I have Come Home

From June 17th to 24th, I made a tour of seven countries in Africa, covering a distance of 35,000 kilometres. At the banquet in my honor on the evening of June 21st in Cape Town, President Mbeki of South Africa said with deep affection in his speech :"My Chinese friends, you've come back home, you're back home."On June 23rd, President Museveni of Uganda and I were present at a get-together in Kampala, attended by both Ugandans and Chinese; it was then and there that I improvised a small poem, expressing my friendly feelings towards the African People.

Indeed, I have come home!

Over mountains and across the ocean

To my brothers on the African land.

Overwhelmed by flowers, flags and resounding drums,

A brotherly love deeper than the sea

Fifty years of journey sharing weal and woe

Brings Chinese and African hearts closer and ever so.

Indeed, I have come home!

Dances of greetings, songs of adieu, a moment frozen into eternity.

Short is our meeting, lasting is our fraternity,

And endless words bespeak one common wish:

Let us strive together for progress and prosperity benefiting all.

Indeed, I have come home!

The sound of wind and rain kept me awake at night,

Hardly have we enjoyed happy reunion when it's time to part.

People meet and part, just as the moon becoming full and waning soon,

Yet, to leave my African brothers grieves my heart.

The Great Wall and Lake Victoria lie far apart

But the powerful tie of sincere friendship knows no distance.