In 1984, Brian Linden first visited and studied in China for four years. A fan of Chinese culture, Linden returned to China in 2003 and later settled in Xizhou Town, Yunnan Province in 2004, dedicating his career to fostering cultural exchanges between China and the world.
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00:00For Brian Linden, this is his 25th year living in China.
00:05For decades, he has been operating the Linden Center.
00:09His name is a hotel brand and hub for cultural exchanges in Xizhou Town
00:14in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province.
00:19In 25 years, Brian and his family travel to almost every bit of China
00:25and welcome thousands of guests worldwide, introducing them to the Chinese culture.
00:31What is his observation of China's development?
00:35What message in his eyes China is sending to the world?
00:39I sat down with him for his answers.
00:45It's always good to start with your experience,
00:48like why you came to China in the first place in 1984
00:52and what intrigued you to stay here?
00:55Man, I'm looking for a new dream.
00:57I came to China mainly because China gave me an opportunity to probably have a better life,
01:03which is kind of interesting because in 1984, America was one of the richest countries
01:08and China at the time was not very affluent.
01:13So when I had an opportunity in 1983 to come to study in China,
01:18I didn't have much of a future in America, to be honest.
01:22I was a community college boy and then I was a night school boy.
01:27I felt that my mom and dad had dreams that they were never able to achieve.
01:32So I felt that in some ways I needed a new place.
01:37China immediately embraced me and gave me opportunities.
01:42Without China, I would be cleaning carpets still at my age.
01:48With China, I became a better person, not just for me, but for the world.
01:5335 years ago, you wrote in your book that you couldn't recognize China from a world map,
01:59but now you have a little map in your head where to go in China,
02:03taking the trains and also you could tell foreigners how to visit China.
02:08What do you think are behind such a big change?
02:11In 1984, there were very limited train lines and very, very slow.
02:18And I think that what has happened now is the government
02:23has really emphasized on building out the infrastructure.
02:27I never fly in China anymore because I always take the trains.
02:33I'm willing to go anything you need to do now.
02:38Medical, the transportation, the whole banking system.
02:43When I used to get my salary from CBS News in 1984-85,
02:48I used to have to go to the 中国银行 on 钱门.
02:51And they would just throw, the money would go around on a little wire.
02:58I mean, look at it now. I mean, it's amazing.
03:03Foreigners are so far behind now, you know?
03:06And that's only such a short time.
03:08So for me, I think that what's interesting is when I speak to other foreigners,
03:13especially journalists,
03:15I don't think they know how far China has come in such a short time.
03:20China has demonstrated so much openness.
03:24And I feel that we should, I think the West should acknowledge that.
03:30There are still many stereotypes about China,
03:33especially a lot of Western media.
03:35They criticize China.
03:36See, people can't decide what kind of lives we're living.
03:39According to your experience,
03:41what is the true picture of the democratic lives of Chinese people here?
03:47In so many ways, the government is trying to do,
03:50maybe in almost like a utilitarian way,
03:54take what is the best,
03:56what will bring the best results to the most people.
04:01It has been so nice to, I sit in sometimes like on the CPCC,
04:05you know, the political cover.
04:07And I have joined at the provincial, at the prefectural level,
04:11where the governor, the local governor, the Dalai governor,
04:15will invite business leaders, will invite cultural leaders.
04:19And unfortunately, it's a very long meeting
04:24because those village leaders will be very critical.
04:27And the governor is sitting there taking notes.
04:30And he's saying,
04:31我理解,我了解,对。
04:33So he will sit there and acknowledge.
04:36All those notes, when we leave that day,
04:39he says, we will get an answer back to you.
04:42I see it as very effective
04:44because I'm living here and I see the problems that we have had
04:49are somehow being addressed.
04:51And sometimes the problems we have in America
04:54are still being discussed.
04:56I feel that in some ways in America,
04:58my vote sometimes doesn't matter.
05:02And that to me is a little bit sad.
05:05And this to me is something that I feel is a little bit of a fault
05:08in America right now,
05:10is that we don't even seem to be willing
05:13to look at other outside countries that have done so well.
05:18China has done so well.
05:20How do you comment on China's opening up efforts,
05:23especially considering we're announcing more
05:27reserve-free policies for different countries?
05:30How do you comment on those opening up efforts?
05:32It's been very helpful to us.
05:34Xi Jinping, our center,
05:37has always had a lot of following from the outside world.
05:41At one time, we were 80% foreign in terms of foreign guests.
05:45So just think, we're in the middle,
05:47we're out in rural Yunnan,
05:49and most of our guests were foreigners
05:52and they were coming because they want to know
05:55traditional Chinese culture.
05:57Last week, we had a big Spanish group.
05:59This week, we have two weeks of Americans here.
06:03So this just shows that there's a market out there.
06:07But the market is not just solely,
06:09please, we shouldn't just focus on business.
06:12There are a lot of people who should be coming here
06:14because those people who are coming for culture
06:17will become some of our best ambassadors,
06:19cultural ambassadors when they go home.
06:21And they're the ones who go back
06:23and tell the best stories about China.
06:26And this is what we are trying to cultivate as much as possible.
06:29Do you expect more, like maybe in the next 25 years?
06:33If I live that long, yeah.
06:35I'm quite optimistic.
06:37This is my home, you know.
06:39I'm proud of China
06:41because I think you offer a wonderful future
06:43for all of mankind.
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