A couple days ago... finally had a chance to sit down and listen to 六四事件 from the perspective of a born, raised and bred Beijingness. Few months ago, was able to speak to Ah So. But she was in elementary school. They must've blocked her off from a lot of news - for better or worse.
This time... I got to hear it from a 70 year old man, who was in the prime of his life when it happened. While I don't agree with some of the stuff he said... he was spot on when he asked, "You, Americans, what's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of 六四?" The image of the boy and the tank.
Is that what 六四 is really about??
My one biggest regret.... I can only understand about 50% of what he was saying. Not only is my Mandarin bad, my Beijingness is worse. What was impressive... Joyce understood about 80% of what he was saying!! WOW!!!
30 years ago.... 30 years later.... is there any difference?
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