Dr.Muhammad Shahbaz( 沙巴兹阿里), Master Degree student of General Surgery on CSC scholarship at Shandong University School of Medicine.
1) Amazing things about China: Bullet train, Maglev train. I had a flight from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to Sydney, and I went from Jinan to Shanghai by train. I arrived at 12:00 noon, and my flight was at 7:45 p.m. I was thinking if I took the subway, it might take 40 minutes from the railway station to the airport. I bought the ticket and went inside. Many foreigners were taking photos of the train, and up she comes. I entered and sat. It started and within two minutes, the speed was shown on the screen: 301km/h. I was stunned. After 8 minutes it stopped and there was an announcement: Feiji chang dao le (we have arrived at our destination, the airport).
2) There were tears in my eyes, as the young girl told my professor, wo tong guo le (I passed the exam). One month ago, Prof. Niu Jun told the patient, “you can appear in Gaokao,” and it was the whole team of our General Surgery department headed by Prof.Niu Jun celebrating the happiness that we operated on the 17-year-old girl with the Thyroid Neoplasm. She wanted to appear in the exam. The exam was on June 7th and she was admitted to our ward on May 15th. She had the option to come after exam or get operated at once. Then she opted to go for the operation. The surgery was done on May 20th successfully, and she was able to speak within a few days after the operation. She was discharged on May 27th, 10 days before the exam.
3) bu dao chang cheng fei hao han. The sentence means: one who fails to reach the Great Wall cannot be called a man. du wan juan shu bu ru xing wan li lu. It means: traveling thousands of miles is better than reading thousands of books. After reading this saying, I planned to travel around the world and especially in china during my spare time. I cannot forget the 28 hours, the Beijing trip. On June 22nd, 2011, I thought it was 3 a.m. and I received a call, wo dao le (I have arrived). The company bus driver was waiting for me and my best friend Misbah at the hotel gate. We were to set to see the flag raising ceremony at Tian’an Men Square at exact 5 a.m, and then we set off for the Great Wall. We were there at 7 a.m. and the tickets were ready. This company was good. It took 140RMB for hotel pick up to Tian’an Men Square, the Great Wall , the Forbidden City and one museum, and back to the railway station in the afternoon. We took so many photos and went around the main historical places of Beijing within 14 hours. We met monks from Tibet there too.
4) OK airlines and Kunyushan. In China, if people speak English, almost 90% of people can say OK, Yes, No, Hello, and Bye-bye. I never imagined that there would be an airline company in the world with the name called OK airlines. I was surprised when I arrived at Shenyang Airport Terminal 1 and found out there was no airline by this name. I sensed a feeling of being cheated, but suddenly I found that there were airlines by the name OK airlines at Terminal 2 as it was written on my E ticket. I took a sigh of relief and then I was more surprised to see the size of the plane: a 28seat small jet, in which the business class was with back benchers. Haha. This plane flies from Shenyang via Dalian to Yantai. Kunyushan was also an unforgettable scene in my life: climbing mountain in the afternoon for 4 hours and coming down after sunset with no bus. The last bus already left at 4, but the gatekeeper arranged one taxi, thanks to him.
5) The first day in Urumqi. On February 12th, 2006, I was at Urumqi International Airport. Coming out of the airport, I was wearing a shirt and a normal jacket, and then I was surprised: the white cotton balls were falling from sky. I am from Sargodha, a city in Pakistan, Punjab Province, where if it is 0 degree Celsius, the school will have a special day holiday, and where the temperature in summer touches 40 degree Celsius easily. As far as I know, it hadn’t had snow fall in my city for one century. Coming to China and experiencing weather like this was unbelievable. Quickly I went in the airport, opened my luggage, took out 2 jackets and wore. I went to the hotel and went to sleep, but suddenly I got up hearing the fireworks outside everywhere. I asked the reception what was happening outside, she replied me in Chinese: Xin nian kuai le, Chūn jié kuai le (Happy new year, Happy spring festival). This was my first word that I learned after ni hao. After I came to Jinan, Shandong Magazine took my interview. The editor asked me a question which I still remember: Ali, what is your first impression of China? My answer was: cold.
