Envoy delves into China's history in Shaanxi

A small handmade iron hoe for tending a garden, a bag of apricots and a pair of cloth shoes were among the souvenirs Peter Wilson bought during a visit to Yan'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi province on Wednesday — the sort of keepsakes any tourist might bring home.

But for Wilson, the United Kingdom's ambassador to China, the visit yielded something less tangible: a closer look at the historical experiences that continue to shape China today.

Standing outside the cave dwelling that once served as Chairman Mao Zedong's residence at the revolutionary site of Yangjialing, Wilson said that he had not expected the Communist Party of China to have grown in strength under such austere conditions.

"Foreigners also need to understand your history. I think it is very important to come here and visit the sites where history unfolded," he said.

Wilson traveled to Yan'an on Wednesday with Lu Kang, vice-minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, after visiting Xi'an, the provincial capital, on Tuesday.

The trip came during Wilson's third posting in China. He took up his current role as ambassador in August last year, more than three decades after first working in the commercial section of the British Embassy in Beijing in the 1990s. He also served as political counselor at the embassy from 2007 to 2010.

"For me, wherever I work, it is very important to understand that country's history in depth, as well as how that country views its own history," Wilson said in fluent Chinese.

"That is why I greatly value this opportunity to visit Shaanxi, Yan'an and Liangjiahe."

Lu said the visit would help the British side gain a more comprehensive, objective and accurate understanding of China and the CPC, while contributing toward greater mutual understanding and the development of China-UK relations.

For Wilson, that process was as much about asking questions and talking with people as it was about visiting historical sites.

At the Yan'an Revolutionary Memorial Hall, he paused before statues depicting international friends and asked about the different roles they played.

At the site of the Seventh National Congress of the CPC, which was held in 1945, he discussed with an interpreter how best to render the Chinese phrase tongxin tongde — "to be of one heart and one mind" — in English.

At the China Executive Leadership Academy, Yan'an, Wilson told reporters that officials from China and the UK should have more opportunities to exchange views and learn from one another.

He expressed hope that officials from both countries would take part in more exchange visits, thus broadening their perspectives and improving their work by learning from each other.

At Liangjiahe, where President Xi Jinping spent seven years — from 1969 to 1975 — living and working alongside local villagers, Wilson asked what time people began and ended their working day decades ago and how village life had changed since then.