Travelogue essay – Havana, is it beautiful? 》
Since the 1960s, there is a familiar song called "Beautiful Havana", also called "Children of Havana", which sings: "Beautiful Havana, where there is my home, the bright sun shines in front of the new house and blossoms, My father loves me like a baby, the neighbor praises me as a good doll, but I have never seen my dear mother." I can't forget the day I sat under the palm tree, and Dad took my hand and called out to Maria,......."
This song is a lyrical song that people around the age of sixty or seventy will sing, and it has been many years, a little aftertaste, and it is still fresh in my memory, and I can blurt it out right away, this song, outlining the impression of Havana far away in the Atlantic, in the impression that Havana is so beautiful, the Cuban country is so charming, Castro is so great.
In fact, this song is not composed by Cubans, but from the lyrics of Chinese Ambo and Muqing, and the music of the robber. Perhaps, they have not been to Havana, Cuba, but in that era of opposing US imperialism and resolutely supporting the liberation struggle of the Peoples of Asia, Africa, Latin America and Cuba, the author wrote this emotional song out of a long-standing emotion and impulse.
This song uses the voices of children to express the extremely friendly voice of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China to the Cuban people under the leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba; Show great respect for the Cuban Communist Party, led by Castro; It also expresses its enthusiasm and admiration for Havana, the capital of Cuba.
Havana, the capital of Cuba, is located at the northern tip of the Cuban island, with a long strip, close to the Caribbean Sea, is a coastal city with a population of about 2.06 million.
The whole city stretches along the coast, and there is a ten-mile seaside avenue on the seashore, about 50 meters wide, with surging seawater on one side and flowing cars on the other, and the disorderly surging seawater and orderly flowing cars are separated by a large embankment, forming an irrelevant harmonious avenue.
Inside is the New City of Havana, built by independent Cuba, mostly small high-rise buildings and facilities, with occasionally a few more than ten-storey buildings visible.
The so-called old city is a narrow street and small square left by the occupation of Spain and other countries, and different styles of houses, churches, castles, theaters and other buildings are now known as "architectural museums", and in 1982, they were also listed as "cultural heritage of mankind" by UNESCO.
Most of these buildings have fallen into disrepair, especially those located near the sea, eroded by the sea breeze, and the walls are peeling off, the windows are aging, the roof is damaged, and the appearance is old.
Whether the new city or the old city in the city is a state-owned public housing, if it is not restored on a larger scale as soon as possible, it is bound that this "museum" will be even more incomplete and dilapidated in the future, and then the "human heritage" will also be "left behind" to mankind.
There is a "Revolution Square" in the city, dedicated to mass gatherings, where state leaders often preside over various gatherings. There is a building on the edge of the square, and on the outer wall is a statue of Che Guevara, whom the Cuban people call the father of the revolution, an image that liao liao sketched out a leader with a white hat and a beard.
The square floor has also been cracked, uneven, there are small areas have been exposed dirt and grown weeds, which is compared with most squares in China using marble, granite, floor tiles, magnetic tiles, tiles and other decorative flooring materials, but the difference is really worlds, "Revolution Square" really maintains the harsh and simple revolutionary essence, not luxurious, not luxurious.
Located on the edge of the University of Havana, there is a monument to the sojourn Chinese, the monument is very small, more than 2 meters high, in front of the monument is a small open space of tens of square meters, the monument is engraved with a wonderful sentence, that is, "None of the Chinese in Cuba are deserters, and none of them are traitors." ”
This monument was erected in 1931 to commemorate the historical merits of the Chinese who participated in the Cuban rebellion against Spanish colonial rule when hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers came here in the 1850s to build roads, dig and plant plants.
It also makes people wonder what ships our ancestors of the Chinese nation came to Cuba on in the last century, and there were more than 100,000 people who came to Cuba on a ship that could cross the ocean and withstand a long period of wind and waves. It's really impressive.
It is said that there are only more than 100 people left, and the rest began to emigrate to other countries in the early 20th century, and the rest have been integrated into the local area and live with the local people, and China has become a distant and beautiful memory in their hearts.
Because, after all, the motherland is too far away from them, for the Cuban people who are not very rich in the economy, it is not easy to talk about a trip to their hometown on the other side of the Pacific!
On the day of leaving Havana, our colleague met a taxi driver at the airport, saw a passenger from China, and immediately took the initiative to greet our colleague warmly, but he would not Chinese, and he looked like an American. In order to confirm that he was of Chinese descent, he took out a photo of his parents and simply Chinese, "Guangdong". It shows that his father is from Guangdong, China, and looking at the photos in his hand, he knows that his father is Cantonese, his mother is Cuban, and he is a mixed-race child.
