A sense of history

China is old. The Chinese had mastered fire by 600.000bc, a written language & the paper to write it on by 2000bc & a common currency & system of weights and measures by 200bc. Furthermore, much of the evidence & artifacts from this time are still preserved today in China's modern cities & provinces.

the Great Wall

Seeing this is a little strange after Indonesia (which seemed to have forgotten its history) & Australia (which on the one hand had relatively no history & on the other a living history of primitive survival). I now understand the awe of American tourists visiting the UK ('it's so owld').

But the most amazing aspect of China's ancient civilization is how it is still respected today & how Chinese people still learn lessons from it. For example, ancient calligraphy carved 1000s of years ago is still studied by modern day students to learn good grammar & handwritting skills.

I am sure China has changed a huge amount since it opended its doors to the West 30 years ago. Next year it hosts the Olympic Games, putting it firmly in the global public eye. I am sure that the Chinese people will proudly display the modern infastructure created for the Games, but I am also sure that they will use it as an opportunity to showcase their long & facinating history.

the new Olympic stadium