He Wei has left China. After teaching at Sichuan University for two years, He Wei, an American nonfiction writer and journalist, returned to his home in Colorado on July 20 because he was unable to renew his contract.
In 2021, Peter Hessler has been a He Wei for more than two decades. In 1996, He Wei came to China as a volunteer and worked as an English teacher at Fuling Normal College (now Yangtze River Normal College). Two years later, he wrote his experiences in Fuling into a nonfiction work, River City, which was published in the United States. More than a decade after fu zi, the book still ranks among the bestsellers in the United States. "When Americans and Europeans began to rediscover China, my book happened to be published." He Wei wrote in the preface to the Chinese edition of Jiangcheng.
He was luckier than he thought. Over the next decade, he traveled to Fuling, Beijing, Chengdu and other places, switching identities between freelance writers, journalists, and teachers, documenting China's dramatic changes at many levels, tracing the source of economic development, and exploring individual responses to change. The Chinese story he tells resonates with readers in both the East and the West.
On July 8, 2021, He Wei drove from Chengdu to Fuling, Jiangcheng, planning to revisit his hometown and visit old friends before leaving China. A quarter of a century has passed since he first came here, Fuling is still changing, and He Wei is still capturing stories along the Yangtze River.
In 2014, He Wei (right) returned to Fuling for a group photo with Li Xueshun. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
In 2021, in front of the teaching building of Yangtze River Normal University, He Wei (right) took a group photo with Li Xueshun. Photo by Li Chuyue
Slow boat to Fuling
"He Wei just came in May, and now he can't find it." Li Xueshun, a professor at Yangtze River Normal College, put down his mobile phone and got up to greet his old friend. Before going out, he did not forget to laugh at He Wei, "It seems that he is really old." ”
Li Xueshun was a colleague of He Wei's teachers' college in Fuling and later became the Chinese translation of He Wei's books. They were all born in 1969 and are now over half a hundred years old. In "River City", Li Xueshun often appears under the English name "Albert". Albert has also grown from a young English teacher who has just graduated to a professor at Yangtze River Normal University and the director of the Department of Foreign Language Teaching and Research. At that time, as the temporary head of the school's foreign affairs office, Li Xueshun was responsible for receiving "Jiangcheng passers-by" from afar.
On July 9, 2021, He Wei returned to Yangtze River Normal University. It was a farewell before he left China. He was still wearing the most highly photographed thin plaid short-sleeved shirt, khaki pants, and holding up a Coke. A pen pinned to the pocket of the jacket holds a coil book the size of a palm. If there are no pockets, the pen is usually pinned to the neckline.
He Wei put down his green backpack, which had been broken several times, and he had just driven from the old town of Fuling. "Fuling still has a stick army now!" Very little, but I saw it yesterday. He Wei sat down and began to share his observations.
He still likes to talk to the locals on the streets of Fuling. In his years as a teacher in Fuling, He Wei was sometimes a bystander and sometimes immersed in local life. This combination of intimacy and estrangement allowed him to discover many details that Chinese he often overlooked. He has also become friends with more than 100 students, the owner of a small restaurant in front of the school, and many Fuling people, and remains in touch to this day. They are the entrance to He Wei's understanding of China.
In 2021, there are still lollipop troops waiting on the streets of Chongqing. Photo by Li Chuyue
Before deciding to come to China, He Wei had made long and deliberate preparations. After graduating from the English Department of Princeton University in the United States, he continued to study writing at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. During his two years in Europe, he traveled extensively through Scandinavia, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece.
At first, Peter Heisler wanted to be a novelist. It's not clear what to write about, but he needs to find a place where he can become a writer. In 1994, he decided to leave after receiving a master's degree from Oxford University. Oxford made him feel familiar and comfortable, and the writer had to leave the environment too comfortable to maintain the sharpness of the creator. He exchanged the $3,000 return ticket provided by the scholarship for various train and bus tickets, and spent half a year from Prague, Czech Republic, all the way through Slovakia, Poland, Belarus, and finally to Russia.
In Moscow, the heterogeneity from another social system brings a completely unfamiliar experience. It was 1994, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the atmosphere of Russia's burnout and decadence did not inspire He Wei's desire to explore, and he planned to continue south to Vietnam to see, the only way to go was China. When he stepped on the trans-Siberian train, He Wei was also named Peter Heisler. On March 19, 1995, the New York Times published "The Trans-Siberian Story," his first report from the East. On the train from Moscow to Beijing, he glimpsed a corner of the eastern world.
