Dale, BA4TB will be active from China in WAE DC CW Contest, 9 - 10 August 2025 as BA4TB.
He will operate in SO Category.
QSL via BA4TB.
Ads for direct QSL:
Dale Yu, 138-3302,Yinren Yushu Garden, WUXI 214011, China.
China
Despite the fact that China is quite far from the West, this is only in terms of geography. China is so convenient to live in, so developed and beautiful that it is easy to call it a developed Western country. What's more, it is impossible not to fall in love with China at first sight. And it is love that lasts forever. Final and irrevocable.
Golden Buddha, Mount Emei, China. Author - Joy Snow.
Grand structures in a grand country
In China, everything has always been “grand.” The Grand Silk Road, the Great Wall of China, the Grand Canal of China, and the Great Plains of China. Most importantly, the word “great” conveys not only the scale of the object, but also its enormous significance in the life of the Chinese people.
But while the Great Silk Road is now only a fragment of the history of a huge state that began before the beginning of our era and ended in the fifteenth century, the Great Wall of China still continues to amaze the human imagination with its scale, even though most of it has been destroyed. Of the many kilometers of wall, five to eight meters wide, about two and a half kilometers remain in good condition, reaching a height of ten meters in some places.
The wall was once built to protect against possible enemies and was also used as a road. Now, even just trying to climb this mighty structure, one can believe that the barrier was indeed solid and resistant to enemy attacks. Even today, not everyone has the strength to climb the steep half-meter steps to reach the second or third level of the wall. Not to mention the uppermost section and the fork where the wall begins to descend...
It is probably no coincidence that at the beginning of the wall there is an obelisk with an inspiring (and for some, mocking) inscription in Chinese characters, which says that you cannot call yourself a true Chinese if you have never climbed the Great Wall of China. Therefore, it is not surprising to see “graffiti” on the walls of the uppermost tower, scratched by the hands of those who made it here. One begins to feel confident that the same phrase is written there in every language in the world: “I am a real Chinese!” So what if you are Danish or Russian, for example? China is a country where you really want to touch the past and feel part of this great people of a great country.
Panda, China. Author - Stanley Zimny.
What are the Chinese like?
Let's start with the fact that China has the largest population in the world. To get an idea of the scale of the number of people who call China their homeland, it is worth knowing that one in five people on Earth is Chinese.
If it were possible to line up all the inhabitants of this country in a single column and ask them to walk past a landmark, the stream of people would be endless.
This is also facilitated by high birth rates and rapid population growth, which exceeds mortality rates. That is why China passed a law allowing only one child per family. The exception was the birth of twins. But at the end of last year, the government decided to relax its family planning policy. Now, two children are allowed in one family.
The Chinese are extremely calm and reserved. When you see a Chinese person smiling broadly, you can safely assume that their smile is directed at someone very close or dear to them. In addition to reserve being a distinctive feature of the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom (as China is often called), national traditions also prohibit the display of any emotions in front of strangers.
It is common to hear Chinese people talking loudly. Due to heavy traffic on the streets and the constant presence of large crowds (who are naturally talking), speaking in a raised voice has become a habit for the local population. This should not be considered bad manners or excessive emotionality.
You can be proud of the respect shown to you if a Chinese person arrives at an appointment before you. Conversely, if a Chinese person is late, it means that the meeting with you is not that important to them. Well, unless the reason for the delay was a traffic jam.
Red Panda, China. Author - Renata Gross.
China in a nutshell
Of course, such a huge country cannot be described in a book. But there are some things that come to mind first when talking about China.
The Chinese writing system was invented by the ancient Chinese civilization and consists of more than eighty thousand characters. An educated Chinese person who has graduated from university knows only five thousand of the eighty thousand possible characters. At the same time, many Chinese people are fluent in English, and given the size of the country's population, it turns out that more people speak English in China than in the United States, for example.
Monasteries and martial arts are undoubtedly an integral part of Chinese culture. Not everyone knows that kung fu originated in the famous Shaolin Monastery, where Buddhist monks invented it to defend themselves from robbers on deserted mountain roads and passes.
In addition to the well-known wushu, which has been introduced in all schools and universities in China as a separate academic discipline, the country has entire self-defense systems designed specifically for women, peasants, and even the elderly. People practice qigong and yoga selflessly right on the streets.
Martial arts, sports, and caring for the body and spirit are top priorities here. Perhaps this is why, despite the severe air pollution in Chinese cities, the life expectancy of these unemotional, hard-working people is so high? We probably have something to learn from them.
