Chapter 11 Chapter 1 Do you really know Zhongshan?

Perhaps it is not surprising that one person falls in love with another.It is not so simple for a person to fall in love with another city. Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province can make many people who have been there fall in love with her, which is enough to illustrate the charm of this city. I am from Beijing and grew up in Suzhou in the south of the Yangtze River. It seems that it is not easy for me to fall in love with another city, but I also fell in love with Zhongshan!This shows what?I was a little surprised myself.However, Zhongshan did make me fall in love with her deeply.In two months, I went four or five times in a row, which may be an explanation.Arriving in Zhongshan is not a leisure time. Although I am burdened with intense interviews, I still feel comfortable.

This small town is beautiful. In July, the Sun is furiously expressing her passions to the Earth!The aroma of flowers and trees and the greenery everywhere in Zhongshan Town seem to make you forget that it is a hot summer, and the air is always mixed with the unique dampness and lightness of coastal cities, which makes you want to spread the wings of inspiration , want to sing and want to write poems... Strolling in the quiet summer night, the warm evening breeze blows friendly faces, and the hospitable and hardworking people in the small city also put down their stressful work at this moment, or take a walk or follow the music under the lights. Dancing in the magical park square... How can you not love the small town? !

A young man strikes up a conversation with me.When asked, he said that he just came to Zhongshan and got a satisfactory job by accident. "This is not possible in other places. The director of the unit told me: As long as I decide to settle here, I will receive various subsidies of hundreds of thousands of yuan from the city government, the town government and the unit where I work. There is an entrepreneurial fund of 100,000 to 200,000 yuan, a monthly living allowance of 1,500 yuan, and a house... Where can I find such a good thing?" said a young doctor.No wonder he wasn't impassioned!

Another young man who spoke Cantonese pursed his lips and hurried past me with a smile, not even giving him time to say a word: "I'm sorry, I have to catch a flight to Paris today, there is an international airport there. The expo needs me to sign a contract..." He comes from the ancient town known as the "Light Capital of China".The lighting market in Zhongshan Guzhen is famous all over the world, with more than 20 billion products sold at home and abroad every year. To feel the elegance and beauty of a city, you don't need other people's pointers and introductions, as long as you appreciate it.

In today's China, especially the Pearl River Delta, which is called the "world factory", it is not easy for you to feel the elegance and beauty of any city.Perhaps Zhongshan is not the only one, but there are very few who can compare with Zhongshan! Today, when economic development is the top priority, when we look at and measure a city or region, we always first ask about its economic development indicators.There is no doubt that there is not much wrong with this.But after asking people to experience the local social form, they will have another uncomfortable feeling. Often, the GDP is very high, but the city and environment are unbearable... But Zhongshan is not.Zhongshan's GDP also grew rapidly, reaching 88.020 billion yuan in 2005, with an average per capita of 36,207 yuan.A tiny prefecture-level city with a population of less than 1.4 million, its annual financial and gross national product exceeds the level of many provinces in the central and western regions!The point is, people have more money in their pockets, and the quality of life is even more nourishing...

The elegance and beauty of the city can be transformed into a comfortable state of mind.The elegance and beauty of Zhongshan are not only the external buildings and ecological environment, but also the political people and the spiritual world of the people here. It was a public holiday.At the "City Forum" where citizens became "guests", a primary school student couldn't help but raise his little hand high after seeing the suggestions and suggestions of many adults and being accepted by the city leaders: uncle and aunt , may I make a comment?of course can!The host of the forum replied with a smile: You are also a small citizen of our Zhongshan City. If you have any good suggestions and opinions, feel free to listen to them.The encouraged children said: "When we build a new park in the future, can we also consider our children and build some fun and exciting sports and swimming facilities for us!" Take this kid's advice.

This is a small corner of Zhongshan's "good government and harmonious people". Every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival.On this day, Zhongshan has a unique tradition: the people of the city, whether they are officials or ordinary people, will consciously join a special event, which is their 20-year-old "Charity Walk for Thousands of People". "Be rich to be kind, and be rich to do good." More than 400 million voluntary donations from the people expressed the prosperity of Zhongshan and those "new Zhongshan people" who started businesses and worked in Zhongshan, and reinterpreted the sage Mr. Sun Yat-sen again and again. The depth and greatness of the "fraternity" spirit.

The context is profound, and the city walls are prominent. In addition to the word "fraternity", the spirit of Zhongshan people today also has six words: "innovation", "inclusiveness" and "harmony".Undoubtedly, "fraternity" is the soul and core of Sun Yat-sen's spirit. With it, "innovation", "inclusiveness" and "harmony" will be natural and inevitable.Fraternity will make innovation have a clearer value orientation; fraternity will make tolerance more warm and delicate; fraternity will generate humanity and harmony.

