The first impression of Cuba is that it was the first Latin American country to establish diplomatic relations with China, and China and Cuba are good brothers, good friends and good partners. Of course, my impression of Cuba stems from the cartoon "Cuban Missile Crisis". In 1962, a Cuban Missile Crisis shocked the world, which was the most fierce confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis almost caused irreparable consequences, and was written into the history textbook.
Cuba, which has not been mentioned for a long time, when I opened Liu Xiaoqian's documentary work "Hurricanes Skimming Over Cane Fields: A Chinese Journalist's Cuban Observations", a warm breeze of Cuban customs and habits came to me. The author Liu Xiaoqian has visited Cuba nine times, has experienced many historical events in Cuba, and has also tried to record the customs and customs of Cuba and show the cuban journeys.
Hurricanes sweeping through cane fields: A Chinese journalist's observations in Cuba
Liu Xiaoqian's first impression of Cuba is from a Cuban movie "Strawberries and Chocolate", which sounds like a food movie, but it is actually a story between college students of the opposite sex. Liu Xiaoqian mentioned that what made him feel most novel was the imagery of color and taste in the movie. Two people eating ice cream on the street, the artist orders the taste of strawberries, the college student orders the taste of chocolate, and the strong visual and taste collision makes the author forget the ice cream for a long time.
Stills from the book Strawberries and Chocolate
By chance, Liu Xiaoqian drove through the square of Havana, he saw a lot of people queuing up to buy things in the hot sun, and his strong curiosity prompted him to find out, it turned out to be the "Gloria" ice cream shop. When he learned that it was the ice cream parlor in "Strawberries and Chocolate", he wanted to try it out, the cuban taste of the first impression.
"Gloria" ice cream shop originated from Cuba's revolutionary victory in 1966, founder Fidel Castro's goal is to create a rich taste of local ice cream brand, against the United States products, the brand name is derived from his wife's favorite ballet "Gloria", soon, this Cuban ice cream shop not only on the movie, but also extended its business to Venezuela.
Stills from the ballet "Gloria"
However, contrary to expectations, the ice cream that the author had in mind was not as delicious as he thought, and with the passage of time, the cuban old brand also faced many problems. In any case, the first impression brought by ice cream will always remain in the author's heart, and the impact of the visual and taste will also leave the author with a curious psychology to explore the country.
Cuba leaves people with the impression of the existence of a cigar, the first time visitors to Cuba will feel the existence of cigars, just like Liu Xiaoqian mentioned, cigars are like a shadow of the secret agent.
cigar
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, all walks of life in Cuba have been hit hard, but cigars have been the least hit, because Cuba is one of the origins of cigars and can basically achieve self-sufficiency. Liu Xiaoqian followed Gonzalez, the winner of the Cuban Cigar Production Award, as they walked through the fields, stepped on the soft soil, saw neatly arranged plants, and learned to roll cigars with master cigarette workers. It looks like an ordinary cigar, but behind it is the painstaking efforts of the cigarette roller, if you just stand on the side to watch, you really can't see how the cigar is rolled.
Cuban cigar factory
After scrambling to roll up two cigarettes, Liu Xiaoqian sighed that a good cigar pursues a balance between aroma, taste and flammability, although it cannot be expressed by scale, but it is judged by the feel of the cigar worker. Cuba is considered the birthplace of cigars, its status as the best cigar producing area can not be shaken, but now it is also facing a dilemma, half of Cuba's arable land is idle or fallow, some people ask, can not be used to grow cigars? However, not all arable land is suitable for cigar cultivation, not to mention distribution concerns. Cigar picking and making requires manual work, and machines destroy the natural aroma of tobacco.
Entering the silent and mysterious Cuba, under the author's pen, we walk from the state-run ice cream shop to the cigar factory, a country slowly surrounded by many historical factors, and also want to break through the embarrassing dilemma, under the calm surface, there is also enthusiasm and vitality.