Chapter 48 Excerpts from Southbound Diary

August 17, 1963 I haven't been to Shanghai for six years!Not only is my Japanese friend Atsuko Miyake very interested and curious about this "adventurer's paradise" before China's liberation, but I also miss Shanghai and my friends living in Shanghai for a long time. Yanzi said to me: "I heard friends who have been to Shanghai say that it depends on how the Chinese people can create miracles, and Shanghai is a good example. With their strong hands, they wiped out the crimes committed by imperialism on Chinese soil. , eradicated without any trace. In Shanghai, I must stay for a few more days and take a look."

Arrived in Shanghai at 11:55 in the morning and stayed at the Peace Hotel. On the way from the station to the hotel, I saw the tram tracks from Nanjing Road to the Bund being demolished.Trolleybuses are already running to and fro on the road.It was laid by the British imperialists fifty-five years ago, and it will be completely demolished in a few days.I said, "From now on, there will be no more rumbling cars on Nanjing Road to disturb the peace of Shanghai residents." But Yanzi said: "The last nail of the imperialists on Nanjing Road will also be pulled out!" She had watched "Sentinel Under the Neon Lights" in Beijing, and she paid special attention to everything on Nanjing Road.

While we were waiting for the elevator in the lobby of the hotel, our friends in Shanghai told Yanzi with a smile, “This hotel was originally called the Sassoon Building, and it was built by Sir Sassoon, who started selling opium. The place was of course occupied by foreign gentlemen and high-ranking Chinese before liberation, and other people were not allowed to enter. Many years ago, when the British literati George Bernard Shaw came to Shanghai, he lived here. He invited Mr. Lu Xun to come Look at him. When Lu Xun came here, because he was not a waiter who drove the elevator in a 'stylish suit', he didn't dare to let him go up until he gave his name, and Bernard Shaw came down to pick him up and sent him out again. The people in the hall below The foreigners are all in amazement." This was the first time I heard this story, and Yanzi and I both laughed.We looked around at the black, white, yellow, and brown people coming and going in this hall. They were all our friends. Although they didn't know each other, they all nodded and smiled at each other.This community center of "adventurers" with strict boundaries in the past has now become a center of friendship between us and friends from all over the world.

In the morning, I accompanied Yanzi to visit the No. 2 National Cotton Factory. After listening to the exciting introduction by the director of the second factory, we visited several workshops and felt that the air in the workshop was cooler than outside.Some of the spinning machines in the workshop are old machines from 1914 in England, but the energetic work scene of the workers has proved to us that after the workers have become their own and the masters of the machines, they can work hard. Enthusiasm is irrepressible.Yanzi stood beside the tombstone of martyr Gu Zhenghong outside the workshop for a long time, and took several photos.How many beautiful red flowers have bloomed from this young red seed on this land!

In the afternoon, Yanzi began to write her "Beijing-Shanghai Express" article. At 7:00 p.m., Shanghai friends received us for dinner on the seventeenth floor of the Shanghai Building. The bright lights along the river outside the window attracted us all to go out onto the porch.Yanzi leaned on the fence and looked around, and said in admiration: "What a bright night scene! The best thing is that the lights here seem to be so soft and quiet, unlike Hong Kong at night, when the night drowns all the oppression and deception. After that, the lights and neon lights on the coast and on merchant ships and warships still radiate the poisonous light of various imperialists! As for our ports, such as Yokosuka and Sasebo... there are also warships or nuclear submarines of the U.S. imperialists moored! "

In the morning, visit the Qiyi People's Commune in the western suburbs of Shanghai. Yanzi is very interested in the increase in crop output after the People's Commune was established, and the continuous increase in the number of students in primary and secondary schools.She was especially excited when she visited the hospital with its sixteen doctors and nurses, as well as the nursery and tractor station. She took a few photos with some young tractor drivers.When parting, I shook hands with the female tractor driver especially tightly. In the afternoon, Yanzi continued to write articles.

In the evening, we visited the big world, which was also a new experience for me.I said, "I have been to Shanghai before, but I have never been to Dashijie. Because the old people say it's not a place for young women to visit. Friends in Shanghai laughed and said, "In the old world, even young men didn't dare to go there—it's very different now." After hearing these words, Yanzi became more interested. When she went to have a look, she felt that this was really a new type of entertainment place for working people. It was very lively, but not noisy, and everything was in order. Standing, watching puppet shows, Peking Opera, etc. for a while, I came back very late.

Arrived at the Children's Palace this morning.This is where I've been.Yanzi saw a private residence of the imperialists. The big living room, big dining room, and dance hall, which used to be only for three or four people to enjoy and treat guests, had become places for activities for thousands of happy and lively new Chinese children, which made her very happy. Happy.Our kids are also really good at entertaining guests, they hold the guest's hand, invite her to a magic show, invite her to sing songs, and all kinds of other activities.We had a beautiful morning.Yanzi has a very good impression of Chinese children, and today she has another beautiful impression.

In the afternoon, friends from Shanghai invited us to have tea in the Art Hall.This was originally a club for imperialists, the place is very quiet, but now it has been newly decorated, with a auditorium, a teahouse, and a library... In the living room where we had a discussion, there are several excellent photographs about the construction of New China hanging on the wall , very vivid.Yanzi likes this place very much.She said, "In the past, this was probably the place where the Chinese couldn't get in. After the imperialists were driven out, literary and art workers had another place to talk."

In the evening, we went for a walk in the Bund Park, and she asked, "Is this the park where 'Chinese people and dogs are not allowed'?" I nodded, took her arm, and walked towards the river.At this time, many people were leaning against the bank of the river to enjoy the shade, and the breeze brought soft laughter.In the shadow of the trees, the vehicles on the road silently walked on and off.Behind them are clusters of bright lights on tall buildings.I pointed to the roofs of the Peace Hotel and the Bank of China to show her, "When the Chinese built the Bank of China before liberation, the British imperialists insisted that it not be higher than the Sassoon Building. Therefore, the top floor of the Bank of China It is a little shorter than the spire of the Sassoon Building." Yanzi smiled and said, "The imperialists oppress people like this. Today, it seems that their efforts are in vain. The fighting spirit of the revolutionary people cannot be suppressed."

In the morning, I visited the Lu Xun Memorial Hall, and Yanzi laid flowers on Lu Xun's tomb. Lu Xun's fighting life gave Yanzi great encouragement.When she was patrolling the memorial hall, she was always looking at it silently, and sometimes wrote some notes.She said that Lu Xun's difficult situation in Shanghai fighting against the imperialists and all reactionaries was almost the same as that of the progressive writers and artists in Japan today.Seeing Lu Xun's struggle deeds, and then looking at today's new China and new Shanghai, gave her infinite confidence and courage. In the afternoon, when she was packing her luggage, Yanzi said excitedly: "Shanghai has not only lived up to my expectations, but also is stronger and more beautiful than I imagined. I will take this kind of seed back to Japan and let it live up to my expectations." blossomed in my work." She is a person who doesn't talk much, this time in Shanghai, she talked a lot, and when she was happy, she was chatting and laughing. I laughed and said that the growing vigor emanating from her made her even more lovely.She also said with a smile that it was China and Shanghai that infected her, and she would like to thank the lovely China and the lovely Shanghai. (This article was originally published in Wen Wei Po on October 2, 1963.)