盡管我是法國國籍，但有著波蘭血統(tǒng)的母親總是用波蘭語與我們交流，希望為我們打開一扇了解周圍世界的窗口，使我們具有不限于祖國法國的國際視野。這無疑是我從小就對中國感興趣的原因之一。

從出生前就開始的中國故事

雖然看起來有些不可思議，但我與中國的故事甚至在我出生之前就已經(jīng)開始了。1976年，即將于幾年后成為我母親的那個人認識了一個從香港來華沙觀光的年輕中國女孩。盡管有文化壁壘，但她們一見如故。我母親請她吃了一些地道的波蘭菜，并邀她到自己的家鄉(xiāng)住了幾天。

1989年，我母親的那位中國朋友來到位于法國東北部的南錫探望我們，當(dāng)時我只有8歲。這次拜訪無疑增進了我與中國的聯(lián)結(jié)。我永遠不會忘記這位年輕的中國婦女，舉止優(yōu)雅、風(fēng)度翩翩、和藹可親就是她的代名詞。

15年后的2004年，我正在撰寫一篇關(guān)于“培養(yǎng)跨文化敏銳度必要性”的論文，這時廚房里飄出一股沁人心脾的味道，那是我哥哥和一個西安室友正準(zhǔn)備用有名的“老干媽”醬汁調(diào)制“中法餐”。當(dāng)時的我已經(jīng)習(xí)慣了用這種辣醬來給所有的飯菜調(diào)味，我最喜歡的是花生油辣醬。聞到香味后，我迅速關(guān)掉電腦，閉上眼睛，猛吸了一口廚房里散發(fā)出來的中法佳肴的香味，跟著另一個武漢室友播放的中國流行歌曲，開始哼唱“豬，你的鼻子有兩個孔”。這很有趣，雖然我不明白我哼的是什么，但我很喜歡中國流行音樂的旋律。突然，我哥哥叫我出去，意味深長地遞給我一把中國菜刀：“別閑著了，趕緊過來幫我們。”

我專心切起了他們剛從鎮(zhèn)上的中國市場買來的大白菜。我們雖生活在法國，但卻一直處于中法多元文化氛圍中。我、哥哥，還有我們的兩個中國室友一起生活了兩年，我與他們建立了深厚的友誼。18年后，當(dāng)我寫下這些字時，我們?nèi)员３种浅Ｃ芮械穆?lián)系。

2005年，為了將理論與實踐相結(jié)合，我準(zhǔn)備到中歐和東歐旅行。這次為期一年的旅行穿越了20個國家，目的在于報道當(dāng)?shù)厝说纳?，向法國群眾展示他們的生活方式，介紹跨文化教育的優(yōu)勢。我和我的旅行伙伴因此榮獲多個獎項，如青年和歐洲部頒發(fā)的“青年挑戰(zhàn)獎”。

莫言（Yves Mouillet，法國籍），中央廣播電視總臺CGTN法語部主持人、編輯和高級編導(dǎo)，說得一口流利的法語、英語、中文、德語、西班牙語和波蘭語。曾在出生地法國以外的40多個國家生活。2011年加入CGTN法語部以來，主持了3000多場新聞和直播節(jié)目。2021年度中國政府友誼獎獲得者。

懷著沉重的心情，我離開了家人和我的中國朋友，乘坐一輛被我們改裝成“露營車”的面包車，在歐洲旅行了5萬多公里，度過了一段不平凡的時光。這次經(jīng)歷給我留下了深刻印象，讓我看到了自己對于周圍世界豐富性和多樣性的無知，也培養(yǎng)了我非凡的適應(yīng)能力，讓我能夠迅速接受當(dāng)?shù)匚幕?，無論生活在哪里都有家的感覺。

經(jīng)歷了如此刺激的冒險之后，之后的兩年對我來說似乎平淡無奇。2007年，我的生活發(fā)生了360度的大轉(zhuǎn)變——我第一次去了中國，準(zhǔn)確地說，是北京。

來到北京，每一天都充滿驚喜

對北京的第一印象讓我畢生難忘。當(dāng)飛機降落在北京機場時，我終于感受到這將是一段不可思議的旅程，這里的一切都與我從前經(jīng)歷的不同。在機場，當(dāng)我正準(zhǔn)備拿起行李時，我的父親落淚了，這場景至今仍歷歷在目。他是預(yù)感到兩年后我將定居在這個一直以來都十分吸引我的國度了嗎？此時此刻的我比以往任何時候都確定這一點。但是，當(dāng)時我只是想去拜訪幾個中國朋友、待上幾個星期。