"The second class fare is $230." He Wei recalled. Many years later, He Wei still remembers the train that took him to China. In June 2020, he wrote in Bloomberg Businessweek recalling the trans-Siberian train journey that year. "When I was 25, I boarded a train, rode it to the terminal, and I got off with a new understanding of life." The beginning of the article reads.
The train reached its final station, and Beijing unfolded before his eyes. "Energetic!" He Wei still remembers the shock of the time. He was drawn to everything on the streets, and china in the early 1990s was vibrant, vigorous, and full of power. He found that although the country was not rich, it was full of life, and everyone had a look of wanting to change on their faces, and the exuberant atmosphere was unforgettable. After staying in China for six or seven weeks, he decided to become a writer here.
Although he is full of interest in China, the 27-year-old He Wei will not say a word Chinese. He intended to be based in China through the U.S.-China Friendship Volunteer Program, which at the time offered only $120 a month. If he had been in the United States, he could have a good job offer, but he still wanted to go to a small town in China to teach. Eventually, with the encouragement of Princeton's teacher John McPhee, He Made a life-changing decision to go to Fuling.
One night in August 1996, he set off from Chongqing on a slow boat and down the river. There are rats running around in the cabins of slow boats, and sometimes thieves. After seven or eight hours of drifting in the Yangtze River, he arrived in Fuling.
It is difficult to say whether He Wei chose Fuling or Fuling chose He Wei. Later, there was no such person as He Wei here, and there were also people who came with the goal of becoming the "second He Wei", but in the end they could not achieve it. "He Wei saw that it was a time of rapid accumulation and quantitative change, which was just a turning point." Li Xueshun said.
When He Wei was teaching in Fuling, he once made short films. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
"Growing up" in Jiangcheng
On July 9, 2021, He Wei sat on the sofa in Li Xueshun's office, recalling that year and still remembering many details of his time in Jiangcheng. The apartment he lived in was high on the ground and had a wide view; he had to go for a run at Flag Hill almost every day; the Wujiang and Yangtze rivers met in Fuling, and the water flowed outside the window that never stopped. As the only constant here, is eternal change.
Nowadays, the old site of Fuling Normal College has been gradually abandoned, and new buildings have been erected. The teacher's apartment where He Wei lived for two years is still unoccupied, and the old library looks the same as it was then. He Wei had to go and see it every time he came.
He Wei has consulted many well-known masters in the literary world, but he has always felt that the stage of his life's emotional and intellectual rebirth and growth is not Princeton University and Oxford University, but Jiangcheng Fuling. The effects of this experience were so strong that two years later, he had completely changed into a man.
After returning to the United States from Fuling, it took him only 4 months to complete the first draft of "River City". Before writing Fuling, He Wei had read many Chinese reports and stories published by foreign media, and most of them did not like it. In those stories, everything seems gray. He Wei felt that the understanding of China in these articles was superficial, and the description of Chinese was also very dry. He tried to write something different.
Mr. Ho sent the manuscript to several publishing agents, all of whom thought it was well written, but not too many Americans would be interested in a small city along the Yangtze River in Sichuan Province, China. "It's hard to imagine an editor right now saying that readers aren't interested in China. Americans have always had a problem: they are not interested in the world outside of him, but China is an exception. He Wei said.
Eventually, a young publisher bought He Wei's Chinese story. At the age of 29, He Wei's first book, River City, was published in the United States. The book chronicles the China he personally experienced—a humorous, vivid, and vibrant China. He adds many elements of ordinary people to his story, including his own experiences. Deep and keen observation is evident between the lines, and behind the daily life of the Fuling people is the great changes in China at the end of the 20th century.
"Jiangcheng" is the starting point for He Wei to write about China. For more than a decade after the book was published, because of the language, his story about China was only available to the other side of the ocean. He also lamented that his work had never been published in Chinese mainland. Since 2011, He Wei's books related to China have been published in China.
He Wei once thought that no Chinese would like "River City", but he unexpectedly received many positive reviews. The book even became an initiation for many young people to write non-fiction. In the book, the confusion and misunderstanding that a foreigner has from time to time shows an almost clumsy sincerity. He felt that Chinese nostalgia had helped. Because development is changing so rapidly, his perspective actually helps Chinese understand China. As a foreigner, he has the luxury of taking a step back and observing things, and even misunderstandings and prejudices are tolerated.
In the postscript to jiangcheng, Li Xueshun wrote: "Jiangcheng is based on the author's experience of teaching at a university in Fuling at the confluence of the Yangtze and Wujiang rivers from 1996 to 1998, reflecting the changes and hopes of the reform and opening up policy in Chinese mainland cities. ”
Fuling is located at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Wujiang River Photo by Li Chuyue
There are still stories by the river
The last time Mr. Ho caused a stir in China was his report on China's fight against the epidemic during the pandemic. The long essay published in The New Yorker maintains his consistent style, meticulously documenting what he saw and heard at Sichuan University and his experience of staying at home in Chengdu. Through the seemingly careless trivial daily life, China's measures in the process of epidemic prevention are portrayed in detail.
