French-Chinese or a Chinese Frenchman?
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E-mail Xinhua, December 24, 2014
In spring of 2014, more than 37,000 senior high school students in France chose Chinese as one of their subjects for college entrance exams, he said. "Half of them have been studying Chinese since middle school."
People from the two countries still have misunderstandings about each other, despite the fact that China and France have had diplomatic ties for 50 years. Many Chinese people cannot tell the different between French cuisine and Italian food. Bellassen said, "There are still a lot of French people who think that Japanese kimonos originate in China."
"China and Europe may be geographically distant," he said, "but globalization has shortened and will continue to shorten the distance between China and the Western world in cultural awareness."
In the Chinese expert's point of view, China and France share some similarities: centuries-old history, splendid culture, and their people's yearning for a comfortable lifestyle.
Though he admits that living conditions and availability of foreign products have improved in China, Bellassen is not pleased by China's fast pace of change.
"The heavier air pollution and newly built, strange buildings mean that my second hometown, Beijing, has lost its unique city character," he said.
"Besides Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City, Beijing's soul is the quadrangle of the Siheyuan, the city wall and gates," he said.
Bellassen knows the government has applied practical measures to protect historical sites to restore their original appearance. "It is a remarkable step," he said. "But I have no idea whether it's a little bit late."
"Foreigners started to learn about China in the days of Marco Polo," he said, and throughout his career, Bellassen has helped people in France learn about China's culture and history.
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