A simple flower made headlines in the British press last week. How could that be? British Prime Minister David Cameron and his ministers were attending a reception hosted by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. They insisted on wearing poppies (罂粟花) in their buttonholes. What's wrong with that? According to the Global Times, Chinese officials apparently had asked the UK delegation not to wear poppies. The British said that their poppies meant a great deal to them and they would wear them all the time. So what's the significance of the poppy? It's a flower which has different cultural and symbolic meanings for British and Chinese people. From the Chinese point of view, the poppy is a symbol of China's humiliation (dishonor) at the hands of European powers in the Opium Wars of the 19th century. Britain forced China to open its borders to trade-including in the narcotic opium (a drug that affects your mind in a harmful way)-which was made from poppies grown in India. Yet from the British viewpoint the poppy is a reminder of the killing during World War I. Blood-red poppies grew on the battlefields of Flanders in Belgium where many thousands of British, Belgian and French soldiers died or were buried.Since then, Poppy Day or Remembrance Day (November 11) has become a time in the UK to remember the sacrifices of British soldiers and civilians in times of war. So you can see that the poppy set off strong feelings in the hearts of Chinese and British people for different reasons. And it makes sense for us to try to understand each other's standpoint. Of course cultural differences can also be interesting and funny. And what one nation or nation's leader thinks is an acceptable gift may be viewed very differently by their guest from overseas. US President Barack Obama famously gave a gift of an iPod to Britain's queen-a dull person with no interest in music. Obama also presented Gordon Brown(when Brown was British prime minister) with a fine selection of American movies. But they were in US format and impossible to play on British DVD players. Many countries have diplomats stationed overseas. Diplomats provide information and advice to their governments back home. However, sometimes it would seem that even diplomats can overlook the cultural significance of a small flower. |