6) Prof. Liu and me In Pakistan Chinese Consulate in Karachi. I was in my homeland there, and Secretary of the Minister of Education was welcoming the delegate with the bouquet. We stayed at the Chinese Consulate in Karachi, and I was searching for the Pakistani food in Pakistan, but there was still the Chinese food in Chinese consulate in Pakistan as there was a Chinese chef. After eating noodles, when all members of delegate went to their rooms, I silently went to the kitchen and asked the Chinese chef, Da ge, ni bang wo zuo ba ji si tan bing hai you Ji rou ga li (Elder brother, please help me make the Pakistani Paratha/naan and Chicken curry). He nudged and took out a packet from the refrigerator, where there were ready-made parathas and chicken curry. I have already made a new Chinese friend. The next day, we went to the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan. We received guard of honor, the best memories of my life. I wrote comments in the diary with my professor. I was given honor in my country because of the Chinese delegation; I will remember that for lifelong time. My father presented a Pakistani Souvenir, Pagg, Pakistani turban to my professor Liu Zhiyu, saying, “Pak-Cheen Dosti Zindabad (in Urdu) Zhong ba youyi wan sui (China-Pak friendship last forever)”.
7) My first speech on September 26th. I always wanted to go to research field, but in Pakistan, it is a dream of the parents that their child became a doctor or an engineer. As there was no short cut to go directly to research, I chose MBBS degree on my parents’ wish. During my undergraduate studies, I started going to the lab in my extra time and published a research paper with the help of my professor in my 3rd year. I was in Shanghai with my professor then. It was on September 26th, 2007, the day on which I was to deliver my first presentation. My heart was beating up and I was feeling nervous. Professor Liu came to me and said, “Ali, there is a long way in front of you, and the success follows the braveness.” I was confident. I went to stage and delivered my presentation. 2 years later in Sydney, Australia, I was more confident and I participated in a competition of young scientist speakers from 27 countries. I won the first prize. Sometimes people around the world may be thinking that I am a graduate of China, and someone even says, oh Made in China. Doctors who graduate from China may not be good. But I want to say that even my home country did not give me the education and opportunity to be a doctor and the best young scientist speaker. After all, it depends upon the individual. If you cannot change yourself, no one can change you. China gave me the strong base for my future. We were having a dinner Last week, and my friend said, lai, wo men 7 ge shandong ren hai you yi ge lao wai gan bei (let us 7 shandong people and one foreigner cheers). I said, lao shi, wo bu shi lao wai, wo ye shi Shandong ren (Sir, I am not a foreigner but a Shandong person). Everyone was laughing. Jinan is my second hometown. I love it, and I am proud to be a graduate of Shandong University.
8) Zhong guo Tong. Most of my friends who know me and who meet me call me Zhong guo tong (China Expert), and even my favorite sport player after Inzmam ul Haq (cricket player) is Yao Ming (basketball player) and Liu Xiang (athlete). Although Liu Xiang could not win, but he is famous because of his injury, as we doctors know that his Achilles heel rupture repair cost much money in 20-minute operation. I went to see him in the 2009 National Games held in Jinan, and I cannot forget my opera performance at the Inter-University Club show. I was wearing the red Chinese traditional opera dress and singing opera. Amazing experience. I went to visit a county near the Yellow River in winter, and I saw some farmers who were working on Rice thresher. I went there and they took photos with me. Last summer, I went to Shaolinsi, Zhengzhou with my professor Niu Jun. We climbed the mountain top and took photos. It was the best experience of my life. At the base of the mountain, the children practicing Kongfu was something amazing. There is Lanzhou lamian, a kind of famous noodle restaurant. We ate and started to learn cooking. After that, I tried to cook at home and many of my Pakistani classmates could not cook so. We taught Pakistani recipes to Chinese friend and she opened a Pakistani Chinese restaurant Fatimai jiejie’s restaurant法提麦姐姐餐馆. She makes the samosa, which is made with some changes in dumpling recipes, and I found out that there are 2 words same in Chinese and Urdu Language: da ye is elder Uncle, and Da yi, elder aunt, are of the same meaning and pronunciation in Urdu. And if no one wants to listen to your song, you do not need to worry, because China has found out a solution, KTV, where you can sing loudly and have a music party. One more important place in Guangzhou, China is the Tomb of Sad Abi Waqas, The Uncle of Prophet Muhammad. Dalian and Yantai beach, red valley, baotuquan, daminghu in Jinan, kongzi, kongmiao in Confucius town, gugong of Shenyang and Beijing, Tianjin circle, Nanjing lu in shanghai, all the unforgettable experience in my life and I have 2 best friends Gao Huijie and Liang Benjia. We call ourselves 3 idiots. I cannot stop laughing.