Since ancient times, there has been a saying that "there is heaven above, and Suzhou and Hangzhou below". I think human beings have entered the 21st century, and a sentence should be added after these words: "now there is Zhongshan".The beauty of Zhongshan, when compared with Suzhou and Hangzhou, is even better than paradise on earth. But Zhongshan people are not satisfied.Especially Zhongshan people after entering the new century... Zhongshan is not her original name.Zhongshan was formerly known as Xiangshan.In the 22nd year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1152), the area that governed today's Zhongshan, Zhuhai, and Macau was called Xiangshan County.Xiangshan has been established as a county for more than 850 years, and its history has changed several times. Today's Zhongshan City is the foundation of Xiangshan.

Xiangshan was renamed Zhongshan because a great man, Sun Yat-sen, came out of Xiangshan in the 20th century. In 1925, at the suggestion of Mr. Tang Shaoyi, another celebrity in Xiangshan, the National Government at that time officially renamed Xiangshan Zhongshan as a permanent commemoration of the late Mr. Zhongshan.Zhongshan has thus become the only prefecture-level city in China named after a great man. The reason why Sun Wen named Zhongshan was a very accidental thing: in 1897, Mr. Sun Wen, who was in exile in Japan, named him Zhongshan Qiao because he stayed in a hotel.Later revolutionaries called him Mr. Zhongshan. The word "Zhongshan" was crowned on a great man, and it has become extraordinary since then.