這次逗留在我的生命里劃出一道亮光。當(dāng)我把朋友的地址遞給出租車司機時，我的心都快跳出來了?！叭ツ膬喊。俊彼緳C的話我一個字都聽不懂，這可太刺激了。我曾在法國、西班牙和德國留學(xué)，走過20個國家，然而在這里我終于第一次體驗到迷失在自己無法控制的環(huán)境中所帶來的獨特樂趣。

我把出租車窗戶大大打開，一陣暖風(fēng)輕拂過我的臉頰，外面的廣告牌高速地呼嘯而過，上面的漢字隨即深深吸引了我。我當(dāng)時只有一個想法，就是盡可能地把它們?nèi)紝W(xué)會。但說起來容易，做起來卻很難。

這次與朋友們的重聚是非同尋常的。我當(dāng)即就被餐廳端上來的美味佳肴迷住了。這里的一切都比歐洲大得多。餐廳很多，甚至還跨越了多個樓層；大學(xué)校園也大得多，就像小型自治城市一樣；街道上車水馬龍、熙熙攘攘；整座城市四通八達、一片繁華。

我懷著無比激動的心情回憶著生命中的這段時期。于我而言，那時每一天都是不尋常的，每一天都充滿了驚喜。

即使在今天，我也依然貪戀著這座城市的安全感。在這里，晚上10點后仍可以乘坐地鐵而不被別人煩擾。而在大多數(shù)歐洲城市中，這是很罕見的。我在北京的公共交通中從未感受過惡意，打架或爭吵也幾乎沒有。

幾周之內(nèi)，我游覽了許多城市。我作出了一個決定：我一定要更多地了解這一讓我心馳神往的千年文明。我把所有的空閑時間都用來為未來在中國生活做準(zhǔn)備，并在孔子學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)了兩年的課程。許多法國人在那里學(xué)習(xí)漢語，但只有一小部分人堅持下來，而完全掌握這門語言的人則少之又少。

定居北京，見證驚人的發(fā)展

2009年，我終于下定決心在這座我的夢想之城定居。奧運會結(jié)束后，北京仿佛披上了華美的外衣。超現(xiàn)代的建筑與歷史建筑交相輝映，其中大多數(shù)已經(jīng)以其建筑之美和技術(shù)之強而聞名于世，例如國家大劇院、中央電視臺大樓，以及更近一些建造的高達528米的“中國尊”大廈等。同大多數(shù)的中國大都市一樣，北京已經(jīng)煥然一新，被賦予了這些新的象征，就像100多年前建造埃菲爾鐵塔的巴黎一樣。大多數(shù)中國城市的面貌正在更新迭代，不斷煥發(fā)出新的生機與活力。一些在歐洲生活了十來年的北京朋友總和我聊起，他們對北京這座承載著童年生活的城市感到陌生了，身處其中很容易迷路。他們指出，特定的城市變化在法國則較為罕見，即使幾十年沒去過這些城市，也不難找路，畢竟幾乎沒有任何變化。

在北京生活了十年之后，我有幸見證了它驚人的發(fā)展。

北京大街上行人的服裝是最明顯的例子之一。按照我心里21世紀(jì)初法國年輕人的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，2007年的北京大多數(shù)人都不太重視自己的外表。15年后，北京的三里屯經(jīng)歷了一場大改造，搖身變?yōu)樯莩奁泛蜁r尚的圣地。商場里的品牌種類也增加了很多。現(xiàn)在20—40歲年齡段的人都很有自己的風(fēng)格，并希望通過自己的穿著打扮來彰顯個性。因此攝影師在街頭拍攝，并將照片賣給時尚雜志。

莫言（右二）在北京冬奧列車上主持節(jié)目

教育也有了顯著改善?？梢钥吹礁鞣矫婷黠@的進步，特別是在北京居民的外語能力方面。從20世紀(jì)80年代出生的一代開始，隨著生活水平的提高，許多人去國外留學(xué)，獲得了跨文化技能、開放的心態(tài)以及專業(yè)知識。在北京的大街上被問路，大多數(shù)學(xué)生都能用英語甚至其他語言來回答。

還有一點，北京從前的污染情況是堪憂的，但自2018年開始，情況有了明顯改善。如今，藍天成為日常生活中不可或缺的一部分。

其他給我留下深刻印象的變化是電動汽車的普及給北京帶來的深刻變化，這在一定程度上要歸功于購買電動車的補貼、嚴(yán)格的交通限制以及對燃油汽車的逐步禁止。我自己也開電動汽車出行，這一點總是讓我的歐洲朋友大為吃驚，但在這里卻早已成為常態(tài)。北京的電動汽車充電站幾乎與美國全國充電站一樣多，所付出的努力可見一斑。