Sometimes people ask me, ni xi huan zhong guo ma? (Do you like china?) My answer is always the same. Wo bu xi huan zhong guo, wo ai zhong guo. I don’t like china but I love China.
(1)中国那些令人惊奇的事物。首先是子弹头列车，磁悬浮列车。我要乘坐从上海浦东国际机场到悉尼的航班，从济南坐火车到上海，中午12点到达上海火车站。我的航班在晚上7:45，我想，如果坐地铁的话，从火车站到机场大概需要40分钟吧。我买票后走进地铁站，很多外国人在给地铁拍照。地铁来了，我进去坐下后地铁开始启动，两分钟内屏幕上就显示了速度：301公里/小时。我惊呆了。8分钟后，地铁停了下来，开始广播：飞机场到了。
(2)当那个年轻的女孩告诉我的导师：“我通过考试了”，我热泪盈眶。一个月前，牛军教授告诉病人，你可以出现在高考考场上，牛军教授率领我们普外科所有人为这个患有甲状腺肿瘤的17岁女孩庆祝。她想参加考试，高考在6月7日，她5月15日住进病房。她可以选择在考试后进行手术或马上手术，她选择了马上手术。5月20日，手术完成而且非常成功，术后几天她就能够说话了。5月27日，她出院了，就在高考前10天。
(3)不到长城非好汉。读万卷书不如行万里路。读到这句话后，我计划在我的业余时间周游世界，尤其是中国。我无法忘记那28个小时的北京之旅。2011年6月22日凌晨3点，我接到一个电话：“我到了”。公司的公交车司机在酒店门口等待我和我最好的朋友米斯巴赫，我们上午五点准时在天安门广场观看升旗仪式，然后去长城。我们准备好了早上7点的票，这家公司挺好的，从酒店把我们送到天安门、长城、故宫和一个博物馆，下午又把我们送到火车站，全程只花了140元。在14小时内，我们拍了很多照片，还游玩了北京主要的历史名胜古迹。我们还遇到了西藏的僧侣。
(4)OK航空公司和昆嵛山。在中国，几乎90％的人可以说OK，YES，NO，HELLO，BYE BYE。我从来没有想过在世界上会有一家航空公司的名称叫做OK航空公司，我很惊讶，因为当我到达沈阳机场1号航站楼的时候，我发现外面没有叫这个名字的航空公司。我感觉被骗了，但我突然发现，2号航站楼有一个航空公司的名字叫OK航空公司，正如我的电子票上写的那样，我松了一口气。而飞机的尺寸更让我吃惊，那是一个28座的小飞机，哈哈。这架飞机从沈阳到大连再到烟台。昆嵛山是我生命中难忘的风景。下午我们爬了4个小时的山，日落之后已经没有公交车，最后一班车在下午四点的时候已经离开，多亏了门卫，他安排了一辆出租车。
(5)乌鲁木齐的第一天。我2006年2月12日到达乌鲁木齐国际机场，穿着衬衫和一件普通夹克走出机场，被眼前的景象惊呆了：白色的棉花球从天空缓缓飘落。我来自萨戈达，在巴基斯坦旁遮普省的一个城市，如果气温达到0摄氏度，学校将有一个专门的假期。这个城市的温度在夏季很容易达到40摄氏度，据我所知，它在一个世纪里从来没有下过雪。来到中国，遇到这样的天气令人难以置信。我马上走出机场，打开行李，拿出两件夹克穿在身上，然后去酒店睡觉。起床的时候，我突然听到外面到处是放烟花的声音，就问服务员外面发生了什么事，她用中文回答我：新年快乐，春节快乐，这是我学会了你好之后，学会的第一句中文。之后，我来到山东济南杂志社，我参加了面试，编辑问了我一个问题，阿里，你还记得对中国的第一印象是什么吗？我的答案是冷。