Mr. Zhongshan did not give any explanation for his name during his lifetime.But from the meaning of the word, it can be called "Mountain of China". This may be the author's humble opinion.However, what Zhongshan does show is a kind of power, a kind of dignified power, a kind of dignified beauty and power full of righteousness. Is not it?As the forerunner of China's revolution in the 20th century, Mr. Zhongshan's great achievements can be summed up in one sentence - he closed the feudal door for thousands of years, and he opened a new era of "400 million people". The philanthropic concept of "the world is for the public" that he pursued throughout his life is the highest state of the dignified beauty of the Zhongshan spirit. The Three People's Principles of "Nation, Civil Rights, and People's Livelihood" that he insists on are just his eternal pursuit extending from the concept of fraternity to freedom and equality, and sublimating the dignified beauty of human beings to the sublime beauty. The "Zhongshan suit" designed by him has also become the most classic century-old fashion in human clothing. The legacy left by Mr. Sun Yat-sen to China and mankind itself is as majestic and mighty as the mountains in China.Similarly, what Mr. Zhongshan left to the people in his hometown is even more indescribable.Every inch of land in Zhongshan is rippling and nourishing the great grace of this sage... But on the land of Zhongshan, Mr. Sun Yat-sen's greatness is not the only and unprecedented one. In the Xiangshan Commercial Culture Museum on West Sunwen Road in Zhongshan City today, there is a book loan note written by Mao Zedong: "Mr. Yongchang: There are eleven books, and the cloth box of "Prosperous Words of Prosperity" is lost. "Xinmin Congbao" is lost First page. I’m so sorry, Shang Xi forgives, Chairman Mao respects Bai, the 11th day of the first lunar month.” According to historical records, Mao Zedong’s father lost a lawsuit because his opponent cleverly quoted a scripture in court. The young Mao Zedong had to study the scriptures hard.One day, Mao Zedong borrowed the book "Words of a Prosperous Age" from his cousin. Since then, he couldn't put it down and became the love of his life. The author of "Words of a Prosperous Age" is from Zhongshan, and his name is Zheng Guanying.This person is 24 years older than Mr. Sun Yat-sen, and his "Words of a Flourishing Age" actually influenced two great men in China in the 20th century: Sun Yat-sen and Mao Zedong. Before Zheng Guanying and Sun Yat-sen, who shouted "Words of Prosperity" and "Rejuvenation of China", Xiangshan also produced another first person studying abroad in China who advocated "Western wind is spreading eastward"-Rong Hong.This Xiangshan native who received a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University in the United States in 1854, it is precisely because of his unremitting efforts that China had a history of four groups of young children studying abroad in the 19th century, and later Zhan Tianyou, Tang Shaoyi, Cai Tingqian, Tang Guoan and other national heroes and pioneers of democracy... Zhongshan is named after Mr. Sun Yat-sen, a revolutionary pioneer.But Zhongshan is by no means deprived of his own unique qualities because of a generation of great men. Standing at the mouth of the Pearl River, looking at the vast sea, and looking back at Zhongshan, a land facing the ocean, you will have a new feeling, which is derived from the influence of nature on human beings.As one of the famous gateways to China, Zhongshan has been a bridgehead for Chinese children to understand the world and expand outward since the middle of the 16th century.The people of Zhongshan who live in this bridgehead, with the "heart of Muxi learning, the desire to be poor", with the impulse of adventure and the dream of getting rich, travel across the oceans, bringing oriental culture and ceramics to foreign countries, and at the same time Bring Western culture and foreign goods back to Xiangshan.Whether it is "leaves fall back to their roots" or "roots fall to the ground", Zhongshan people's marks of diligence, honesty, honesty and daring to be the first are forever engraved in the inheritance of history. Zhongshan, the hometown of overseas Chinese, blends the differences between Chinese and Western cultures; the emergence of compradors and comprador classes balances the progress and backwardness of materials and technology in two different worlds.From the beginning of the last century, Zhongshan people have been used to those "old townsmen" with long braids and speaking foreign languages ​​walking around the alleys.In Cuiheng Village, we can see the European-style mansion designed by Sun Yat-sen himself, which is in harmony with the surrounding Lingnan-style houses, which is the most typical example of Zhongshan's overseas Chinese culture. In today's China, we say that there must be a market economy, but we are actually talking about business.In modern China, people from Zhongshan were the ones who paid the most attention to the way of business and were the most proficient in business skills.Not to mention how the "commercial warfare" and "business" methods advocated by celebrities like Zheng Guanying and Sun Yat-sen have influenced the history of modern Chinese economic thought, let's just talk about the opening of the four major department stores in the "Ten Mile Foreign Market" Shanghai Bund. All of them were from Zhongshan.They are: Ma Yingbiao from Xianshi Company, Guo Quan and Guo Le brothers from Yongan Company, Liu Xiji and Li Minzhou from Xinxin Company, and Cai Xing and Cai Chang from Daxin Company.What we can still hear on the streets today, such as "clearly marked prices", "customers are always right", "sales with prizes", etc., are all things that Zhongshan businessmen invented a hundred years ago. Open and pragmatic, blending Chinese and Western cultures, and advancing with the times, Zhongshan people rely on such spirit and spirit to condense their own unique character and temperament, and finally mold the word "Zhongshan" into a golden light. Zhongshan's humanities and history are full of infinite charm, which is incomparable to others.But this is not the root of Zhongshan.The real charm of Zhongshan, only when you get to know her step by step, will you have more taste and understand its meaning. Today's Zhongshan has a total area of ​​1,800 square kilometers, which is much smaller than the old Xiangshan. As a county-level city, it has been directly upgraded to a prefecture-level city. The burden of history and reality carried by Zhongshan has not diminished at all, but has become more prominent and dazzling. . Because it is associated with the names of great historical figures, people must look at Zhongshan and Zhongshan people in a different way when they look at the world.This gaze focuses here from all directions, and then stretches from here to the distance... Located in the west of the estuary of the Pearl River, it is also