Lev Lafayette's journal

The 2026 China International Friendship Cities Conference was held at the Xi'an International Convention Center, an extensive conference site, luxury hotel, and function centre surrounded by beautiful parks, forestry, and lakes. With over a thousand international visitors, a wall displayed the names of various politicians and public figures, both local and international, a handful of whom addressed the opening-night welcoming dinner. After the dinner, we were taken to Xi'an's famous ancient city walls for an elaborate and operatic Tang Dynasty Grand Welcoming Ceremony, which highlighted through dance and song the splendour that was a short golden age of China when said dynasty, based in Xi'an (Chang'an), ruled a vibrant, open, multicultural, artistic and trading capital.

The second day was the conference proper, a single day of proceedings with both initial high-level presentations by local and international leadership, before separating into three separate streams. The stream my own presentation, "Ties that Bind: Meaningful Sister City Relationships Between
Australia and China", had a decidedly environmental focus, so I made some slight changes to the presentation that was almost exclusively researched with great competence by co-conspirator Nitul D. I was particularly taken by the speeches by local representatives on how they have combatted desertification, how they've established environmental relationships with Pacific Island nations with actual products, and a truly impressive success in reducing pollution and emissions in Xi'an city itself. My own presentation, about how Sister Cities sometimes don't work and what to do about it, was well received and sparked follow-up discussion. At the end of the conference, attendees were invited to a Youth Concert featuring the Xi'an Youth Symphony Orchestra, Xi'an Fanyi University, the Orchestra of Xi'an Tie Yi High School, and international visitors from the German Oldenburg Municipal Music School and Indonesia's State Surakarta High School. It was quite a good program mixing international and local compositions.

In a previous brief visit to Xi'an I had the opportunity to visit the glorious Bell and Drum Tower along with the extensive Muslim Quarter and great mosque. A notable absence was the world-famous Terracotta Army, the collection and restoration of the thousands of figures (warriors, horses, chariots) is impressive enough and certainly the mausoleum deserves the UNESCO World Heritage Site status. Just prior to the flight to the second part of this visit, we did get a somewhat rushed visit, which detracted a little from the grandeur, and not helped by the excessive crowds. The attraction is one of the most visited in the country, and the recommendation to visit in low season (December, January) was well-received. With some rather important contacts following the conference, I suspect I might be back in this part of the world sooner rather than later.

With the conclusion of the formal ACFS trip, our party of thirteen ventured in their own directions from Chengdu. For me, it was an early morning trip to Wuxi, which I'll do by train in the future. Wuxi is a city I have been to four times now, and I chose a modest local hotel where people spoke less English than I speak Chinese, and that's saying something. I was a 30-minute walk to the Tai Lake (the more common anglophone name, "Taihu Lake", translates as "Great Lake Lake"). The designated scenic and ecological area is quite beautiful and large enough to spend several days exploring. By chance, I had arrived for a weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival (not just a Japanese thing), and the parklands were alive with visitors and entertainment. The real purpose of my visit to this city, however, came on the Monday when I was given the opportunity to visit the National Supercomputing Centre and the Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer, which held the world's no 1 position for an unprecedented two years in succession. This was a bit of a personal dream come true for me and, as a result, I have written a few notes about it on my main website along with some earlier comments about the Guizhou data centre and radio telescope.

From Wuxi, I took a high-speed train to Shanghai, which peaked at 298km/h. Arriving at Shanghai, I had a leisurely morning with Melbourne people, Nadia and Michael, visiting the Buddhist Jing'an Temple before going our separate ways. I moved into my small (one room) refurbished apartment in a block inhabited since the 1920s, inhabited almost exclusively by older locals. The following day I met with the local Friendship Association who took me on a tour of the Shanghai library, a gleaming seven-story building that is mostly library, part museum, and part community centre. The building is so designed that it appears to float over water and overlooks extensive parkland. After that, I was taken on a visit to the Shanghai Art and Design Academy (SADA), which included various media workshops and a museum-like showcase of the best examples from former students. That evening, I went on a lengthy walk along The Bund with its famous colonial buildings (the imperialists left something worthwhile), and then spent much of the following day at the extensive History Museum, before heading to the airport for the overnight flight back to Australia.

