Khemvieng Pholsena (2nd R), daughter of former Lao Foreign Minister Quinim Pholsena, speaks in an interview with Xinhua together with her brothers Sommano (1st L) and Sommad (2nd L) in Vientiane, Laos, June 22, 2019. Recalling their childhood experiences of living and studying in China in a recent interview with Xinhua, Khemvieng Pholsena and her two brothers were filled with complex emotions, and expressed their surprise and gladness over China's great changes. (Photo by Xiong Tianze/Xinhua)
by Zhang Jianhua, Wang Shan
VIENTIANE, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Recalling their childhood experiences of living and studying in China in a recent interview with Xinhua, Khemvieng Pholsena and his two brothers were filled with complex emotions, and expressed their surprise and gladness over China's great changes.
Khemvieng is the fourth daughter of former Lao Foreign Minister Quinim Pholsena. In the 1960s, Khemvieng lived and studied in Beijing with her sisters and brothers.
In 1989, she visited China with a delegation of Lao Women's Union and was very excited to return to Beijing after living there for years. She was the first family member to be back.
"I just kept looking around. It has changed a lot compared to the 1960s. The streets were much wider and high-rise buildings were sprouting," she said.
Sommano, the second son of the late Lao foreign minister, remembers that on his way to school in China's capital in the 1960s, he often saw rows of coal balls along the roadside. At that time, there was no honeycomb coal. People in Beijing all burned coal balls, while now most Beijing citizens use pipeline gas.
"At that time, I found that the color of the Chinese people's clothes was simply the same -- blue," said Sommad, the third son and now Laos' minister of natural resources and environment.
"In recent years, we have been visiting China. Whether in Changsha, Nanchang or Xi'an, there are many tall buildings," Sammano said. "People are living well, wearing in fashion and travelling with convenience. Especially, in China, the high-speed rail is very advanced."
After leaving China, the Pholsena family travelled a lot to other countries for study and work. They still care about China, trying to know China's news via various channels and learning the process of China's reform and opening up. Sometimes, they also go to China to visit their classmates and friends.
"We go to some Chinese friends' homes, just to find that their life has become really good now!" Sommad said.
He joked that in the past, old clothes were worn out, and then patched, but now the Chinese people may deliberately wear clothes with patches for fashion; in the past, the coarse corn bread was hard to eat, but now, the better-off Chinese people are looking for the whole grain for health.
"I think all of those are changes in China," said the Lao minister.
