18 | Monday, August 16, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY LIFE

Left: Fang Xingdong, founder of the Oral His- Couple relishes rural tory of Internet project, films , co-in- ventor of the TCP/IP pro- life and home comforts tocols. Below: Eight volumes of interview transcripts have been NANCHANG — When Edward by a woodcarving master. published by CITIC Gawne and Selina Liao first came Three months later, Skywells Press Group. photos to Wuyuan county, they did not kicked off operations, and more provided to china daily know that one day they would get than 90 percent of the guests were married in an old, local mansion. foreigners. Gawne and Liao are Located in East China’s Jiangxi proud that people from all over province, Wuyuan is known as one the world can learn more about of the most beautiful scenic areas the mountains, water, culture, and in China, with a forest coverage folk customs of Wuyuan and rate of 82.64 percent. It is also dot- appreciate the new look of the Chi- ted with historical sites and nese countryside. ancient buildings of the Ming and “We posted information about Qing dynasties (1368-1911) featur- the house on Facebook, and many ing the exquisite Huizhou style. of our friends said they wanted to The smell of wood, morning come to China as a group,” says dew, the sight of green fields, and Gawne. “My English friends get the sound of birds chirping were jealous of me living in rural Chi- core elements of Gawne’s child- na.” hood in southern England, but In recent years, Wuyuan intro- became distant memories after duced many measures for the moving to Shanghai, where he management of the bed and met Liao, a Jiangxi native working breakfast industry and arranged in finance. special funds to support the devel- The couple was deeply attracted opment of B&B industrial clusters. Tracking the by the beautiful scenery in Wuyu- The fast construction of rail- an when traveling there in 2015. ways and roads has also made it After their visit, Liao resolved to easier to access Wuyuan and come back and settle down in helped spread its fame far and Wuyuan, and Gawne followed wide. without hesitation. The couple’s new English-style internet pioneers “There are trees, bridges, and homestay, Victoria House, named flowing water, and the old Hui­- after their eldest daughter, has zhou-style houses are very beauti- also been put into operation. ful. It is exactly how I imagined The house is surrounded by Researcher interviews those who drove the development of the technology traditional Chinese culture would mountains and rivers where bam- that has shaped our modern world, Cheng Yuezhu reports. look,” he says. boo rafts sometimes float by. Flow- In the same year, the couple ers bloom on a neat front lawn adopted an almost derelict old while dragonflies flit about in the itnessing the constant and many pioneers told of the details mansion and decided to trans- tea garden. transformation of the in those early years,” Fang says. form it into a Chinese-English Inside the house, dining bars, internet, researcher Working on the project, he under- style family inn. It took nearly two lounges, spiral staircases, old- and internet expert stood fully that the prosperity of the years of renovation using multina- fashioned fans, and fireplaces FangW Xingdong thought it was high internet today could not have been tional designers and architects. offer visitors an authentic English time to record the changes and the achieved without these scientists’ They named their masterpiece living experience. stories of the pioneers who drove dedication and contributions, who Skywells, inspired by the signa- “Most of our guests, especially them. strived not for personal profits, but ture feature of Huizhou-style those from overseas, had never In 2007, he launched the Oral His- for a simple goal of connecting first houses. heard of Jiangxi province before. tory of Internet project. Since then, the computers, and then people and In May 2017, the couple held a However, thanks to Skywells, now he and his team members have been communities. traditional Wuyuan-style wed- more people know of Wuyuan and traveling around the world, visiting Zhong Bu, associate professor at ding at their inn. They also more about Jiangxi,” says Liao. the key figures in the development of Pennsylvania State University in the replaced a termite-infested pillar “We are so proud of that.” the internet, to film and record their US, also closely participated in the with a new one engraved with conversations. project and concurred with the uni- their love story, which was crafted XINHUA “Like a group of miners we dug out versal value of the internet. the gold from the mountains. This “None of the internet pioneers we job is almost like manual labor. We interviewed foresaw that the inter- have to travel around the world with net would have such a profound equipment, and it cannot be done impact on the world, but their dedi- without great physical strain,” Fang cation did best illustrate the spirit of says. the internet, which is that science Despite the toil, he found joy and technology should serve all working on the project, gaining local social classes,” Zhong says. support wherever he went and gath- A livestreamed seminar was host- ering great stories via face-to-face ed in Beijing on July 25 to discuss the conversations, most of which took new book series, joined online and place inside the homes of the inter- offline by around 30 internet viewees. researchers and experts from home By the end of 2019, the team com- and abroad. pleted the first phase of the project. Wei Lu, dean of Zhejiang Universi- After interviewing more than 500 ty’s College of Media and Interna- internet experts from more than 50 tional Culture, remarked that this countries and regions, the team col- series of books presents a panoramic lected and compiled around 2,000 view of the history of the internet, hours of video recordings and 10 mil- Top: US computer scientist is interviewed for the especially its early history, by salvag- lion words of transcript. Oral History of Internet project. Above: Around 30 internet experts ing a large number of firsthand This April, the first of the project’s join a livestreamed seminar in July to discuss the project. accounts, and fills a gap in the rele- findings was published by CITIC photos provided to china daily vant research field. Press Group, comprising eight vol- For the project’s next five years, umes of interview transcripts with Fang says that he wants to interview eight computer scientists who have the