Thus ends my fifth trip to China in the last 2.5 years. If one has the means, I certainly recommend a visit to culture, history, and the environment. At each visit, I become increasingly confident in my own capacity to get around independently, and I am absolutely delighted at how organised and efficient the Chinese intercity fast-train system is, but also their various intracity metro systems that are all clean, quiet, safe, frequent, extensive, and inexpensive, making them absolutely the preferred way to travel. In the long run, I hope to arrange a cultural exchange between the Shanghai Municipality and Victoria based on UNESCO-level cultural cities, as well as an operatic exchange between Sichuan and Victoria. However, it's early days on both of these projects. In the meantime, it's time for a brief repose from international journeys.

I have just spent the past four days in Guizhou, a south-western inland district of China. The physical geography is nothing short of stunning, with most of the area covered in lush woodlands over karst hills and mountains, which, even in spring, are often shrouded with cool mists underneath grey skies. It is among some of the most beautiful landscapes I have seen, and I have been fortunate enough in life to see a great deal. One such area includes the Huangguoshu Scenic Area with its numerous waterfalls; the main one (at 100m wide and 78m high) includes a cave system behind the waterfall. This is also the location where, according to legend, the classic story "Journey to the West" begins, and the site has many monuments to this tale. I thoroughly enjoyed teaching our local guide the opening verse and chorus to the BBC series "Monkey Magic". What little flat land exists in valleys is home to packed population centres and intensive farming. As always, the physical geography has a profound influence on social geography, with Guizhou being home to numerous ethnic minority groups, such as the Buyi, Miao, Dong and Yao, whose language and culture are not just recognised but celebrated and are prevalent in locations such as the Qingyan Ancient Town.

In more recent years, Guizhou has become home to some truly remarkable projects, which I also had the opportunity to visit. This includes the world's longest and highest bridge at Huajiang Canyon, which was completed last year. Over 2km in length and a deck height of 625m, the bridge has a walkway underneath with a magnificent view, including a bungy jump, albeit at the eye-watering price of 3000RMB. Another project of note is FAST, the Five-Hundred-Metre Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world's largest and most sensitive single-aperture spherical radio telescope and includes a well-designed Astronomical Experience Museum, which includes a theatre, planetarium, and a special exhibit on black holes. It also includes a bungy jump, which at 80RMB was incredibly affordable, but alas was closed because it wasn't holiday season - stymied again! FAST is in a radio-quiet zone, which means no digital cameras, mobile phones, or even gate buzzers. The surrounding Tianyan Scenic Area more than makes up for this minor inconvenience, and one could easily spend at least a week here. Finally, Guizhou is also home to the first National Big Data Pilot Zone, which makes a great deal of sense given some of the scientific projects that are occurring nearby.

Although often overlooked by foreign tourists, in many ways, Guizhou represents a remarkable combination and harmonious balance between ancient and modern China. This is a place which, whilst clearly self-sufficient due to soil and rainfall, was less developed than the populous big trading regions of the east and southern coast. It is certainly a place that could cultivate a slower-paced and peaceful life, and unsurprisingly features heavily in classical Chinese artwork as well as being a home for the contemplative and ecologically-minded. New constructions, such as the projects just mentioned, and the extensive fast train networks with their tunnels and bridges abound, have all been introduced gently and alongside the natural environment. Although my stay was fairly short and I did not nearly visit all the remarkable sites, I feel quite confident in recommending Guizhou as a place that is well worth a visit, and I hope to do so again one day soon.

