Whenever I talk about some certain national weaknesses, it does
prickle some people's sensible nerves. It seems to them that our
country should have been prefect, or perhaps they are deceiving
themselves as well as others, fraid of confronting these weak points
possessed by themselves. But it must be admitted that a nation who
is brave enough to challenge his own imperfections is hopeful and
promising.

My seaman career before the age of 30 was busy with home trading, my
traces could be seen in many Chinese coastal cities. Everything
looked so new for a student just graduating from a maritime colledge
and paying scarce attention to particular things happened around
myself but only something interesting to me. However, things have
changed a lot since I joined the workforce of seaman exporting in
2001. Having been working, living with foreign seamen for two years
more, I have kept giving the mind to the status of China in this
world and the impression of foreigners towards our Chinese.

There is always a bitter note of complaints surged in my throat as
long as my experiences and some dark sides of my country are
mentioned. I can even hurl an abuse at its governing-body, but it
doesn't mean I don't like my homeland. As the longer the time has
passed by since I started to learn English 11 years ago, the more I
have caught the feeling that we Chinese language has its uniquely,
meaningfully fine and delicate achievements beyond the reach of any
other language in this world. A metaphor with few short lines of
delicate touches could activate your boundless imaginations in those
masterpieces of traditional Chinese prose and poetries by great
writers and poets. It seems to be perfect in my eyes except for its
complicated character composition that has brought troubles to
program its entry into computer. A country with a nearly perfect
language should have displayed himself as a well-rounded image to the
world. But to the contrary, the Chinese image in quite a number of
foreigners' views represents scant community-conscious, making too
much chaos in public settings, spitting at their will and giving
little bewareness of social order etc. I flushed whenever these
judgments are flown into my ears. However, my strong national
self-esteem drives me to make an explanation - this is a growing pain
widespread in developing countries. I do believe as China continues
its process of opening-up and development, when its people gets
richer, their emphasis placed on associating an endeavour with their
talks and behaviors would become increasingly important. It sounds
somewhat to have verify the theory that the spiritual civilization is
based on the foundation of material civilization as defined in the
well-known Materialist Dialectics. My foreign fellows' argument are
incurred by my words. They pose the question to ask me why unlike
those navigational officers from Bangladesh, Myammar or Philippine,
as the same rank of middle-classed society the Chinese officers fail
to fulfill the merit that belongs to this group? I am choked, all my
arguments have become inconvincible as combined to what I have
witnessed and experienced.

Yes, I have to admit that we fellow Chinese put much less stress on
their conductions. We must beware of this fact that it is common
thing when you find someone is yielding to the other in public as if
there is no one else over there, totally ignorant to the others'
existence. As a matter of fact, foreigners living in China are only a
drop of water in the sea of the mass of Chinese, which will least
affect the image of our Chinese to the world. But, if the opposite
can be found in other countries when you have an opportunity to do a
tour or a business visit overseas, your every word and behavior would
have the meaning of a whole image of China. (Just like I can make a
conclusion about a country only because of a trivial misconductoin of
a he or a she native). I am pretty sure the idea of that China is a
large and great country does exist in quite many my fellow citizens'
minds. Yes, they are partly right, because this viewpoint is
established on the mere base that we are a country with a vast
territory, fertilely landed property, a great number of population,
and the long history traced far back, oh, I forget, the Great Four
Ancient Inventions, which is nagged with keen pleasure by many
textbooks and medias. Confronting the fact, our influence to the
world both on politic and business affairs is much less negligible
and even non-worthy mentioning, which is fairly unmatched to the
portions we have shared on the parts of globe population and
territory. No wonder the American President George W. Bush once
addressed to the Japan Congress that he would endorse China the
status of a big nation, which sounds harsh and irritating to the ears
of some my fellow citizens. We Chinese have inherited from our
ancestors the preference to be the first and last impression,
inclining to please ourselves overestimatingly - we are a great
central empire, all the outside beyond my control are primitive and
uncivilized.

I stayed in United Arabian of Emirates(UAE) about five months in
2001. This is a small Arabian country in the Gulf Region with a total
land of the size of Tai Wan island, and a population of 2,500,000. It
is catapulted to be highly prosperous country from a previously barren
and desert land just because of the blessing of richful oil and
natural gas resources. Dubai, its major business hub and a
metropolice, unlike other Arabian cities full of the Muslim taboos,
is a comparatively open and tax-free port. Only around 550,000
native residents out of its mass of 1,700,000 populations, the rest
are all migrant gold-diggers from all over the world. The Indians
have monopolized on the computer and IT industries, Pakistans on
public communication systems, Pilipinnoes on service sector, and the
financial, leisure and entertainments are occupied by the Americans
and Europeans. Only few humble-looking Chinese restaurants are
huddledly scattered in deep corners of the city. If you are taking a
stroll on the avennues of Dubai, trying to sort out who are of
Chinese origin from people of different colour passing by in a rush,
it may cost you a period of time to achieve your goal. Having
observed closely for nearly one month, I have got this impression:
There are only Koreans and Japanese who resemble us, but you can
recognize them from some trivial differences. The Japanese, normally
alone, with a suit of loose-fitting leisure clothe and a pair of soft
leather shoes on, conducts himself in a casual way. An air of
self-confidence and paying an indifference to events around him is
penetrated from his every gesture and body movement. The Koreans,
teamed up with two or three, neatly having their hair cut, putting on
their backpacks, wearing designers' brand sportsuits, holding a
tourist map, are transferring to others a sense of vitality. There
are two kinds of Chinese abroad, the first, so-called the elite
overseas Chinese, is people on business, who rush past you staring