connected to the sea, where the river and the sea meet.So Zhongshan stretched his eyes to the east, and then to the east... On this day, a voice from Zhongshan echoed in the University of Melbourne, Australia: "Here, please allow me to take such a rare opportunity to introduce my motherland and hometown to you. "China is an ancient civilization. She has a Chinese civilization that lasts for more than 5,000 years and has created a rich and splendid culture. Together with ancient Egypt, ancient India, and ancient Babylon, she is known as the four ancient civilizations. They are gunpowder, papermaking, and printing. , The birthplace of the compass. Chinese civilization has become an important part of human civilization. "China is a developing country. She has a population of 1.3 billion, and the resources per capita are small. China's economic aggregate and total resources are divided by 1.3 billion, which becomes a very small number. This is China's basic national conditions. This is It means that if China wants to enter the ranks of developed countries in the world, it will encounter many difficulties. Nevertheless, in the process of reform and opening up in the past 30 years, China has basically solved the problem of food and clothing for 1.3 billion people, and has gradually become rich... Now, people are pursuing happiness in the growth of wealth, enjoying freedom in the progress of social civilization, and living and working in peace and contentment in the constant satisfaction of material and cultural needs. I hope you will learn more about China and pay attention to China. "My hometown, Zhongshan City, is located in the south of China, in the south-central part of Guangdong Province, adjacent to Hong Kong and Macau... Today's Zhongshan has developed from a traditional agricultural city to a medium-sized city with an industrial economy as the main body. Last year, the comprehensive strength of the city It ranks the twelfth among similar cities in the country. Now, more than 20 enterprises ranked among the world's top 500 companies have established more than 20 enterprises in Zhongshan, and there are more than 1,400 foreigners living in Zhongshan. Zhongshan's economic development is inseparable from the world. Do not open the international market. "The development of Zhongshan has increased the wealth of the citizens, and people have enjoyed the benefits brought by the development. At present, the Engel coefficient of urban residents is 38? 5%, which has reached the wealth standard proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; the average life expectancy of residents is 76? 2 years, It is close to the level of developed countries in the world. The social security system is constantly improving, social welfare is booming, and people live in affluent and healthy homes... In 1997, the United Nations awarded Zhongshan the highest award in the field of human settlements, the Habitat Award, in recognition of Zhongshan The municipal government has made outstanding contributions to the sustainable development and management of human settlements. In recent years, Zhongshan has won many honors awarded by the state, such as National Sanitary City, National Garden City, National Environmental Protection Model City, and China Excellent Tourist City , National Ecological Construction Demonstration Zone, etc. Last year, it won the highest national award for urban civilization construction - National Civilized City. Although Zhongshan is an industrial city, I can tell you responsibly that Zhongshan does not have many chimneys, but is full of greenery. Shady trees, harmonious coexistence between man and nature..." "Wow—" There was thunderous applause from the audience. "The rapid development of Zhongshan in the past 20 years has generally gone through three different stages. "First, from the end of the 1970s to the mid-1990s, this was the stage when Zhongshan's economy changed from closed development to open development. The key word in this stage was 'openness'. In the late 1970s, Zhongshan was still based on agriculture. Mainly, the development is limited to the city, and even with Hong Kong and Macau, which belong to the same geographical unit and the same natural economic zone, there are few economic cooperation and cultural exchanges. The direct consequence of this closed development , because the economy is backward and the vision is narrow. We found that the development of Zhongshan must be oriented to the country and the world, and closed development has no future. Therefore, we began to adjust our thinking with an open mind and attract investment with preferential policies. In a short period of time , Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and foreign capital continue to pour in, traditional industries such as textiles, clothing, hardware, lighting, home appliances, food have produced a cluster effect, and high-tech industries such as medicine, technology, bioengineering, electronic information, electrical machinery and Auto parts and other equipment manufacturing industry began to rise. The urban and rural labor force was fully employed, the tertiary industry flourished, and the entire economy became active. By 2005, Zhongshan had 22,000 industrial enterprises. "Secondly, from the mid-to-late 1990s to the beginning of this century, this was the period when Zhongshan comprehensively implemented reforms, transformed government functions, and gradually established a market economic system. The core content of this period was 'reform' to stimulate social creativity. At this stage, the government returned the power of resource allocation to the market, and state-owned enterprises gradually withdrew from general competitive fields. Protect the interests of groups affected during the reform process, such as unemployed workers. At the same time, a large number of institutions have been streamlined, work procedures have been standardized, and the government has changed from an instructional and approval type to a guidance and service type. After this stage of reform, enterprises as market players The status has been truly established, the market order of fair competition has been maintained, a market economic system in line with international practice has been gradually established, and Zhongshan's economic and social development has begun to be full of vitality. "The third is the beginning of this century. This is the stage when Zhongshan has entered a stage of comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable economic and social development. The main task of this stage is to promote 'harmony'. We clearly understand that a city that is constantly improving and developing, It must be a city with comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development, a city where people and society, and people and nature live in harmony. It must not only meet the needs of the current generation, but also leave enough resources and development space for the next generation .We