Program debut highlights Jinggangshan spirit
They say that it takes just a little spark to kindle an inferno. Such a spark in the Jinggang Mountains, in Jiangxi province, set off a fire of revolutionary enthusiasm that changed a nation many decades ago and continues to change the world today.
Even now Chinese still feel pride in saying they are the inheritors of the revolutionary spirit of the Jinggang Mountains, a spirit that values faithfulness, perseverance, reason and the people.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and to encourage young people to carry on the revolutionary spirit, the first episode of Youth Power was broadcast online to a global audience on Tuesday.
In this episode, five young people from home and abroad, the youngest being 5 years old and the oldest a college student, told their stories on the theme “Youth Power: Telling my story in the Jinggang Mountains”.
They shared their experience in witnessing China’s development and reflected on how young people can contribute to building a more peaceful and prosperous future.
Students from Jiangxi province, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Shanghai, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the United Kingdom gathered in the Jinggang Mountains, reflected on global growth and cooperation and talked about history, the present and future, and about conflict and collaboration.
The mountainous area, where the CPC’s first rural revolutionary base was built in the late 1920s, is regarded as one of China’s most sacred revolutionary sites.
Zilalan, a 5-year-old Uygur girl from Ili, Xinjiang, painted a picture of a beautiful world and told of her passion for the future.
The kindergartner obviously loves life. The sweet smell of milkshakes, English classes, her playmates and parents, and bedtime stories color her childhood and enrich her life. Her parents plan to bring her to visit Tian’anmen Square in Beijing, she said, adding that she would then realize her dream of singing the national anthem and watching the national flag raising ceremony there.
“I just love this world,” Zilalan said. “No matter where I am, I feel safe and happy. I feel warmly welcomed by all the kind, gentle and friendly people around me. And my life is a blessing. I can’t wait to see more, hear more and feel more.”
Netika Limbu, 23, a student from the UK who chose to study in Jiangxi, offered a novel perspective. The Jinggang Mountains have given her plenty of opportunities to learn about the CPC and its might, she said. The deeper she has delved into it, the more she has realized and understood the revolutionary spirit and determination of the people in the city of Ji’an, amid the Jianggang Mountains.
She also talked of the changes, including economic growth and improved material well-being, in Ji’an. “With all these kinds of changes, I am confident that those who live in the city will continue to build a city of which the revolutionary heroes of yesteryear would be justly proud.”
Wang Chaoxiang, 17, a high school student in Ji’an, said: “I have seen local people inherit the Jinggangshan spirit of faithfulness, perseverance and respect for others. And I have felt proud to be part of the next generation passing on the spirit.”
After attending a Jinggang Mountains’ history camp during the summer holidays, he learned more about the Party’s history. Though right now China is prosperous and at peace, challenges always lie in wait, he said.
Wang appealed to young people to shoulder the responsibility of building a China that the revolutionary martyrs dreamed of.
Wu Qianlin, 14, a high school student, explained how she made sense of her identity. She was born in Hong Kong and lived there for more than six years. But it only took her a little time to gain a sense of belonging after her family moved to the city of Foshan in Guangdong province. People in Hong Kong and Foshan read the same kinds of books, speak the same language and, most importantly, enjoy the same educational opportunities, she said.
She said she hopes that one day she can enter the top art school in China and show China’s amazing scenery as well as its rapid growth to the rest of the world.
“As the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC approaches, I feel honored to be part of this history, but also obliged to do all I can to help our country to continue to grow,” she said.
Luo Xiangquan, 21, a student at Shanghai International Studies University, said that like many other empathetic, tolerant and loving young people worldwide, he has dedicated himself to empowering more students with what he has learned from intercultural communication so they can work together to share China’s culture with the world.
“We will have done our bit in contributing to a world in which countries know more about one another so that individuals know each other better too,” he said in the episode.
Youth Power is a new program created by China Daily, conceived with the interests and ideals of “Generation Z” — people born between 1997 and 2012 — specifically in mind. It aims to build a platform for communication and exchange worldwide.
The program, presented offline and online, comes in the form of interviews, forums and speeches in which the topics are related to anything of current interest in the world. It aims to provide an insight into the perspectives of young people on the state of the world and where it is heading, encourage them to think about issues and motivate them to play their role in making the world a better place.
The program’s launch was welcomed by audiences at home and abroad.
“Having been an academic for almost 30 years, the brilliant ideas my students, both Chinese and international ones, come up with often amaze me,” said Professor Wu Minsu, vice-dean of the faculty of journalism and communication at Communication University of China in Beijing. “Youth Power provides a great platform for these great ideas to shine.”
Polina Kuzmina, 17, a high school student in St. Petersburg, Russia, said after watching Youth Power that she would love to communicate with her peers from other countries more on this platform.
“I really hope that many global issues we face now, such as discrimination and environmental problems, can be part of the past.”