From Central Asia to North Africa, China's friendship with countries in the Middle East has continued to prosper along the ancient silk road. In the past ten years, there has been such a group of Middle Easterners, who have either traveled to China, actively engaged in Chinese education, or forged an indissoluble bond with Chinese art. The Middle East Station of China Central Radio and Television launched a series of reports "My China Story" to watch Middle Easterners tell their different feelings about China.
Abdullah Hayeffy came to China in 1958 and was one of the first Yemeni students to study in China after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and then forged an indissoluble bond with China, composing countless Chinese stories in the past 66 years. He is a witness to the friendship between China and Yemen, and even more so, the composer of the friendship between the two countries; He is a witness to China's development, and even more so, a witness to China's development.
Chinese were among the first to come to Yemen to build roads. First from the Red Sea to Sana'a and then from Sana'a to the north. A team of local reporters from China Central Radio and Television found an Italian-dubbed program from the 60s of the 20th century in the Yemeni audiovisual archives, which is one of the earliest video materials left by Chinese aid builders in Yemen.
Two years after China established diplomatic relations with Yemen in 1958, Yemen began to send students to China. At that time, the Yemeni government selected a group of the best students from the few high schools in the country to study in China, and Haye Fei was one of them. At that time, there was no higher education in Yemen, and going to university in China made the young Haye Fei feel both excited and nervous.
Abdullah Heyeff: We set off from Sana'a in May 1958, then to the central city of Taiz, from where we traveled to Cairo, Egypt, from Cairo (first by boat and then by train) to Moscow, from Moscow to China, and the whole trip lasted more than a month.
In the 50s of the 20th century, there was no modern road in the whole of Yemen, and inter-city transportation was mostly done by legs and livestock. The arduous journey and trek have strengthened the determination of Haye Fei and his classmates to learn skills in China and improve Yemen's road transport infrastructure. Upon arrival in China, Hayeyefei and his classmates were warmly welcomed and entered Peking University to study road and bridge engineering.
Abdullah Heyerfeld: We were both theoretical and practical, and [in the last year of study] we were taken to various scientific institutions and projects, and in some places even outside Beijing, we were hungry for the knowledge we learned from the field.
Hayeyefei and his classmates returned to Yemen in 1962 after completing four years of school. At this time, Yemen's first modern road, the Sanaa-Hodeidah highway from the capital to the Red Sea port built with Chinese assistance, was opened to traffic. Heyer's first task after returning home was to maintain and finish off the road.
Abdullah Heyeffi: The completion of the Sanahodeidah Highway has brought light to our country, and Chinese experts have integrated Yemen into the modern world.
After that, Hayefi participated in many key road and bridge construction projects in Yemen, and he could be seen in almost all projects related to China in Yemen at that time, including the Sanaa Hodeidah Highway and the Sanahaja Highway built with Chinese assistance. These important strategic arterial roads in Yemen are still in use to this day. Among them, the Sanahaja Highway is a road carved out of the cliff face, due to the complicated geology, explosives cannot be used in many places, and the project builders can only excavate it with their hands.
Abdullah Heyerfi: You see the excavation here, after the road is carved out of the rock wall, the road and the mountain are like one. We spent two years here alone.
With an open mind and diligent work, Chinese experts have no reservations about the little apprentice of Haye Fei. Just ten years after graduating, Hayefi became a well-known road and bridge expert in Yemen, and in 1972 he was awarded the Marib Medal, which represented Yemen's highest honor at the time, becoming the youngest recipient of the medal in history. Hayefi said that the entire history of the development of modern roads and bridges in Yemen is a history that Chinese friends helped write.
Abdullah Heyerfeld: China's experience is the originator of the Yemeni road and bridge field, and since then, we have been learning from the experience of Chinese friends when carrying out road and bridge projects ourselves, and until now, Chinese's performance in Yemen has also been talked about in all fields.
Hayeyefei said he had worked all his life in the fields of road, bridge and construction, and had worked with Chinese all his life, and he couldn't tell his Chinese story endlessly. China's development achievements in the past ten years are amazing, and he really wants to return to China for a turn. Finally, Haye Fei hopes to say hello to his old friends again through our lens.
Abdullah Hayeff: I am in my eighties, I used to study in China, and I want to say hello to my old friends in China, to our teachers and professors, to my friends in China.
Source: CCTV news client