People gather to celebrate the arrival of the New Year near the Bund during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China on Dec 31, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]
Recently, I arrived in Shanghai as the Republic of Korea s consul general. The period for which I will be serving in this diplomatic function will overlap with the early years of the 28 years between China s two great centennial celebrations-namely establishment of the Communist Party of China and the People s Republic of China.
By coincidence, I traveled every nook and cranny of this country alone as a backpacker 28 years ago. Since then, I was posted to various European countries, and it was only in December that I finally arrived in Shanghai. This 28 years of absence has brought pleasant surprises and a fairly accurate description of how much this country has changed.