The Delegation from Harbin Pays A Visit To Latvia
On August 3, 2023, with the coordination of the Chinese Embassy in Latvia and the Confucius Institute at the University of Latvia, the Harbin delegation visited Latvia and held an interview at China Cultural Center in Riga.
Consul Zhao Peiyao and former secretary Edvins Gajevskis from Chinese embassy in Latvia, director Shang Quanyu from Confucius Institute at University of Latvia, director Wang Nan, consultant Han Zhuang, secretary Yao Yizhou and Zhao Guodong, interpreter Xie Dong from China Cultural Center in Riga, director Wang Yining and Kong Tianyuan from Harbin Foreign Affairs Office, reporter and film crew members from Harbin Radio and Television Station, Lu Yan and Bao Yongliang from MGI Tech Co., Ltd, four senior Latvians born in Harbin and headed by Natalia Laletina and several descendants, etc. attened the event.
Harbin Radio and Television Station’s “Urban Zero Distance” program group conducted in-depth interviews with elderly people who were born in Harbin in 1931, 1933, 1949 and 1952 and currently live in Latvia.They recalled their teenage years spent in Harbin, Dalian, Shanghai and other places, and all of them were filled with emotion and tears.The parents and grandparents of these senior Latvians came to Northeast China when Tsarist Russia built the China East Railway in the early 20th century. They were born in Northeast China, who experienced and witnessed modern Chinese history. However, in 1954-1955, Sino-Soviet relations began to crack and they were forced to leave China.
The 92-year-old Natalia couldn’t help singing the songs she learned back then: “A beautiful girl is eighteen or nineteen years old, and a young man is just in his early twenties”; “Without the Communist Party, there would be no new China.” The 90-year-old Karina was born in Harbin. She followed her parents to Shanghai in 1951 and taught at the Shanghai Russian Language College. She brought the photo albums given to her by the students when she left China that year. The past is vivid in her memory. The man born in 1949 said that he is in the the same age as New China, and his grandfather participated in the Russo-Japanese War. The man born in 1952 said that his grandfather was a Chinese and a member of the Communist Party, his grandmother was Russian; his father had an Asian face, and he himself is completely white.These seniors are full of deep affection for China, especially for Harbin. They confess from the bottom of their hearts in Russian and Latvian to the camera: We love Harbin because we are Harbin people!
Finally, Director Shang Quanyu, Director Wang Yining and Natalia discussed the translation, publication and copyright of the book “Those Who Lived in Harbin”. The book will be translated into Chinese by Associate Professor Wang Jun, head of the Russian Department of South China Normal University, and the Harbin Foreign Affairs Office will contact the Harbin publishing house to confirm the publication.We have enough reasons to believe that the publication of this book will undoubtedly be a precious treasure dedicated to the field of modern Chinese history research!
2023年8月3日，在中国驻拉脱维亚大使馆和拉脱维亚大学孔子学院牵线协调下，哈尔滨代表团访问拉脱维亚，并在里加中国文化中心举行采访活动。出席活动的有中国驻拉脱维亚大使馆领事赵沛瑶和前经商处秘书艾晓奇，拉脱维亚大学孔子学院中方院长尚劝余，里加中国文化中心主任王楠、顾问韩庄、秘书姚一舟和赵国栋、翻译谢东，哈尔滨外事办主任王一宁和孔天元，哈尔滨广播电视台记者和摄制组成员，华大智造公司路岩和鲍永亮，娜达莉娅领衔的4位出生在哈尔滨的拉脱维亚老人以及几位后人。
哈尔滨广播电视台《都市零距离》栏目组对1931年、1933年、1949年、1952年出生在哈尔滨、目前居住在拉脱维亚的老人进行了深入采访。老人们畅谈了在哈尔滨、大连和上海等地度过的青少年时光，无不感慨万千，眼睛湿润。这些老人的祖辈父辈都是20世纪初沙皇俄国修建中东铁路时来到了中国东北，他们本人出生在东北，是中国近代史的亲历者和见证者。然而，1954-1955年，中苏关系开始出现裂痕，他们被迫离开中国。
92岁的娜达莉娅情不自禁地唱起了当年学会的歌曲：“漂亮的姑娘十八九，小伙子二十刚出头”；“没有共产党，就没有新中国”。90岁的卡琳娜出生在哈尔滨，1951年跟随父母到了上海，在上海俄文专科学校任教，她带来了当年离开中国时学生们送给她的影集，也带来了当年的公费医疗证等，往事历历在目。出生在1949年的老人说，他与新中国同龄，他爷爷参加过日俄战争。出生在1952年的老人说，他爷爷是中国人、共产党员，他奶奶是俄罗斯人，他爸爸一副亚洲面孔，他本人则是十足的白人面孔。这些老人对中国特别是哈尔滨充满了深厚感情，对着镜头用俄语和拉语，发自内心地独白：我们爱哈尔滨，因为我们是哈尔滨人！
最后，尚劝余院长、王一宁主任与娜塔莉亚讨论了《那些曾经在哈尔滨生活过的人》一书的翻译、出版和版权问题。本书将由华南师范大学俄语系主任汪隽副教授翻译成中文，由哈尔滨外事办与哈尔滨的出版社联系，确认出版事宜。我们有理由相信，本书的出版无疑会是献给中国近代史研究领域的一份珍贵的宝藏！
