Uwe Kräuter's half-century Chinese odyssey

Editor's note: As 2024 draws to a close, looking back at this year, more countries have been included in China's visa-free list. Openness and inclusiveness have increasingly become the underlying tone of China's foreign policy. Back in 1974, when there were few foreigners in the Chinese mainland, Uwe Kräuter, often called the "Marco Polo of our times," came to work in Beijing. What was meant to be a two-year stay became five decades this year. To celebrate the milestone, in this exclusive interview with CGTN, Kräuter looks back on his half-century in China, which saw China's transformation into the world's second largest economy. The interview reflects Kräuter's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Uwe Kräuter's grandfather was a sailor who had been to China. He told me stories about China and I loved them, Kräuter said, explaining how he became curious about China in his childhood.

An opportunity to go to China himself came when he was majoring in sociology at Heidelberg University. His friends, a Swiss couple who were working in Beijing for the Foreign Languages Press, told him their two-year contract with the organization was about to end and asked if he'd like to fill the vacancy. "The publishing house contacted me, and I agreed," Kräuter said.

"Life [in China] was so different to the life in my place… as a foreigner. But I want to say here: From the beginning in all these 50 years, there was never any Chinese in the streets who disliked that there is a foreigner."

In the 1980s, Uwe Kräuter played a key role in organizing the first overseas tour of China's classic drama Teahouse, introducing it to European audiences. "People asked me to become the simultaneous translator for all the around 60 roles. We went in Germany to 12 or 14 cities, and afterwards to Switzerland and to France. It was a huge success. When we came back to China, we were heroes." Kräuter added.

While working in translation and cultural exchange in China, Kräuter married Shen Danping, a well-known Chinese actress in 1984, when cross-border marriages were rare in the Chinese mainland. "I got to know her at the end of 1983. I was dancing with her, and we had our jokes, and we met again, but it was all in secrecy at the time. My contract was going to end, and I said we have to decide if we want to continue being together; then we have to be brave enough to say that we want to marry. That for her, first, was a shock. But within some hours, she accepted."

Uwe Kräuter played an important role in the cultural exchanges between Germany and China, building a bridge of friendship between the people of the two countries. "China's history and cultural heritage are the base of the Chinese people, the strengths of the Chinese people and the pride of the Chinese people," he said.

Living in China for half a century, Uwe Kräuter has witnessed the great changes in this country. "When I came here, we foreigners looked at everything in the streets and where we went, and we were astonished because it was different from our countries," but the contact with the foreign world has changed. "Life is modernized, not only in terms of what they were wearing, but they got more and more used to the presence of foreigners and to talk with foreigners. We are getting more and more near to each other. I do hope this will continue strongly."

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