United States National Academy remain largely unheard-of among around 100 people each year, played crucial roles in the develop- of Engineering’s Draper Prize as the the general public — even to himself. although, due to travel restrictions, ment of the internet. founding fathers of the internet. Despite working in the internet he is doing so via video call. He also According to Fang, this set of The book set also presents com- industry for over 20 years and found- wants to publish an English version books was created in strict accord- puter scientists from other parts of ing the think tank ChinaLabs, of the books and tell the stories to the ance with academic rigor, but the the world who have also made signif- undertaking this project has world. language used is straightforward icant contributions, especially to revealed to him how limited his “Even those really small countries and comprehensible, and therefore their respective countries, including understanding of the internet really have fascinating stories about the the books are suited to all age ranges Kilnam Chon from , was. development of internet, and the including primary school students. from France, Werner “At the time, I thought I was famil- local pioneers who navigated such These interviewees are closely Zorn from Germany and Hu Qiheng iar with the internet, because I was development. There are so many involved in the invention of the inter- from China. there when it first came to China. stories to delve into, so we will keep net, such as American computer sci- Fang says that his first draft list of But the internet already had a histo- on with this project,” Fang says. entists Lawrence Roberts, Leonard interviewees included mostly inter- ry of 25 years abroad, so I didn’t Top: One of Edward Gawne and Selina Liao’s family inns in Kleinrock, Vinton Cerf and Bob net experts prestigious in the indus- know much about how it came into Contact the writer at Wuyuan county, Jiangxi province. Above: The couple plays with Kahn, all of whom were honored by try, but until this day, these names being and developed at its infancy, [email protected] their son at home in Wuyuan. photos by xing guangli / xinhua

Fikre is already planning for the future, when he will not just be part Ethiopia’s capital gets a new look thanks to Chinese help of the construction of the project, but also a visitor enjoying the fruits of his work with public events and ADDIS ABABA — Afomia Solo- The Friendship Square, a land- Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed two where in the world. ing the city which was turning into a other entertainment schedules on mon did not imagine the area of mark development within the Beau- years ago. Within eight months, the “This is very beautiful. I only saw concrete jungle. his mind. Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa sur- tifying Sheger Project, contains an first phase of the project was con- these kinds of beautiful things in “Addis Ababa was previously The hard work and collaboration rounding her office in the heart of artificial lake, a plaza that can structed and completed by CCCC,” Dubai. I didn’t expect it to be like known for not being a good-looking of the Chinese has also been noticed the city would be transformed into accommodate tens of thousands of she says. this. This one is in Addis Ababa, city, even though it is the capital city by Wang He, chairman of CCCC an “earthly paradise” in such a short people at a time, several restaurants “It’s amazing, and it shows us meaning I can come with my family of Ethiopia. We are undertaking East Africa’s labor union and head period of time. and areas for sports exercise. how a project can be accomplished and visit any time,” Nuru says. projects as the city’s name implies, of the Beautifying Sheger Project Solomon, an adviser for the The recreational avenue, which in such a short period of time with Nuru is looking forward to when we’re making it a new flower,” Fikre construction team. Chinese-aided Beautifying Sheger lies on around 30-hectares of land, this quality,” Solomon adds. the square opens a full-fledged kids’ says. “I would like to appreciate the col- Project in the Addis Ababa City was built by the Chinese construc- The Beautifying Sheger Project playground. “Friendship Square has been a big laborative efforts of the Chinese Administration, says the project tion giant, China Communications and its landmark Friendship Square Addis Ababa, whose name literal- relief to people who enjoy spending embassy in Ethiopia, Ethiopian has opened up green spaces in a Construction Co and is expected to recreational avenue has given a ly translated in Ethiopia’s official time there,” he adds. authorities and the hard work of city that was increasingly grasp- eventually accompany a palace of lease of life to many Addis Ababa working language Amharic as “new In addition to the physical mar- CCCC staff to effect the successful ing for a clean environment. science and technology, a wedding residents who want a fun, exciting flower”, has in recent years wit- vel, Fikre says he has learned from completion of the first phase of the “The main purpose of the project garden and a children’s park. venue for them and their children to nessed a rapidly declining number his Chinese colleagues the true val- project,” Wang says. is to clean the river and also to While Solomon is delighted at the enjoy. of green spaces, as open areas are ue of a hard work ethic and the “CCCC has gained recognition develop the riverside areas in the physical structures installed inside Aziza Nuru, a first-time visitor increasingly taken up for real estate results it can bring. and praise of the Ethiopian govern- city. This includes a 12-kilometer the Friendship Square, the speed of to the Friendship Square, is excit- and similar other purposes. “The Chinese have taught us ment and local people from this river treatment, and the Friendship construction by CCCC has motivat- ed to have in Addis Ababa a recrea- Dagmawi Fikre, a native of Addis through this project the importance project and built a good image of Square, a park which consists of ed her to double down on visions for tional venue that compares to Ababa and an employee of CCCC in of giving proper attention to the job our company,” he adds. many recreational facilities,” Solo- the project. those she has previously visited in the Beautifying Sheger Project, says and the importance of punctuality,” mon says. “The project was initiated by major tourist destinations else- he is glad to play a part in re-green- he says. XINHUA