆哮的聲音。我們希望能更加吸引外國(guó)朋友，讓大家喜歡聽(tīng)，并產(chǎn)生興趣了解中國(guó)的音樂(lè)?！?/p>

馬克還曾為汶川地震、北京奧運(yùn)會(huì)、新冠肺炎疫情和中國(guó)共產(chǎn)黨成立100周年等事件寫(xiě)歌，根據(jù)自己的所見(jiàn)所聞?dòng)懈卸l(fā)，尤其贊揚(yáng)中國(guó)人民團(tuán)結(jié)在一起共克時(shí)艱的精神狀態(tài)。其中，《為志愿者歡呼》這首歌稱(chēng)贊的是2008年奧運(yùn)會(huì)的志愿者們?！斑@首歌就是我的親身經(jīng)歷，我不知如何入場(chǎng)、找座位，都是志愿者主動(dòng)過(guò)來(lái)幫我搞定，他們無(wú)處不在，總是熱心幫助他人、指引方位、答疑解惑?！?/p>

“有趣的是，這次北京冬奧會(huì)，我有很多學(xué)生就是志愿者。他們傳回給我照片，我才驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)他們手里拿著我的書(shū)。原來(lái)我的新書(shū)《向世界唱我的中國(guó)故事》在冬奧會(huì)的主媒體中心是免費(fèi)提供給志愿者、媒體取閱的，應(yīng)該是認(rèn)為我寫(xiě)得很好吧?！彼χf(shuō)道。

馬克表示，這本書(shū)以及他寫(xiě)的歌都是為了破除國(guó)外媒體對(duì)于中國(guó)的刻板印象和不實(shí)報(bào)道，把真實(shí)的中國(guó)展現(xiàn)給世人。“冬奧期間，我每天都會(huì)看新聞，有時(shí)候也會(huì)忍不住因?yàn)橥饷綄?duì)中國(guó)的抹黑感到生氣。網(wǎng)上充滿(mǎn)著太多虛假信息和誤解，我常常說(shuō)，破除偏見(jiàn)最好的方法就是親自來(lái)中國(guó)看看。我曾三次參加張家界國(guó)際鄉(xiāng)村音樂(lè)周。在那里，我遇到了一位美國(guó)吉他手，他告訴我看到真正的中國(guó)讓他既驚訝又高興，這里有一片廣闊天地，和一些媒體說(shuō)的根本不一樣。他還說(shuō)，等他回去之后，有太多的故事要告訴別人。我希望疫情過(guò)去后，有更多的外國(guó)人能來(lái)親眼看看，看看真正的中國(guó)，然后把這些真實(shí)的經(jīng)歷帶回去。”

聊到近年來(lái)中國(guó)的變化，馬克覺(jué)得他有話(huà)要說(shuō)?！霸谥袊?guó)這么多年，我目睹了很多變化。包括脫貧、高鐵的發(fā)展、街道的清潔度等。以前我有一次坐了整整24小時(shí)硬座到廣州去，現(xiàn)在只要5小時(shí)之內(nèi)的旅程，我都會(huì)選擇高鐵，因?yàn)橛质娣直憬?。還有，以前我家門(mén)口的街道早上總是很臟，地上有很多垃圾，但現(xiàn)在很干凈?！彼炙妓髁艘幌拢缓笊衩氐匦α诵Γ骸拔业膶W(xué)生身上的最大變化就是他們對(duì)于自己的國(guó)家越來(lái)越自豪了，也更加自信?！彼€高興地提到一個(gè)和冬奧有關(guān)的變化：“我這周才知道，現(xiàn)在有一些原外國(guó)籍運(yùn)動(dòng)員能夠很自豪地代表中國(guó)參加奧運(yùn)會(huì)，我認(rèn)為這是一件很迷人的事情。十年前這些都是不可能想象得到的?！?/p>

最后，馬克高度贊揚(yáng)了習(xí)近平主席提出的“人類(lèi)命運(yùn)共同體”的概念。對(duì)于個(gè)人，他希望，每個(gè)人能將自己的夢(mèng)想和國(guó)家的融合在一起，讓個(gè)人和時(shí)代的脈搏同呼吸共命運(yùn)。“不要總想著自己能得到什么，要主動(dòng)想著自己能為別人付出什么。這樣，我們才能一起收獲幸福?！?/p>

“There is no place else in the world that I would rather be. The People’s Republic of China is the place I want to be…When I wake up in the morning in the PRC, I’m happy, because there is no where else in the world I would rather be. “Mark Levine sincerely recited the newly-written lyrics for his original guitar song. This year is his seventeenth year in China.

Mark Levine is an American sociologist who came to China to teach English in 2005. Spending his first two years in Huai’an city, Jiangsu Province, he moved to Beijing two years later when offered a position at Minzu University of China (MUC) where he is still teaching 15 years later. Through these years, he has written 75 American Country/Folk style songs all about China,lectured at nearly 65 different Chinese universities, published many articles and authored several books, among which two were about China.