(6)刘教授和我在中国驻巴基斯坦卡拉奇领事馆。那是我的家乡，教育部秘书长用花束欢迎各位代表。我们住在中国驻卡拉奇领事馆，我在巴基斯坦寻找巴基斯坦的食品，但在中国驻巴基斯坦领事馆里找到的仍是中国的食品，因为这有一个中国厨师。当所有代表吃完面条回到自己的房间后，我悄悄地去了厨房，并对中国厨师说：大哥你帮我做巴基斯坦饼还有鸡肉咖喱，他打开冰箱从里面拿出一包巴基斯坦饼和咖喱鸡，我又交了一个新的中国朋友。第二天，我们去巴基斯坦创始人奎德 - E - 阿扎姆穆罕默德•阿里•真纳的陵墓。我们受到了仪仗队的欢迎，这是我生命中最美好的回忆。我在日记本写下我和教授的故事。我因为中国代表团在我的祖国获得荣誉，我会铭记终身。我的父亲将巴基斯坦的头巾作为纪念品送给了我的教授柳智宇。柳智宇教授说：中巴友谊万岁，中巴友谊长存。
(7)9月26日我的第一次发言。我一直想要做研究工作，但在巴基斯坦，对父母来说，自己的孩子成为医生或是工程师简直就是做梦。而研究没有捷径可走，我就如父母所希望的那样选择做留学生医学学士。在本科学习期间，我开始在业余时间去实验室，我和教授在上海学习，大三时在教授的帮助下发表了研究论文。那是2007年9月26日，我准备作我的第一场论文演讲，我的心砰砰地跳，紧张不已。刘教授走过来对我说：阿里，你前面还有很长的路要走，成功总是跟随着勇气。我充满信心，走上讲台开始演讲。2年后在澳大利亚悉尼，我参加了来自27个国家的青年科学家演讲者的比赛，更加自信了。我赢得了一等奖。有时候，世界各地的人们可能会想，我毕业于中国，有些人说，哦，中国制造，中国毕业的医生可能不好。但我想说的是，那是因为我的国家没有给我成为一名医生和成为最年轻的科学演说家的教育和机会。毕竟这取决于个人，如果你不想改变自己，没有人可以改变你。中国为我的未来打下了坚实的基础。在上周，我们有一个晚宴，我的朋友说，来，我们七个山东人还有一个老外干杯。我说：老师，我不是老外，我是山东人，所有人都笑了。济南是我的第二故乡，我喜欢它，我为自己是山东大学的毕业生感到自豪。
(8)中国通。大多数认识我的朋友都叫我中国通（中国专家）。我最喜欢的运动员除了Inzmam ul Haq（板球运动员）之外就是姚明和刘翔。虽然刘翔由于受伤没有赢得比赛，但他很有名，因为我们医生知道短短20分钟的跟腱断裂修复手术要花多少钱。2009年，在济南举行的全运会上我看到过他。我无法忘记我在高校校际俱乐部表演时的歌剧演出，我穿着中国传统的红色戏服唱戏，真是令人难忘的体验。在冬季，我去参观黄河附近的一个县，我看到一些农民在水稻脱粒机上工作，他们跟我合影留念；去年夏天，我和牛军教授去郑州少林寺，我们爬上山顶合影留念。这是我生命中最好的体验。山脚下，孩子们正在练功，真让人惊奇。兰州拉米亚，这是一家很有名的面馆。我们在那里吃饭并开始学习做饭。从那之后，我尝试在家里做饭，我的许多巴基斯坦同学都不会做饭。我们教中国朋友巴基斯坦的食谱，然后她开了一家巴基斯坦的中国餐厅，叫法提麦大姐餐馆，她做的咖喱角是由饺子配方经过变化做成的。而且我发现，有两个词在中国和乌尔都语里意思是一样的，大爷是指年长的叔叔，大姨是指年长的阿姨，这两个词意思和发音相同。如果没有人愿意听你唱歌，你没有必要担心，中国已经找到了一个解决方案，KTV，你可以在那里大声唱歌，开音乐派对。在中国广州有一个更重要的地方是先知穆罕默德的叔叔Sad Abi Waqas的墓地。大连和烟台的海滩，济南的红叶谷、趵突泉、大明湖，孔子、孔庙，沈阳和北京的故宫，上海的南京路，这些都是我生命难忘中的体验。我有两个最好的朋友高汇杰和梁佳，我们自称为3个白痴，我已经忍不住要笑了。
有时有人问我，你喜欢中国吗？我的回答总是一样的。我不只是喜欢中国，我爱中国。
（作者是穆罕默德·沙巴兹阿里，山东大学医学院普外科硕士研究生，获得中国政府奖学金。）
