Love for a nation

Ruwini Jayawardana

The soft breeze, the sunshine and the smiles on the locals’ faces played upon her heartstrings when she set foot on the isle in 2005. The place did not seem foreign to her. Rather it held a sense of familiarity. She knew she belonged there because it took only an instance for it to capture her heart.

These are the emotions which ran through Youngqiu Liu’s mind as she set foot in Sri Lanka almost a decade ago. She was visiting her husband Zhanjie Chen the chief correspondence of Xinhua News Agency, Colombo, with their son Chen Jiang Xuan. Both mother and son fell in love with the Emerald isle.

Back at home she quit her job as editor for a magazine and migrated to Sri Lanka to join Xuan as a Xinhua correspondent.

“I did not know English then so I had to seek my husband’s help when I needed to correspond with the people. It was difficult at first but I was determined to learn the language. I passed the Xinhua examination. We write the stories in English and Chinese and take pictures as well as take radio footages,” Liu noted.

She had started her photographic venture with a digital camera because she had no idea how to operate a professional camera. Later she learnt and mastered the profession so well that many stopped to take a second glance at her handiwork.

She held an exhibition of her photographs at Galle Face Hotel recently. Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa was the Chief Guest at the event while Chinese Ambassador Yang Xiuping was the Guest of Honour.

The event titled Sri Lanka – My Love, is the first solo exhibition by Liu. Around 60 pictures representing profile pictures, incidents, sceneries and images taken from diverse backdrops represented the exhibition. Liu had captured and named these photographs on her visits to different parts of the island.

“I have been to almost everywhere in the country except the North. The exhibition was originally supposed to be named as ‘Sri Lanka through a lady journalist’s eyes’ however we though Sri Lanka – My Love is a more catchy title.

It expressions my feelings towards the country,” said Liu who is also the only female journalist who covers events in Sri Lanka and the Maldives for Xinhua.

She says that each image is a fragment of a memory.

“One picture titled ‘Brave boy’ was taken when a 11-year old saved four adults from drowning when their vehicle had toppled into the river. Nalanda College gave him a scholarship for his bravery,” Liu recalled.

Her first job was teaching the Chinese language at Guizhou University, Southwest China. Later she moved to Beijing to work for a magazine which is also owned by the Xinhua News Agency.

After moving to Sri Lanka the family resides in Rajagiriya. They will be moving to Greece in November as the country’s Xinhua correspondents. However she confessed that returning to Sri Lanka after retirement is at the top of her wish list.

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