Hi, my name is Christoph, I`m a 31-year old German working for China Radio International since the end of last year.
China and I
To be honest, it was China¡¯s past and its cultural heritage that arouse my interest for this extraordinary country. More precisely, it was the overwhelming beauty of Chinese characters developed over a period of thousands of years, the influential principles of great Chinese philosophers like Confucius (Kongzi) or Mencius (Mengzi), the numerous inventions of Chinese society during its various dynasties like paper and letterpress, the compass or the great achievements concerning medicine and health, the extensive and worldwide voyages of Zheng He at the beginning of the 15th century and, last but not least, the ideas of Daoism and the precept of Yin and Yang, executed in the different styles of Taijiquan. And especially by learning and practicing traditional Chen style Taijiquan, with its smooth and gentle, often cautious moves, only sometimes interrupted by an outburst of sheer power, I became more and more fascinated by this country, China, its history, its present and its future. As a consequence of this, I started studying Languages and Business Administration, specialized on China, including its roots, language, politics and cultural specialties back home in Germany. Fortunately I was given the opportunity to stay six months in Shanghai, studying at Tongji-University, where I first made personal contact with the country and its people. Fascinated by this experience, I finished university in Germany as quickly as possible, in order to apply for a job in China. Luckily for me, I was given the chance to start working as an editor in the German department of Beijing based China Radio International, one of the three central media organizations in China, at the end of last year. By editing articles and news of different content concerning Chinese politics, culture, science, sports, economy or daily life as part of my work as well as by writing occasional reports about traveling in China for our German speaking audience, I now have a perfect insight into the ¡°real¡± China and the actual happenings in this breathtaking country.
All in all, by first starting becoming attracted by China¡¯s past and now being part of China¡¯s presence by living in Beijing and working at CRI, where I actively contribute to the understanding among nations, and by witnessing China¡¯s big steps into the future, a personal dream already came true to me. This dream was also fulfilled by traveling to several Chinese provinces, be it for work or in private, like Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Gansu, Xinjiang, Hubei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangxi, Hainan as well as Hong Kong and Macao. Apart from that, I have to thank my parents that they shared their enthusiasm and passion for several European countries including Greece with me. They took me to this beautiful country several times where I could learn more about the Greek culture. I thereby even had the possibility to watch the ceremony of lightning the Olympic flame for the Olympic Games in Seoul 1988 in the tiny but picturesque town of Olympia, situated at the peninsula Peloponnesus in Southern Greece. This extraordinary event is still part of my memory, although I was a little boy at that time.
So now, by living and working in the city that will host the Olympic Games in 2008 and by having experienced the procedures of lighting the Olympic flame at its very origin in Greece, for me a circle will respectively would be closed by having the honor of participating in the Olympic relay, a fact that is once again persuading me of the rightness and truth of the daoistic idea that everything comes in circles.
You may rest assured that I would carry the Olympic Torch with civility, dignity and pride, for China and the world.
