Building bridges and bonds
The visit was nearly seven years ago, but it is etched so clearly on Nathan Bowling’s mind that it is as though it happened yesterday.
On Sept 23, 2015, Bowling was teaching a sociology class at Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington state, but this was to be no routine lesson. Standing in the classroom before him and his students was a very special guest: Chinese President Xi Jinping.
This visit was one of many Xi has made at home and abroad since he became China’s president almost 10 years ago.
The school visit was his last public stop during a visit to Washington state. He would meet members of the Lincoln High School football team and receive a customized No. 1 Lincoln Abes’ game jersey with his name on it.
“At one point we had a conversation about whether they could shake his hand or not,” Bowling said of his students. “And I was like, ‘Of course not. No way.’ And then, when he stuck his hand out to shake hands with the kids in the row, the first kid squealed, like it was the Beatles. That was really cool to me. That means they understood the gravity of the moment.”
Among the many things Bowling clearly recalls about the visit is what Xi said about China.
Bowling recalled Xi as saying something to the effect of when you go to Xi’an, you see the China of more than 1,000 years in the past; when you go to Beijing you see 500 years in the past; and when you go to Shanghai you see 100 years in the past.
“And that passage really stuck with me. That’s kind of a demonstration of the depth of Chinese history.”
Bowling and his wife have visited China many times since 2014. They have worked with high school students and middle school students in Chengdu, Sichuan province. The other cities they have toured include Beijing, Macao, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
He said his trips to China have enabled him to deepen his knowledge far beyond what people can get from a book. On each trip, he said, he has been “blown away” by the country, its people and their generosity.
After exchanging gifts and speaking with students that day in Tacoma, Xi made a speech in the school auditorium.
Because of her involvement with the Lincoln Lady Abes basketball team, Shauntel Berry was able to witness the speech. What she remembered most clearly was the delay between Xi saying in Chinese that 100 students were to be invited to travel to China, and then the translation from the interpreter. Everyone was cheering, probably hoping to be one of those selected, Berry said.
In 2016 she visited China as one of the 100 students selected to travel.“Traveling to China made me realize we’re all living different lives, and there’s more than one way to live. I took notice of the values and the normality of respect of the Chinese people, a shock compared to here in the States.”
Berry said she plans to study in China and would like to learn about the origins of traditional Chinese medicine.
Lincoln High School’s principal, Patrick Erwin, said: “The president’s visit (in 2015) opened my students’ eyes to the rest of the world, specifically China. They have never met or been in the presence of a leader of his magnitude, so that made it special, but the gift of travel that he gave to our students will never be forgotten.
“The visit dazzled them, and the ensuing trip changed their lives forever. I have students that planned on studying in China before the COVID-19 pandemic and still hope to do so once things return to normal.”