I don't think many Australians fully understand the importance of China to the ongoing economic development of both countries. Many might be aware that China is Australia's biggest trading partner, both in terms of imports and exports. As far back as 2019-2020, according to the ABS, 27% of all imports came from China and 39% of all exports went to China, and this has been increasing every year. Iron ore, coal, and education are notable exports, but following the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA), agricultural produce and pharmaceuticals have also become popular. Imports have mainly consisted of telecommunications equipment and household appliances. Whilst imports themselves are likely to flatten (households can only have so many appliances, a person can only have so many mobile phones and computers), China's dedication to transforming their economy means that "green steel" is on the agenda, produced by hydrogen rather than coal furnaces, and produced here in Australia - but only if we develop the renewable energy to power such facilities. Our economic future is closely tied to China's, and there is really no alternative.

I have emphasised this point in my president's report in the October newsletter of the Australia-China Friendship Society - along with writing reviews of two recent and impressive Chinese films: "Caught by the Tides" (2024) and "Resurrection" (2025). The former I saw in Darwin a few months ago, and it weaves a long-spanning and troubled romantic story with over twenty years of footage, making it part fiction, part historical footage. The latter I saw recently at The Astor as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival, and combines several short period films with a time-travelling science fiction thread whilst referencing several other films in content and style. Further, in my role, I have recently had the opportunity to discuss matters with a number of delegations from China.

A little over a week ago, I hosted an arts and culture delegation from the Chaoyang district of Beijing and took them to the National Gallery at Federation Square to give a tour and explanation of the development of Australian art. They are very keen on following up with an exchange programme. Then, a few days ago, representatives of the Jiangsu Friendship Association and I, on behalf of the ACFS, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with great fanfare at the Chinese Museum, as a photo exhibition on Chinese modernisation in Jiangsu was being launched by the Jiangsu Federation of Literary and Art Circles and Creative Victoria. Last night, I enjoyed the company of the Quanzhou Trade Delegation at a wonderful dinner hosted by the Fujian Association of Victoria, and I gave a brief speech on behalf of the ACFS.

It's one thing to be cordial in a transactional business relationship. But, as I said in my speech last night, relations between people are more important than relations in business, and friendship is more important than contracts. Friendship with China means that both parties will engage in respect, understanding, and accepting differences. It means being honest, open, and inviting. The bellicose attitude of some Australians, including Australian politicians, towards China and the Chinese demeans our national character and, really, is quite embarrassing. Fortunately, through its seventy-five-year history, the Australia-China Friendship Society has stood for building relationships, building partnerships, and building friendships. We have our Annual General Meeting at the end of this month, 1-3 pm. Sunday 30 November 2025. Maybe some of you with a similar mind should come along.

The past several days, courtesy of my great book giveaway, I've had several bookish visitors gracing my abode. The sort of person who is interested in my academic books tends to be a person with a vibrant curiosity, so it has inevitably led to long and fertile discussions across the arts, the sciences, and the laws (to use the contemporary trivium). This has included Elliot B., Marc C., Liza D., Kate R., and, as interstate visitors, Dylan G., and Adrian S. It's been several years since I last saw Dylan, a former co-worker from VPAC days, so that was an excellent evening. Inverting the style, I visited Brendan E.'s new abode in Northcote, where he gifted me a first print copy of Wired magazine, which now, appropriately, sits next to my Mondo2000 User's Guide; cyberpunk forever. I have further updated my free book giveaway, this time with a small mountain of texts in computer science.

Other interstate visitors cam the week previous in the form of Lara D., and Adam B., from the Territory, and we had a glorious time at the French Impressionists at the NGV, after joining Anton W with a visit to the State Library where there is an excellent and highly recomended Misinformation exhibit. Of course, the works of the famous artists were at the NGV; Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cézanne, et al, but the one which really caught my attention was Fantin-Latour, whose simple subject matter made his skill in texture all the more clear. A few days later I would visit the NGV at Federation Square with Liana F., which always has excellent indigenous artworks, and the evening previous Liza D and I ventured to the Northcote Social Club (fine venue) to see Guy Blackman from Chapter records perform for his first album in "quite a while". His lyrical talent is really quite special, and his stage presence curiously enticing, and the self-deprecating humour pleasing. Certainly, this will be worthy of a Rocknerd review.