, Mark’s most recent book about China and his life here, gained great prominence when 2000 copies were free of charge to media, volunteers and other visitors to the Main Media Center of the 2022 Beijing Olympics and Paralympics.magazine invited Mark to talk about his new book and his story.

Teaching in Huai’an with the Respect for Premier Zhou

In Mark’s home in Beijing, Chinese-style paintings and decorative items can be seen everywhere. His bookshelves are also filled with books about modern China, such as the original version ofand, which are written by the famous foreign experts Israel Epstein and Isabel Crook, and also several recent books about China by foreign experts, for example,by Erik Nilsson. It’s worth mentioning that in front of his computer desk, hangs a picture of the Memorial Hall of Premier Zhou Enlai. “I’ve been there five times. There is a stature of Premier Zhou in his sitting position,” he recalled smiling. In fact,the origin of this American scholar’s China story has something to do with Premier Zhou.

After graduating with a Ph.D. in sociology, and a couple years of university teaching, Mark chose to become a full-time volunteer in a community-based labor organization, working asan organizer and providing political education for other volunteers including students, small business owners, housewives and others. “Many workers at that time had to struggle with bad working conditions, poor living conditions, low wages,etc. The US labor laws only allow a small number of them to join a labor union.” In order to let the rest of the people know about their legal rights and fight for their own and common interests, Mark worked there as a volunteer for 29 years. It was also this process of constantly studying the politics of various countries that helped him learn about the struggles of other workers around the world and including those led by the Communist Party of China, and the great deeds of Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai and other party leaders. Deeply impressed by their indomitable will and amazing achievements, especially the concept of peaceful development,he decided to come to China and see it in person.

By posting resumes on a website, Mark got several offers to come to China and teach English. He picked the invitation from Huai’an because it was at the hometown of Premier Zhou, whom he admired. When talking about this, he took out a magazine from the bookshelves, which was a print of China Pictorial, published in 1977 with Premier Zhou’s photo on its cover, and was even plastic-coated. “I didn’t bring much baggage to China in 2005, but I carried this.” After arriving in Huai’an, he gained a deeper understanding of Premier Zhou, learning more about his friendship with foreigners and respect for the contributions they had made to China. Mark’s respect for Zhou grew.

Coming to China, Mark was intending to stay for only one year,but things changed. In one of his English writing classes during his first year, Mark asked the students to read “What I lived for”, an essay written late in life by the British philosopher Bertrand Russell. He then asked them to imagine themselves 60 years in the future, and write their own, “What I lived for” . Except for three students who wrote about helping the disabled people and narrowing the gap between rural areas and cities, 72 of the 75 students only wrote about wanting to have a better life for themselves and their families. It was at this moment that Mark felt he had to stay. He wanted to tell his young adult students that it wasn’t enough, that although their answer wasn’t wrong,they shouldn’t only focus on themselves, they couldn’t forget those who weren’t as lucky as them, those who weren’t enjoying the resources they had. He gave an example: “Just like the founders of the Communist Party of China didn’t only strive for themselves, but also for the happiness of the entire nation. And that’s why people (including his students) have the opportunity to be educated today.” Thus, with such noble dream, besides his classes, Mark later took many students to various memorial halls, telling them that many of the soldiers who lay there were around their age, only 17-18 years old, when they sacrificed their lives to build New China. After these visits, many of those young Chinese would tell him: “Thank you for bringing mehere Mark, I would never have come by myself but learned a lot and am glad that I came.”

15 Years in MUC: the Infinite Distance and Countless People are All Related to Me

At the end of his teaching in Huai’an, he received invitations from Tsinghua University and Minzu University of China at the same time, both located in Beijing. After a brief consideration, he chose the latter. As to why, he said this: “I had been doing community service for nearly 30 years, wherever I go, I don’t like being an outsider, I want to make a contribution. And I knew that the students of Tsinghua would have a wonderful life without me. So I had to come to Minzu University, a school for minority students, where I could contribute more by teaching things to these students that they could bring back to their home town.”He then proudly added: “There is a concept called second-guessing in English, which means to feel unsure about one’s decision after making a choice, wondering if the other option is actually better. But through all those years, I have never second-guessed my choice of choosing MUC and giving up Tsinghua.”

During the fifteen years of teaching at Minzu University of China, he was most impressed by the harmonious atmosphere among the students and faculty of all Chinese ethnic groups.“Qiang, Miao, Zhuang, Meng, Zang, Man, Buyi, Chaoxian,”he mentioned many Chinese ethnic minorities in correct and beautiful pronunciation, “China is a multi-ethnic country,and more than 70% of the students here are ethnic minorities.Often in the US, people do not understand China as a multiethnic country and if we hear of different ethnic groups, the story is usually one of conflict. I once participated in an evaluation program of undergraduate education at MUC conducted by the Ministry of Education of China. There were two American experts in the evaluation team. One of them asked about how students and teachers from various ethnic groups deal with racial conflicts here. I answered that I have never heard or seen any ethnic conflict through out all these years. All I saw was students of different Chinese ethnic groups studying together and outside of class, studying, playing, eating, go shopping together with no conflict. And if there was a Muslim in the class or the dormitory, they would eat together in the halal canteen or at similar restaurant nearby. I have also seen students go to Tibet, Xinjiang and other ethnic minority areas for summer study, and to universities in Kazakhstan for exchange studies.”

