CRI听力: A Love Story of 40 Years

Anchor: More than thirty years ago, a young woman from Germany fell in love with a middle-aged Chinese teacher in Hamburg University and they got married. During their long marriage, they witnessed the development of Sino-German relations and have been promoting cultural exchanges between the two countries.

In our show today, Zhao Jianfu will tell you the story of professor Guan Yuqian and his German wife Petra Haering-Kuan.

An old man in his 80s with gray hair answered the door when we visited their home in Shanghai. He is Guan Yuqian. The home is a mixture of Chinese and German elements, such as works of Chinese calligraphy and painting, Buddha sculptures, Teddy Bear toys and a piano.

Guan met his wife at a party shortly after he arrived in Germany in 1970. They got married seven years later. During the years of being together, they discovered that they are both interested in writing, particularly writing about Chinese or European culture.

"Petra is not only my wife, but a friend, a teacher, and a colleague. We are both interested in writing and enjoy the process of working together on our books. We try to embrace each others culture in our everyday lives. So we get along pretty well."

As for Petra, it was a love at first sight. She actually made up her mind to marry Guan two days after the party. In their home in Hamburg, Petra recalls how she got the courage to quit her job in the hospital and became one of her husband's students studying Chinese language and literature in Hamburg University.

"I was unsatisfied with my life and my job when I was twenty years old, There seemed no future for me back then. But after I met him, I was inspired by his courage and optimism. I felt like there was nothing I can't do when I'm with him."

Petra came to China for the first time in 1975. She has been trying to fit in and explore this country since then. She is fascinated with traditional Chinese acupuncture and massage. She worked as an intern in several medical schools in Beijing, Nanjing and Chengdu. Petra says if it was not for Guan, she would never have got the chance to come to China.

Petra and her husband have published a total of twenty books and co-authored seven of them. In one of their books published last year, they try to understand cultural difference by telling the stories of different people they interviewed from the two countries. Former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt wrote the preface for the book.

Last October, they went to Shanghai to sign copies of the Chinese edition of Petra's latest book. It is about the conflict and integration of the two cultures she experienced in her everyday life. Besides that, Petra has given public lectures about her stories in major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin.

Speaking of books, Guan Yuqian says life could be seen as an interesting book itself. When he was young, he worked as a Chinese-Russian interpreter for senior Chinese leaders. He then went through some ups and downs and finally settled down in Germany. Through all those years, his love for China never changes and his dream to promote Chinese culture grows stronger.

Last year was a busy year for the old man. He taught classes, gave lectures, wrote books, organized several cultural events to help Chinese people better understand Germany and German people China.

At the "China Time" event in the Hamburg Culture Festival last October, Guan invited 200 guests and arranged a recital for 13-year-old pianist Niu Niu.

The Hamburg government honored him with an Art and Science Badge for his contribution to promote Sino-EU cultural exchanges. He is the first Chinese to win that honor since it was created in 1953.

Mr. and Mrs. Guan are representatives of the people-to-people exchanges between China and Germany. As Chinese ambassador to Germany, Wu Hongbo, explains, the year 2010 has seen many government-led cultural events taking place in the two courtiers.

"We managed to get forty-five universities in Germany to launch the "Chinese Culture Week" at the same time.
Besides, we invited two hundred German middle school students to participate in summer camps in China.
Though it was just a short period of time, those students had a good time with their Chinese host families."

During last year's Shanghai Expo, both China and Germany Pavilions have attracted a great number of visitors from each others' countries. Moreover, Chinese embassy in Germany has opened its door to five hundred local people for them to have a better understanding of China and its culture. German ambassador to China Dr. Michael Schaefer points out that communication is the right way to promote bilateral relations.

"Our strategic partnership shouldn't be reflected only in the trade sector. It means connections in every other social sector. For example, we can cooperate to establish effective communication mechanisms for students and business elites."

Those exchanges between the two countries offer a sneak peek of overall Sino-German relations. Politically, the two countries agreed to upgrade their bilateral ties to the level of strategic partnership after the signing of their second Joint Communique last year. This not only institutionalized the government-level dialogue mechanism, but also brought the bilateral relationship to a new chapter.

Economically, the bilateral trade volume in the past year is expected to reach 130 billion U.S. dollars, setting a new record since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries in 1972.

Besides, China and Germany have agreed to find new ways to cooperate in curbing trade protectionism, strengthening financial supervision, and further promoting environmental protection and the green economy.
Ambassador Wu Hongbo says these are all testaments to the development of bilateral ties.

Mr. and Mrs. Guan say they hope people from China and Germany can bond like they did. They supported and never gave up on each other through the years. They are admired by many as a good example of a happy marriage. They say their marriage lasts because they communicate with each other. They try to overcome the misunderstandings caused by their different backgrounds and values.

Guan's long time friend, former chancellor Schmidt says that people with different cultural backgrounds find it difficult to communicate, which always leads to misunderstanding.

"People around the world always complain that their own countries were misunderstood by foreigners. This is because people know too little or even nothing about foreign countries. In Hamburg, there are few people who speak Chinese. And there might be even fewer people speaking German in China I assume."

Ninety-two-year-old Schmidt once had a conversation with Guan saying people understand they couldn't survive on their own in the age of globalization. However, exchanges and cooperation between different countries are still not enough to overcome the challenges in this intertwined world. This makes what Mr. and Ms. Guan did even more valuable.

"Sometimes, we worry too much trying to eliminate the cultural difference. But it can be better if we cherish our own cultural backgrounds and try to embrace others'. After living together for such a long time, we definitely have a good understanding of each others' culture. But that would be impossible if we hadn't always exchanged views on different cultures."

For CRI, I'm Zhao Jianfu.