技術(shù)不斷進步的背景之下，人們的生活方式也發(fā)生了巨大的變化，無論在哪個領(lǐng)域都有所體現(xiàn)。紐約街頭向行駛中的出租車揮手的現(xiàn)象還很常見。但是，如今中國人傾向使用手機應(yīng)用程序來叫車，這能節(jié)省大量時間。我們還看到街上不斷涌現(xiàn)的快遞員和送餐員，由此可見數(shù)字化需求日益攀升。支付、預(yù)訂，一切都通過手機進行。

中國是21世紀(jì)的一個重要大國。一個從未停止過為多極世界奔走呼號的巨人，盡管他很強大，卻也表現(xiàn)出了可貴的仁慈。我真誠地希望西方人能夠更好地探索中國、了解中國，希望世界各地的人們能夠在一個別樣的世界里感知一個別樣的中國。畢竟，閉緊雙眼是看不到任何差異的，真知灼見才是改變刻板印象的最佳工具。

Despite the fact that I am of French nationality, my mother of Polish heritage has always attempted to speak to us in Polish, open a window on the world around us, and offer us an international perspective that is not limited to my native country. This is undoubtedly one of the reasons why I became interested in China from a young age.

My Story with China Began Before I was Born

As incredible as it may seem, my story with China began even before I was born. In 1976, the one who was to become my mother a few years later had just met a young Chinese girl from Hong Kong who came for sightseeing in Warsaw.Despite the cultural barrier, they hit it off right away, and my mother invited her to eat some typical dishes of the country and introduced her to her hometown for a few days.

My mother’s Chinese friend came to visit us in Nancy,which is located in the northeast of France, in 1989, when I was just eight years old. This visit undoubtedly contributed to developing my attachment to China. I will never forget this young Chinese woman with her exquisite manners,grace, elegance, and kindness.

Fifteen years later, in 2004, I was writing my dissertation on “the need to acquire an intercultural acuity”. A delightful aroma wafts from the kitchen, where my brother and one of our Chinese roommates from 西安 are preparing Franco-Chinese meals seasoned with the famous “老干媽”sauce. At that time, I was used to spicing up all my meals with this hot sauce, my favorite being the peanut one. With a quick gesture, I turn off my computer, close my eyes,inhale deeply the Sino-French aroma emanating from the kitchen, follow the rhythm of the Chinese music of my other Wuhan roommate and begin to hum “豬,你的鼻子有兩個孔”. It’s pretty funny because I did not understand what I was humming, but I appreciated the rhythms of Chinese pop. Suddenly my brother calls me out and hands me a Chinese chopper in the most profound way: “stop day dreaming, come and help us”.

I diligently began to cut the Chinese cabbages they had just purchased from the town’s Chinese market. As you wellknow, we lived in France, but in a Chinese-French multicultural atmosphere. My brother and I have lived with 2 Chinese roommates for two years, with whom I developed an unfailing friendship. Eighteen years later, as I write these lines, we still maintain very close ties.

In 2005, to combine theory and practice, I was about to take a tour of central and eastern Europe. The purpose of this one-year journey through twenty countries was to report on the life of the natives, show their way of living to French audiences, and introduce the benefits of intercultural pedagogy. My traveling partner and I earned various awards for this endeavor, including the “young challenge” award from the Ministry of Youth and Europe.

With a heavy heart, I left my family and my Chinese friends for an eventful life aboard a van that we modified into a “camping-car” that would have traveled over 50,000 kilometers across Europe. This experience marked me deeply and allowed me to see my ignorance of the richness and diversity of the world around me, develop a remarkable ability to adapt, very quickly adopt the culture of the native, and feel at home wherever I live.

After such an intense adventure, the two years seemed bland to me. Finally, in 2007, my life took a 360-degree turn with my first big trip to China, Beijing to be precise.

Come to Beijing, Each Day Had its Share of Surprises

My first impressions will stay with me forever. When I landed at Beijing airport, I finally felt like I was part of an incredible journey; everything here was different from what I had previously experienced. As I was about to grab my luggage, the memory of my father crying at the airport was still vivid. Did he have the presentiment that I would settle in this country that had always attracted me two years later? I am more certain about this now than I have ever been. I simply wanted to visit Chinese friends for a few weeks.