focus on people-oriented and people's livelihood, and truly let all citizens become the main body of urban development... "We have full confidence in the future development of Zhongshan. We expect to build this city into one of the most beautiful cities in China in the next 5 to 10 years, and become a city that can attract widespread attention from the world..." The voice came from the other side of the world. At this time, Cui Guochao, secretary of the Zhongshan Municipal Party Committee, was attending the appointment ceremony of the senior consultant of the University of Melbourne. Zhongshan!Let us yearn for Zhongshan! Melbourne once again cheers and applauds for the Zhongshan people who came from afar!Those excited and excited eyes are full of admiration and envy... So Zhongshan no longer only belongs to China, she belongs to a yearning place in the minds of all the people who pay attention to her. Heh, Zhongshan, you are the head of the Pearl River Delta at the frontier of the reform and opening up of the great nation. Every wave you surge embraces the sea and hits the shore, shaking the sky and the earth! What is that piece? At the junction of the sea and the shore, where the water and the land intersect, there grows a dense grove, lush and full of vitality. "It's called mangroves. You can break one and see their hearts. It's red, so it got its name... Mangroves can only grow at the junction of sea and land, between the low tide line and the high tide line on the coast, and most of them are concentrated In the place where fresh water and sea water meet. Don’t underestimate this unattractive mangrove forest, it plays an extraordinary role in keeping the continental shelf free from sea water!” A fellow villager told me. It turns out that it is a mangrove forest!It's really ugly, but it's really unique, irreplaceable! O sea, you are sometimes turbulent, sometimes agitated, sometimes indulgent, and sometimes humming... What you release is strength and arrogance, including all the love and hatred for the land and shore.You always want to express your invincible vastness in front of the land bank, and you always want to mock the fragile bones of the cliff, but you become so naughty and helpless in front of the mangrove forest, and then turn into tenderness and dignity.As a result, the land became more lush and the cliffs became more solid. Who would doubt that the unattractive mangrove forest is responsible for maintaining such harmony and balance between the sea and human beings? The mangroves remind me of Zhongshan, and the location of Zhongshan on the Chinese map - Zhongshan is at the mouth of the Pearl River, Zhongshan is at the intersection of China's land and sea... Doesn't Zhongshan, which is lush and full of vitality, have mangroves? Is character and spirit the treasure of the Chinese nation? So another voice from Zhongshan sounded in my ears: "Of course the protagonist will attract everyone's attention, but it is impossible to have so many protagonists in a play. Sometimes it's good to be a supporting role. As long as you find your position, each audience will be able to play the role of the protagonist." The city will be wonderful...” If you want to appreciate the "Zhongshan Spirit" in this passage, you have to understand the following background—— I know that the Cantonese have a ranking of the cities they are catching up with: Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan... The reason for such a ranking is of course the first thing to look at is their economic aggregate and contribution to the country.Although this ranking is easy to understand from simple GDP figures, it is definitely not fair.Like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Foshan, they are all super-large cities with a population of more than 10 million, and they govern several districts and county-level areas.Zhongshan is different. Zhongshan is a small city that has been directly upgraded from a county-level area to a district-level area. Its area and administrative area are only 24 towns and districts. In addition to the immigrant population, there are only more than 2 million people.But when ranking, people usually don't consider these factors, and strength and speed are the only basic criteria. The "lightweight" Zhongshan and the "heavyweight" Guangzhou and Shenzhen need to stand on the same starting line to run and measure speed. There is no reason, no explanation, only "ranking". So Guangdong's "Ten Cities" and "Four Little Tigers" have been competing with each other, chasing after each other, and fighting each other secretly.Among several different phalanxes, Zhongshan does not have the advantage of the right time and place—in terms of size, it is almost the smallest; in terms of weight, it is also the lightest... But since the "starting gun" of reform, opening up and comprehensive construction has already sounded, no one These factors will be taken care of deliberately, people only look at your speed, only look at your posture, and only look at your position. So the people of Zhongshan had no choice but to work hard and move forward. They fight hard, they are not humble, and they are even more unyielding.They go their own way... Suddenly one day, the Cantonese discovered the "lightweight" Zhongshan and became one of the famous "Four Little Tigers". In 2005, the total economic volume ranked fifth among the 21 cities above the prefecture level in Guangdong Province... It has achieved the fastest industrial growth rate among cities in the Pearl River Delta for three consecutive years; It has a record of excellent and good air quality for 365 days a year; It is the only prefecture-level city in the province that has won the honor of "National Civilized City"... Such records and levels can only be created and owned by Zhongshan people.So Zhongshan became an impressive giant in people's minds.The people of Guangdong and the whole country, who are at the forefront of reform and opening up, hope that Zhongshan will become a historical protagonist who creates miracles and brilliance—however, Zhongshan people tell people in a gentle manner amid such expectations and eagerness: "It's also good to be a supporting role." "As long as you find your own position, every city will be wonderful." You should understand Zhongshan and Zhongshan people, right? What is Zhongshan?Zhongshan is a low-key city, but it is determined to innovate and develop; Zhongshan is a hot land, but it is always peaceful and rational; Zhongshan is facing the sea, but it is stable and solid, and it is a blockbuster! Zhongshan people have retained the essence of traditional Chinese Confucian culture—retaining their own true nature while constantly absorbing the strengths of others; advancing in a balanced manner while advancing in harmony and constantly innovating and seeking.Everything goes with the flow, and constantly explores various possibilities to change nature in nature, and keeps pace with the times. Oh, this is Zhongshan.