Going further back, I was thoroughly charmed to attend Nitul D's family gathering for Ganesh Chaturthi Puja, and a few days later, I would join him again, attending the 2025 Hugh Anderson Lecture by Marilyn Lake "Rapprochement with China" at the Royal Historical Society. Dr Lake was able to give some impressive history, a great deal of regional context and, of course, had a few words to say about AUKUS. It was the first time I'd been in the RHS building, a late-deco establishment and once a military hospital. Another one of Melbourne's hidden gems. On similar subjects, I must mention Dr Wesa C's birthday gathering last week at Vault Bar, a delightful little place and, as the name suggests, a former bank vault. It should be mentioned that Wesa is a bit of a hidden gem herself, and I had no prior knowledge of her singing talent!

The second part of my visit to Nanjing was now more formally part of the Jiangsu People-to-People Conference. Whilst other conference attendees made their way to the truly impressive Nanjing City Wall and Zhonghua Gate I went to Zhongshan Mountain Park instead, as I visited the Wall the night before on my back to the hotel from the Confucian temple and academy area of Fuzi Miao. The evening visit was helped by meeting two young mechanical engineering students from Yunnan province, extra-memorable as we almost managed to get ourselves stuck on the wall's confines as we travelled so far engaging in excellent conversation on China, Australia, and scholarship.

The practical upshot was that I had a morning spare, and the visit to the Zhongshan Mountain Park was glorious in its beauty. There are several notable attractions at the Park, all of which are deserving a visit, but I had a particular priority to pay homage and go to the Mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, "father of modern China", first president of the Republic. Sun Yat-Sen was a practical revolutionary and a highly nuanced political, economic, and national theorist whose views, drawing on liberalism, socialism, and anarchism, have certainly been extremely influential on my own. The grounds of the Mausoleum, buried according to his wishes, provides an astounding view of Nanjing.

After our hosts provided a banquet lunch (which would be followed by a banquet dinner, and then another banquet dinner the following day), I rejoined the international guests for a visit to the Grand Baoen Museum Buddhist Temple. The museum part included a good number of relics and in situ archaeological digs, along with some delightful modern artworks. The reconstructed pagoda temple is an attraction in its own right, but it is difficult to capture the original porcelain beauty that captured the imagination of so many visitors; alas, it was destroyed in the Taiping Revolution.

The following day was a more formal part of the conference. Moderated by the vice-governor of Jiangsu Province, Fang Wei, an excellent opening speech was given by the governor, Xu Kunlin, and was followed by a variety of former politicians and ambassadors from around the world, because that's the sort of people I sometimes run with. There were over 40 countries represented by some 145 attendees, with 17 international speakers, including yours truly. I spoke about the history of the Australia-China Friendship Society, our work in building cultural ties and understanding, and the formal relationship that the state of Victoria has with Jiangsu Province. It was particularly notable that some speakers made a point of China's commitment to "green technology"; despite being the world's biggest manufacturer, and producer of greenhouse gases, China already has falling GHG emissions, along with massive implementation of renewable technologies, forestration, and electric vehicles. We could certainly learn from them.

I find myself in Melbourne for a mere several days between concluding my recent holiday to China and returning to said country for a conference, and intresting enough, a new city for me to visit (Nanjing) albeit one relatively close to the several just visited (Beijing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Hangzhou, and Shanghai). The purpose of this upcoming visit is an international conference for the 70th anniversary of Jiangsu (Province) Friendship Associations and I'll be there in an official capacity and, so I've been told, I'm expected to give a brief speech on behalf of the small Australian delegation. Between work demands, and a furious effort to get in some substantial progress on my Euclid University doctoral studies, I've even managed to get a hint of a social life with a couple of enjoyable dinners with friends and a couple of gaming sessions (along with moving of the substantial RPG Review Cooperative library to my premises).

