Way to Modernization: My journey along China's eastern route

September 14, 2024.

The start of my 20-day journey in China.

As part of CGTN's Way to Modernization project, my team was assigned to take the eastern route, while other CGTN anchors and reporters headed to the south, northwest, northeast, and central parts of the country.

Our aim was to see the changes and progress that China has made in the last 75 years.

My first stop was Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

It was a great day.

I did a live TV hit on a cruise along the Grand Canal.  

It was beautiful.

Suzhou is known for its traditional architectural design of Jiangnan culture.

So it's famous for ancient towns, classical gardens, temples and traditional residences.

But things went south soon after that.

Late afternoon the same day, we began to receive weather advisories, warning of a typhoon.

I had never experienced a typhoon before.

I was so impressed by my team's resilience.

They showed courage in the face of adversity.

As fast as it came, the typhoon left the next day.

Still in Suzhou, I visited Yangcheng Lake.

The city is known as the "land of fish and rice."

Basically, it refers to the rich, fertile land there.

And Yangcheng Lake is famous for the harvesting of hairy crabs.

The cooking techniques are one of Suzhou's intangible cultural heritage.

The crabs are so popular among tourists.

I could see how agriculture was boosting the tourism industry in Jiangsu Province.

I was told the agritourism industry generated over 100 billion yuan in 2023, up over 18 percent year-on-year.

I continued my journey to Zhejiang Province.

In Deqing County, I saw how Wusi Village,

at the foot of Moganshan, was transformed under China's rural revitalization program.

I have been to a few rural areas during my time here in China.

But Wusi Village blew my mind.

It's the first in Zhejiang Province to build a digital platform for rural governance.

With big data, Wusi monitors real-time changes in rural production, living conditions, and the environment.

It also places great importance on ecological protection.

I wanted to find out more about China's role in environmental sustainability.

Anji County was my answer.

It's the birthplace of the "Two Mountains" theory.

So there is a lot of importance on green and low-carbon development.

One of its initiatives is to promote bamboo as a substitute for plastics.

It is no surprise that young people were leaving the big cities and coming back home to Deqing County.

I arrived at my last stop – Shanghai,

China's hub of humanoid robotics.

I visited Zhangjiang AI Robot Valley in the Pudong New Area.

A number of leading robotics companies are based here.

China is trying to empower its traditional and emerging industries with new quality productive forces.

One of them is artificial intelligence.

Though the robots were in their early stages, I could see great potential in them, especially the rehabilitation robots.

I couldn't leave Shanghai without looking at how it has become a successful example of China's policy of reform and opening up.

I visited Hongqiao International Coffee Port.

With more and more foreigners living in Shanghai, local residents have adopted the western coffee culture.

Imagine—this is a country known for its tea culture.

Today, Shanghai has become the most important Chinese city for investment and financing in the coffee industry.

It was an enlightening trip for me.

I couldn't have seen all the tremendous changes in China without my team.

I was humbled by their dedication to the project.

A big thank you to all of them!

As China celebrates its 75th anniversary,

I'm glad I took the eastern route, and witness the country's journey to modernization.