This stay was like an illumination. My heart was racing when I handed the address of my friend to the taxi driver,“去哪兒啊？” I couldn’t understand a word, and it was fantastic. I had studied in France, Spain, and Germany,traveled through twenty countries, and for the first time,I finally experienced the unique pleasure of someone who gets lost in an environment that he has no control over.

I opened the taxi window wide, a warm breeze caressed my face, the billboards whizzed by at high speed, and the Chinese characters then exerted a powerful attraction on me. I had only one desire to learn them all as fast as possible. Easier said than done.

The reunion with my friends was exceptional. I was immediately enthralled by the quality of the dishes served to us in the restaurant, which was a real delight. Everything is much larger here than in Europe; restaurants can reach giant proportions and span multiple floors, university campuses are much larger, resembling small autonomous cities,the streets are bustling, and the city is simply enormous.

I remember this period of my life with great emotion because, at that time, each day had its share of surprises that,for me, was out of the ordinary.

Even today, I never get tired of appreciating this sense of security that reigns in the city; you can take the metro after 10 p.m. without being bothered by others. Unfortunately, it is a luxury that most European cities can not boast about. I have never felt malevolence in public transport in Beijing,and fights or arguments are pretty rare.

After a stay of a few weeks during which I had visited many cities, my decision was made. I must know more about this millennial civilization that attracts me so much.I spent all my free time preparing for my future stay in China and started taking courses at the Confucius Institute for two years. Many French people take Mandarin lessons there, but only a small percentage of them stick with it, and those who fully master the language are rare.

Witness Beijing’s Incredible Evolution

In 2009, I finally made the decision to take the plunge and settle in the city of my dreams. After the Olympic Games, it was decked up in its finest garb, with ultra-modern structures mingling with historic structures. Most of them are already known worldwide for their architectural beauty and technical prowess. I am thinking of the National Centre for the Performing Arts, the CCTV Tower, and, more recently, the China Zun skyscraper, which reaches 528 meters in height, naming but a few. Like most of the major Chinese megalopolises, Beijing has had a makeover and acquired these new symbols, just as Paris did with the Eiffel Tower a hundred years ago. Most Chinese cities are indeed changing their scenery and becoming more beautiful at breakneck speed. Some of my Pekingese friends who have lived in Europe for about ten years keep telling me that they no longer recognize the city of their childhood and get lost very easily. They pointed out that particular urban changes were rarer in France. Even after decades without visiting these cities, they found their way around quite easily since nothing hardly changed.

After ten years of living in Beijing, I got the opportunity to witness its incredible evolution.

The clothing of passers-by in Beijing’s streets is one ofthe most striking examples. Most people in 2007 didn’t give much importance to their look by my standards of young French people in the early 2000s. Fifteen years later,Sanlitun, Beijing’s “trendy” district, has undergone profound remodeling and has become a mecca for luxury and fashion. The brands of department stores have increased significantly. The 20/40 age group now has a very original style. People are looking to assert themselves through their outfits, so photographers take their shots in the streets and sell their photos to “fashion magazines”.

Education has also improved dramatically. On all fronts, I could witness clear growth, particularly in the residents of Beijing’s language performance. From the generation born in the 80s, with the evolution of the standard of living,many studied in other countries, which has enabled them to acquire new intercultural skills and, of course, an open mind and new expertise. You can ask for directions in the streets of Beijing, and most students will be able to respond in English or even in other languages.

Another point to note is that Beijing used to be polluted,but since 2018, there has been a significant improvement.The blue sky is now an integral part of our daily lives.

Other changes that have left an indelible impression on me include Beijing, which has undergone profound transformations as a result of the proliferation of electric vehicles, thanks in part to subsidies for their purchase, severe traffic restrictions, and the gradual ban on thermal cars. I travel by electric vehicle myself, which always impresses my European friends,but it has already become normal here. Beijing has nearly as many electric vehicles charging stations as the entire United States, indicating the efforts that have been made.

People’s way of life has also profoundly changed due to the impact of technological progress, whatever the field.You can still do so in the streets of New York by waving at the “cabs” circulating there. However, nowadays Chinese people favor the usage of phones applications, which helps them save a significant amount of time. We also see a constant ballet of parcel or prepared meal deliverers on the streets, responding to ever-increasing digital demands.Payments, reservations, everything is made through mobile phones.

China is one of the major players in the 21st century. A giant who never stops campaigning for a multipolar world and who, despite his power, demonstrates rare benevolence. I sincerely hope that Westerners will seek to know China better, that people worldwide can perceive a different China in a different world. After all, you can’t see the difference with your eyes closed. Real knowledge is the best tool to change stereotypes.