I'm also going to take this opportunity to express my valedictions to the recent passing of activist and author Tracy Sorensen. We knew each other quite well in the mid to late 1980s in Western Australia when we were both involved in the youth wing of what would be the Democratic Socialist Party. Fellow-comrade at the time, Neville Spencer has written a very good summary of Tracy's life for "Green Left Weekly" and, the day before she died, a rather heartfelt account of meeting her partner was published in "The Guardian". Although Tracy and I had not really been in contact for literally decades, I do have very fond memories of her excellent humour, steadfast commitment to justice and environmentalism, and her excellent organisational ability. The universe has been a bit unjust in taking her early, yet with her whimsical sense, she even managed to write about her illness from her organ's point-of-view. So fare well, old comrade and friend. It truly was a honour to know you.

Last Saturday was my last day in Melbourne for the next two weeks, and it witnessed four significant events. The first was the Isocracy Annual General Meeting discussing the rather extraordinary results of the Federal election. Our guest speaker, John Bade, is a former Liberal Party member of some note (branch president, state council delegate etc) and spoke on how the party really has been taken over by extreme religious activists who think the rest of Australia must move to them, a major factor in that party's decline. Afterwards, I went to the Effective Altruism conference, which concluded with a public lecture by famous ethicist Peter Singer. I spent a bit of time in the company with Adam Ford, who was the official photographer for the event, and then conversed a bit with Prof Singer about his earlier publications and rats (he's a rat fancier himself and speaks highly of them as animal companions). To conclude the evening I went to final session of "Notre Dame After Dark" at the Immigration Museaum, because the opportunity to hear some fine music in such surroundings was quite enticing.

The next morning, Erica and I ventured out to the airport to take the big silver bird to China, where we are staying for the next ten days. The first day was pretty much entirely in transit, first to Shanghai, then taking a connecting flight to Beijing. There is not much to report on this, except to say that the flight was tolerable, the food fine, the staff excellent, and the in-house entertainment limited. "Sirrocco" is a surreal children's animated film of escapism of sisterly love which can appeal to adult viewers with good characterisation and plot, but the animation, whilst creative, lacked a little in technique; 4/5. "Dune 2" was well produced with a good soundtrack, but I felt no sense of appeal with the plot and characters all based around violence and machismo. I am tempted to give it another viewing as I was surprised by how bad it was; 2/5. "Solitude" started slowly, but developed into a grim and tragic tale of loneliness, generosity, and an intergenerational friendship with an ambiguous ending; 3/5.

The first day proper in Beijing started with a visit to Tian'anmen Square, which, of course, is flanked by several important national buildings (e.g., the parliament). The square itself is just a vast courtyard, and it's fascinating in its blandness, even if, with all the usual connotations of Chinese geomancy, it represents the head of the city's land dragon. After that, we went to Qianmen Avenue (the body), which has some rather charming alleyways running parallel to the main drag. In the evening, we were treated to a rather extraordinary theatrical piece, "The Golden Mask", a legendary tale. This show has, in my somewhat considerable experience, the most extraordinary set and costumes, including several performers with actual live white peacocks as part of their costumes and a literal flooding of the stage. Two more days in Beijing are planned, including an excursion to The Great Wall, an evening in the Old City, and finally a morning in the Museum Palace (aka the Forbidden City). But all that will have to wait for the next post on this adventure.