There is also a museum with several exhibition halls of ethnic minorities’ culture in our university. Students of different ethnic groups, majors, from different parts of the country will serve as docents to introduce the characteristic costumes, customs, etc. of different Chinese minorities to museum visitors.Sometimes they have to conduct these tours in English, so I volunteered to help. Thanks to this experience, as well as my travels around China, I have been able to learn about the great cultural diversity in China.” He said.

After getting a Chinese green card in 2016, Mark’s work and life in China have become more convenient. “The green card allows me to live and work with no age limitation. Also, I could live here without working but I am very eager to continue teaching at Minzu University,” He said when describing his deep commitment with his university: “It is my home as well as my job.I have great friendship with my colleagues and many students.I even have Hula soup from my friends in the kitchen.” The warm smile on his face moved us.

Singing My China Stories to the World

A corner in Mark’s living room is specially reserved for music.Here, you can see a guitar, a music stand, a microphone and many books and notebooks with songs. Mark has been playing guitar since he was nine years old, but he always played others’ songs. “When I left Huai’an, I wrote the first song:.” From then on, he started writing songs about China and his life here. “In 2013, the year of the 115anniversary of Premier Zhou’s birth, I performed this song about Huai’an.Afterwards, two people came to the stage to toast me with a glass of Baijiu, it turned out that they were Premier Zhou’s niece, Zhou Bingde, and her brother. The translator told me that she was amazed that a foreigner could write such a beautiful song about China. Remembering this, years later she made sure that I was invited to perform at Premier Zhou’s birthday celebration at the National Center for the Performing Arts,” he recalled, “that was very exciting.”

In 2013, he formed a musical duo called “In Side Out” with his Chinese friend, Ms. Fu Han, who began studying erhu at a young age. This combination of Chinese and Western music has performed all over the country. “Our English name literally means to turn the clothes inside out, but it’s the same clothes.We have performed a lot of famous Chinese songs, such as, but we would make some changes, such as playing the sound of horse roaring with the erhu in the song. We hope to attract more foreign friends. We have to make people like listening to Chinese music, then they will be interested in learning about it.”

Mark has also written songs about the Wenchuan earthquake,the Beijing Olympics, COVID-19, and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. They all talk about the cohesion and resilience of the Chinese people. Among them, the songpraised the volunteers who were distributed throughout Beijing during the Olympic Games, in 2008. “This is based on my personal experi-ence, I didn’t know how to enter the stadium nor find my seat,so the volunteers came to help me out. They were everywhere,eager to guide passengers and answer their questions. “

“A very exciting thing during the 2022 Olympics was that many of my students who were volunteering at the Beijing Winter Olympics this year sent me photos, and I was surprised to find out that they were holding my book. It turned out that my new bookwas distributed to volunteers, media and others who visited the media center. I suppose that means they thought I did a good job.” He laughed.

Mark said that the book, as well as the songs he wrote, are all aimed at straightening up the image of China that was distorted by western medias and showing the real China to the world.“During the Winter Olympics, I watched the news every day,and sometimes I couldn’t help but get angry at the western media. The Internet is full of misinformation and misunderstandings, I often say that the best way to break these prejudices of China is to come here to see by yourself. I participated in the Zhangjiajie International Country Music Week three times.There, I met another American guitarist, who told me that he was happily surprised to see the real China, there was a whole world out here, and it was not at all what the media says. He also said that there were too many stories to tell when he went back. I hope that when the epidemic is over, more foreigners can come, see the real China, and then bring these real experiences back to their countries.”

When it comes to the changes in China, Mark felt he had something to say. “Over the years, I have witnessed many changes,including poverty alleviation, the development of high-speed rail, the cleanliness of the streets, etc. For example, I once took a hard seat train of 24 hours to Guangzhou, can you imagine that!Now, as long as the journey is within 5 hours, I will choose the high-speed rail, after all, it is comfortable and convenient. Also,the street in front of my building used to be dirty in the morning, garbage was everywhere, but it is very clean now,” he then smiled mysteriously, “As for the students, the biggest change is that they are prouder of their country and more confident in the future of China and themselves.” There was also a change related to the Winter Olympics. “I only learned this week that there are now some foreign athletes who would proudly represent China in the Olympic Games, which I think is very fascinating.It was impossible to imagine ten years ago.”

In the end, Mark highly praised the concept of “community with a shared future for mankind”, proposed by President Xi Jinping. And when it comes to Chinese dreams of individuals,he hopes that everyone can combine their own dreams with the country’s dream, so that individuals and the community can share their pulse and breath. “Don’t always think about what you can gain from it, think about what you can give for others.Only in this way, can everyone acquire happiness.”