Common Talk Weeklyshuang yu zhou kan
issue date

Dr. Bill Brown
October 22, 2003

My breakfast with an Australian businesswoman this morning reinforced just how important it is for all of us to help others better understand and appreciate Xiamen, and what an important role Common Talk will play in this.

Ms. Smith [name changed] has been doing business in China for 20 years, but only during the past 3 years has she been visiting Xiamen. And she almost didn't return a second time! Alice said, "For business people, one Chinese city is the same as another. All we see is the airport, hotel, and factories." But Alice fell in love with Xiamen, thanks to a Chinese factory worker who took the time to introduce his hometown to her. "Until he took me to Gulangyu," Alice said, "I had no idea Xiamen was so beautiful, or had so much to offer. And it was sheer luck that I found your book, "Amoy Magic," in the Gulangyu bookstore."

Now she agrees-Xiamen is indeed magic! And Alice now plans to focus her business in Xiamen. She said, "Everyone goes to Guangzhou or Shanghai because it seems easier, but it is not. Sure, Guangzhou has lots of companies, but they all produce similar things, and because they are so wealthy and have so much business, they are hard to negotiate with. And I hate flying into Guangzhou, and navigating the sprawling city traffic. Xiamen is so much more pleasant-and just as profitable!"

But Alice admits, "I would probably have not returned to Xiamen a second time if it were not for that tour to Gulangyu, and finding your book."

We are all justly proud of our Garden City, but if we are to truly become an International City, we need to understand that foreign guests don't know the city like we do, and we have to work to help them appreciate what sets our city apart from others. To this end, I have just rewritten Amoy Magic (over 400 pages-double the content!), and my wife, Susan, has an English website, http://www.amoymagic.com . The city foreign affairs are also putting together an English promotional brochure so that foreigners can understand that, in fact, Chinese cities are not all alike! And how do we residents keep up with Xiamen's rapid changes? Common Talk is the key!

As Common Talk improves and expands, I hope that all of us Xiamen lovers, Laowai and Laonei alike, will work together to help the rest of the world see that Xiamen is not all common!

今天早晨，我和一位来自澳大利亚的女企业家共进早餐。这让我进一步意识到帮助他人更好地理解和欣赏厦门的重要性，而双语周刊又可以在其中扮演一个相当重要 的角色。

Smith女士已在华经商20年，然而只在过去的3年里，到过厦门。而且几乎没机会再来第二趟。爱丽斯曾说：“对商人而言，所有的中国城市都一样。触目所 见都是机场，宾馆和工厂。”然而，在一名中国工人特地花时间将自己的家乡介绍给她后，她爱上了厦门。“一直到他带我去了鼓浪屿，”Smith说，“我居然 不知道厦门是如此的美丽，拥有如此之多的美景。而且我太幸运了，居然在鼓浪屿的书店里发现了你的书《魅力厦门》。”

而今，她深表赞同，厦门确实极富魅力。她打算把生意全移到厦门。她说：“人人都会去广州或上海，因为那似乎很容易。但事实并不是这样。当然，广州有许多公 司，但他们都生产相似的产品，而且他们都非常有钱，生意太多，很难谈判。我讨厌飞广州，讨厌那儿杂乱无章的交通。而厦门是如此的怡人，并能从中受益。”

然而，Smith也承认，“如果没有那次鼓浪屿之行，我很可能就不会再来厦门，更不用说碰上你的书了。”

我们为所拥有的花园城市而自豪。但是，如果我们真的成为一个国际化大都市，我们必须知道，外宾并不像我们那样了解这座城市，我们需要尽力去帮助他们领略这 座城市与众不同的地方。为此，我重写了《魅力厦门》（超过400页，是以前的两倍），我的妻子，苏珊有一个英文网站，http: //www.amoymagic.com。厦门的涉外事务被专门写成了一本小册子，以便老外知道，中国的城市并不全是一个样。那我们这些市民如何才能跟上 厦门飞速发展的步伐？双语周刊就是开启的钥匙。

随着双语周刊的不断发展与壮大，我希望，所有热爱厦门的人，老外也好，老内也罢，能够一起努力，让世界明白厦门是与众不同的！