Written by: People's Daily and Xinhua
Posted on: August 15, 2018 | 
| 中文
Mark Levine singing songs
In the afternoon, a song is heard from a residential bloc of China Central Minzu University, Beijing. The song, accompanied by melodious guitar and with typical American country music tunes, is about how Chinese farmers praise Chinese Communist Party. Surprisingly, the singer sings the song with a very strong American accent.
The singer is an old American man, Mark Levine. Different from other American seniors, he has three interesting identities: a singer who sings Chinese rural songs in the style of American country music, a writer who displays his love for China in his book, and an English professor loved by the students of Central Minzu University, Beijing, China.
Mark likes to wear traditional Chinese dresses, and is always seen wearing a red hat, which has his Chinese name embroidered on it, "??·??". His appearance, silver beard and bright smile, is very much like that of Santa Claus.
He lives in a small apartment house, decorated in a very Chinese way, with many Chinese articles, such as Chinese calligraphy, paintings, Peking Opera masks and Chinese zither. On his desk, there is a typical Chinese-photo frame, with a stage photo of Mark, who participated in a variety show of CCTV in September, 2009.
In fact, “singer” is Mark’s favorite identity among those titles, since he learnt to play the guitar at age 9, and he has loved to play and sing American country music for 60 years. Mark often played and sang the songs of other people when he was in the United States, but he did not write his own because of “lack of inspiration.” After moving to China in 2005, he has become fond of a variety of Chinese delicacies from around the country, the lively Spring Festival atmosphere in rural areas, and the traditional Chinese music and folk songs taught by local farmers. All this has deeply impressed him and inadvertently opened a new way for Mark and his musical creations. This has also led to Mark Levine’s new productions: a number of musical works.
In 2018, it was the third time that Mark went to Hubei with his Chinese friend, Fu Bin, to spend Chinese Spring Festival in Fu’s hometown. Mark has unforgettable and sweet memories of spending each Spring Festival there. The experiences in rural China inspired Mark in his musical creation. During this visit, without any hesitation, Mark, sitting at the edge of “kang” (a traditional bed in the rural areas of North China), played his guitar and sang his new song “Welcome New Year." The words of the song are, “Terrace layer upon layer in front of house, stretches of trees growing behind house, freezing winter outside the house, yet, warmth and tenderness inside the house, we are family, welcome, and, Happy New Year.”
Mark has three favorite books, which are always placed on his bookshelf. One is the English version of “Quotations from Chairman Mao,” the second is Snow’s “Red Star over China,” and the third one is “1977 Special Issue of People’s Pictorial in Commemoration of Zhou Enlai.” These were the books that Mark brought with him when he decided to come to China. At that time, he was a sociologist who had just obtained his PhD degree from an American university. When Mark Levine came to China in 2005, Huai’an of Jiangsu Province was his first stop. The reason was very simple: Huai’an was the hometown of late Premier Zhou Enlai.
Longing for "Red China" helped Mark to realize his dream, and the five-thousand years’ civilization and culture of China, are more attractive for Mark. In his mind, he spent his best time in the country understanding Chinese culture and he has “accumulated a wealth of experiences,” in his life.
In order to introduce China to foreigners and help them better understand the country, Mark wrote a book, which tells his personal experiences in China and what he saw in the country. In 2015, his first book "Stories from My Chinese Journey” was published, in which he reported his interesting experiences in China. For example, how he obtained a Chinese driving license, without being able to speak a word of Chinese language, how he was treated as a most honored guest at a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony, how he enjoyed varieties of odd Chinese foods, and how he happened to become a “temporary movie actor” etc. Mark's book got very good reviews and many readers wrote that “they are deeply attracted to China, as described in the book.” Tamara, a U.S. reader, wrote in her letter to him, saying, “What you wrote about China in the book is really an ‘eye-opener’ for me. I must go visit China if there is a chance.”
In 2007, Mark decided to teach for China Central Minzu University in Beijing. Since in the University there are students from different ethnic groups of China, he hoped they can help him learn about and understand multi-cultural China.
"In the past few years, my students and I have become good friends and we learn from each other in my teaching," said Mark proudly. He told the reporter that when he was travelling to different places of China, his local ethnic students always welcomed him, and volunteered to be his tour guides. They introduced him to the local history, customs and habits.
In 2014, nominated by his work unit Central Minzu University, he was awarded the Chinese Friendship Award, by the Chinese Government, for his commitment to China's university education, as well as to the China-U.S. exchanges.
It is the 13th year since Mark Levine has been living in China. He is a typical “Pekingnese” now, riding across the streets and Hutongs, using Alipay, playing the diabolo with senior Beijing people in Zizhu Park, and singing songs with his guitar. This old American man has already become a part of the daily life of Chinese people, and through his personal experiences, he is learning about the rapid changes and development in the country.
When Mark Levine got the new version of China's "green card" recently, he was very excited for an entire week. The green card was launched in this June by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).
Translated by Helime
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