The yearning for a place to call home_美文_趣味英语-查字典英语网

The yearning for a place to call home

Looking back at my own life I felt perhaps I share Steven's dilemma. I was born and grew up in Chengdu, in South West China, but after living for eight years in London I have made many local British friends and learnt to appreciate British humor. Even London's dark and gloomy rainy weather has seeped into my personality, I quite miss it on sunny days.

With a reputation as one of the world's most multicultural cities, London always makes its residents feel welcome regardless of their origin. But I also felt a little "something missing", in Steven's words.

Meanwhile Chengdu has changed beyond recognition, thanks to China's unprecedented economic growth and huge infrastructure investment in recent decades. Our flat in Chengdu, in what was once a calm residential area, now is at the heart of the city surrounded by skyscrapers and busy traffic. Crossing those eight lane roads alone makes me feel scarred in a strange way.

With tens of millions of Chinese living overseas today, the Chinese has been the largest overseas diaspora for over a decade.

"Do feel home here? Will you stay or return to China?" Those have become standard questions to initiate a conversation between Chinese people on the streets of London, Paris and New York. A lengthy conversation would flow without exception, and after sharing their fond memories of China, even strangers quickly become friends.

As China increasingly opens up to the world, more and more Chinese will travel abroad to work, study and live, but China will remain forever a home for them. And sitting in Steven's taxi, witnessing his love for Swansea, I realized the heart's yearning for a place to call home is universally shared.