In The Great Hall of the People

Nanchang Monday afternoon. Yesterday I was flown to Beijing along with five other foreigners who are working in education and health in this city. We were treated to a banquet in the imposing Great Hall of the People beside Tian'anmen Square in Beijing. About 1500 foreigners from various parts of China attended.



The banquet was a thank-you from the government to all those foreign experts who have gone to work in China in various fields since the 'opening up' policy was begun in the early 1980s by Deng Xiaoping. A speech of welcome was made to the throng in one of the Great Hall's many huge meeting rooms by China's State Council Vice-premier, Li Keqiang.

Mr Li appears to be ranked number 7 among the members of the Politburo. He noted especially in the printed translation of his short speech: "The development and achievements made in New China's first 60 years have been the result of the united efforts of the Chinese people of all ethnic groups, together with the hard work and dedication of numerous foreign experts, overseas Chinese experts and international friends working in China." He added that the number of overseas experts working in China keeps increasing, reaching 480,000 tours of duty in 2008.

China celebrates the 60th anniversary of Mao Tse Tung's proclamation of the Peoples Republic on 1st October. Before the banquet we were taken by our youthful and attractive interpreter on a short walking tour of Tian'anmen Square and the nearby French-designed opera performance centre. Security around the city is strict and everybody entering the square has to open bags for inspection and submit to electronic body search. The main streets are festooned with national flags and colourful bunting. Only people with permits may watch the big parade in the vicinity of the square. Everybody else can watch it on television.

We overnighted in a nice hotel and flew back today. I caught sight of the Temple of Heaven in a park en route to the hotel. Otherwise it was a tantalising visit, but I was glad to go there and savour the mounting national excitement.

Garreth Byrne.

(ED: Garreth was raised in Kilcullen and teaches English in a university in Nanchang.)