Looking at his expression of longing to recognize his ancestors and relatives, thinking of the Chinese monument, we can't help but ponder for a long time, yes, the land of Havana and Cuba has also flowed with Chinese blood, buried Chinese loyal bones, wandering Chinese heroic souls, until now, still printed with Chinese footprints, how great the Chinese nation is!
The automobile is generally an important symbol of the prosperity of the city. Havana city cars are all in terms of models, most of them are old cars, occasionally you can see a relatively small number of good models, public transportation cars are also old, and even like two containers of camel-like front and back sections are high, the middle of the low so-called "camel car" bus, driving on the street like a small train.
In order to fully save state expenditure and solve the problem of insufficient means of transportation, according to government regulations, all the cars of state units, whether large, medium, or small, as long as there are vacant spaces and in case of stopping cars, must be carried by the way, even if it is inconvenient for us foreigners to sit in the car, it is inconvenient to take the initiative to say clearly or say hello to the stopper, and must not refuse to take it without reason.
Of course, because Cuba's tourism industry is developing faster than other industries, the cars for foreign tourists to ride are more upscale, and they are high-end vehicles such as buses and minibuses.
The city is not filled with luxuriously decorated or colourful shops or bustling produce markets. Due to the underdeveloped economy, the implementation of the planned economic model, and the supply system of basic daily necessities, there are no commodities on the market that can or need to be listed for trading.
Also because of the economic blockade, foreign goods are even more minimal, and even the "Made in China" goods that are popular in the world today are few and far between. There are only a few varieties of food and trade in the market, such as tomatoes, potatoes, melons, and nothing else.
There are few stalls in the market, and how the only few varieties are placed on the stalls is unknown, and there are no other items such as meat in the market.
The noise of the chinese market vendors, the chopping of butchers, the cries of chickens and ducks, the jumping of fish and shrimp, the bargaining of people, and the broadcast of managers can be combined, but it is not seen here, and few people sell or buy.
But in a small square on the edge of the city, there is a relatively prosperous market, that is, handicrafts and ancient book trading market, where Cuban handicrafts and some old books are shared and freely bought and sold, can be bargained, although the scale is not large, but the goods are indeed quite rich, Cuban high value and forbidden to buy and sell tortoiseshell ornaments are also secretly sold, here also quietly collect dollars.
At that time, I don't know what the colonialist rulers thought, whether it was after this or after that, did not inquire, and even built a capitol building like the White House of the United States in the city of Havana, which is also a white building with a roof, almost the same, but the scale is smaller, really like the small White House, but the White House in Havana is no longer a capitol, and the Cuban government has long been out of the house, and has been used as a museum for people to see.
The Havana New Area has begun to have some urban construction construction, such as roller coasters, wave boats, swings and other facilities in the amusement park undertaken by Beijing in China.
Due to its location in the tropics and subtropics, the plants grow in a relatively large area, and you can see tall palm trees everywhere, evergreen plants such as sunflowers, trellis trees, giant banyan trees, and pruning of dwarf grasses and green inhospitables, but you still can't see the pleasing scene of the flower beds, trees, flowers, and green grass in advanced countries.
Although there is a banyan tree square in the city, there are few trees and they are not tall, compared with the banyan tree square in Miami, USA, which is across the sea.
A few points of Havana, may only be a glimpse, but it is not, Havana clings to the coastal scenery of the Caribbean Sea, it seems feminine and beautiful, although it is also the hot midsummer, but here is full of bright sunshine and warm breezes, everywhere is pleasant temperature, like the spring breeze, let people feel relaxed, nature has blessed Havana with infinite beauty.
"Beautiful Havana", sung forty or fifty years ago, has traveled through such a long time and space, and it is still sung to this day, that word, that sound, so pleasant.
Havana, beautiful?
About the Author:
Qiu Rongmu, pen name: Qiu Long; A native of Xinan, Silla District, Longyan City, Fujian Province; Senior Engineer of Road & Bridge; Member of China Writers Association; Member of Chinese Poetry Society;
When he was young, he joined the army as a railway soldier, and after retiring from the army, he engaged in technical and management work in county, municipal and provincial transportation highways and urban construction departments for a long time. He once worked in the Fujian Provincial Expressway Construction General Headquarters and Fujian Expressway Co., Ltd., and now works in the Fujian Expressway Society.
He is the author of: the novel "Sister Lu of China" (being adapted into a TV series), "Road Soul" (is being adapted into a movie), the classical poetry collection "Selected Poems of Banyan Wood", the prose collection "Walking in the Global Village", "Ripples of The East Water" and so on
Editor-in-charge: Fang Yingxin's "White Wave Love"