After years away from China, in 2019, he returned to China again. There are two reasons: One is that I have been away from Fuling for 20 years and want to come back to see. The second is that he wants his daughters to receive basic education in China. This time, he taught at Sichuan University. His twin daughters attended a public primary school in Chengdu, and after two years of Chinese education, the daughters' Chinese level has improved by leaps and bounds. "I've been able to read Lao She's article." He Wei proudly introduced himself to Li Xueshun.
At Sichuan University, in addition to teaching non-fiction writing, He Wei also taught English writing courses for science and engineering students. He was able to reach out to students of different ages and majors. At the beginning of "River City", He Wei spent a lot of time quoting students' English work. When describing Chengdu during the anti-epidemic period, he "repeated the same technique". The student experience became one of the important sources of material for his writing.
"I need a unit." He Wei skillfully uses concepts unique to China. As a college teacher, he gained more exposure to Chinese and everyday life outside of being a Reporter for the New Yorker. During the epidemic, Sichuan University launched robots for express delivery distribution to avoid positive contact between couriers and students. This detail was placed at the beginning of the manuscript by He Wei. Because he usually needs to go to class, He Wei usually goes out to interview during the holidays. During the epidemic, he visited Chengdu businessman Li Dewei many times. In the context of Sino-US trade frictions, He Wei told Li Dewei's business judgments and experiences to prove that the epidemic has made Americans more dependent on Chinese manufacturing.
He Wei's article has a rather recognizable tone and rhythm. The covid-19 pandemic, Sino-US trade frictions, the world economic structure... These grand themes, often weightless in his pen, are hidden in the expressions of small people. This is not something that everyone can do. "I'm not an expert on China, I'm just a writer who writes about China." He Wei reiterated his position on more than one occasion on different occasions.
During his experience of teaching at Sichuan University, he felt the pressure of academic competition. At Sichuan University, where he worked, 80% of undergraduates chose to go to graduate school after graduation. Li Xueshun told him that the situation in Fuling was the opposite, and only about 10% of the students were able to study for graduate school as they wished.
Talking about this, He Wei took out his laptop from his backpack and began to record. The sharpness of professional journalists suddenly surged up, and he asked how many of the current students of Yangtze River Normal College were teacher training students and how many chose to become teachers. But Li Xueshun did not know the exact number.
In 1998, Before He Wei (third from left), he took a group photo in front of the Fuling Normal College Library. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
In 2021, in front of the library where He Wei took a group photo that year. Photo by Li Chuyue
"Sorry to interrupt." A female teacher broke into the office, she was also a former colleague of He Wei, and the swiss army knife that He Wei gave as a parting gift at home still has it. She asked He Wei to sign the English version of Jiang cheng. He Wei readily agreed, and took advantage of the situation to make an appointment, intending to ask the specific number of teacher training students.
More than twenty years have passed since He Wei last became a teacher, and the former students have long been parents, and their children have reached the age of college. He Wei visited Fuling before and after the college entrance examination to observe and record the experiences of his students' children during the college entrance examination season.
He Wei signed the title page of "Jiangcheng" and Li Chuyue photographed
Rapid change is still happening. Fuling Normal College has now been renamed Yangtze River Normal College, moving from the old town of Fuling Jiangdong to the new campus, the campus is open and flat, full of modern atmosphere. In July, the Yangtze River Normal College began its summer vacation, and students flocked to the high-speed rail station, which now takes only 38 minutes from Fuling to downtown Chongqing.
But the perceptive He Wei still found that something had not changed.
"Is this new?" Always called that name? He Wei asked, pointing to the door number of the "Marxist Academy" under the teaching building.
"It's been there for a long time, and it's always been called that name." Li Xueshun replied.
Time passed, and He Wei was still full of interest in Fuling. Twenty-five years ago, in the apartment provided by Fuling Normal College, he had two tables: one for studying Chinese and the other for writing; one for He Wei and the other for Peter Heisler. In the book, he once confessed his entanglements—there was another person hiding behind the clumsy He Wei, and he paid close attention to everything and recorded it all, which seemed inappropriate, but he couldn't think of an easier way to deal with such a split.
Now, He Wei has returned to the other side of the ocean and returned to Peter Heisler.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Zai Fei Text Editor: Zai Fei Title Image Source: Li Chuyue Photo
Source: Author: Li Chuyue