Last Saturday saw the re-election of the Albanese Labor government, decisively defeating the Dutton Liberal-National Coalition. Labour was able to offer a fairly solid social-democratic programme that wouldn't scare the horses, whilst also running on a record of carefully steering the economy and Australian sovereignty among the international chaos caused by the U.S. President. Dutton, on the other hand, was clearly wedded to the Trump agenda, as well as advocating the interests of mining corporations through an incredibly expensive nuclear plan, along with flip-flopping on major policy decisions. The scoreboard tells the story; on two-party-preferred, this is the best Federal election result for the Australian Labor Party since 1943 and the worst ever result for the LNP coalition since they were formed. It's a truly significant result (for both winners and losers) and will be the discussion theme for the Isocracy AGM in a fortnight's time.

For my own part, I spent election day volunteering at the Southbank Primary polling booth, which received a positive swing of 8% on primaries, clearly helped by the presence of the MP. Labor, Greens, and Liberal volunteers were all pretty friendly to each other, although I did receive a few words from one young Greens volunteer who argued that the population needs to move to their position, rather than the Greens being more electorally palatable. Principled to the point of permanent opposition, only the impotent are pure and all that. He also recommended that I read "Capitalist Realism" and seemed quite surprised that I downloaded and read it (it's only eighty pages) under an hour, along with having some harsh words about it. It's basically psycho-political cultural anthropology (Lacan, Zizek, Jameson), all stuff I'd encountered in my undergraduate days decades ago. The fact that it mentioned climate change in passing on two brief moments was indicative of the sort of practical implications the publication has (i.e., not much).

On a somewhat related matter, last Wednesday I had the pleasure of attending a little doctoral graduation party for former Labor candidate Dr Wesa Chau; a good collection of her favourites from the international student community and some local Party activists. I will count this is as the beginning of a few China-related events that I have in the coming weeks; firstly a social dinner for the Australia-China Friendship Society on Thursday, then on the 11th a visit by the Sichuan Friendship Society at UniMelb to discuss economic and cultural ties and development, and then on the 14th a high-level delegation from Guizhou Province on cultural and education ties. After that, Erica and I are boarding the big silver bird to visit said country for a fortnight's holiday, a trip that includes visits to Beijing, Shanghai, and the Great Wall. Then I have to go back again a fortnight later! But more about that in another post.

The past several days have included a few noteworthy China-related events that I have been involved in. The first was a mini-conference and trade delegation from Anhui Province (you know, just sixty million people). The second was a radio interview with 3CR in my role as state president of the Australia-China Friendship Society. The third was attending the launch of (Australia's former ambassador to China) Geoff Raby's latest book "Great Game On: The contest for Central Asia and Global Supremacy" and finally, as an upcoming event, the Annual General Meeting this Thursday of the Australia-China Friendship Society, where I am re-nominating as president.

The Anhui conference at Pullman Melbourne On The Park in East Melbourne was attended by roughly 120 people and included various business representatives from the province and Victoria, with a notable presence from various vehicle manufacturers located in Anhui and the Australia China Business Council. I ended up meeting with several representatives from their Department of Culture and Tourism and, knowing just a little about the culture of the area, suggested a dual tour of the Anhui Opera (Hui Opera predates even the Peking Opera) with the Victorian State Opera. That apparently has set tongues a-wagging among both groups (it helps to have contacts), so don't be surprised if I unexpectedly end up adding "International Opera Tour Organiser" in the next year or so.

On Saturday morning, I had a lengthy interview meeting with Jesse Boyd from 3CR, who hosts the Wednesday morning breakfast show which, unsurprisingly, will be broadcast this Wednesday. Without giving too much away, items of discussion included the ACFS, travel to China, their economic successes, especially in poverty alleviation, and the often utterly wrong portrayal and predictions of the country by our capitalist media who, unsurprisingly, don't want anyone to think that their political economy could be a better model in some cases.

Dovetailing quite nicely into this was Geoff Raby's book launch tonight and panel discussion with several academics, hosted by the University of Melbourne and Asialink. With approximately 150 people in attendance, Raby presented a case that Russia and China both had competing strategic interests and a competing history over the central Asia republics ("the 'stans", as they are sometimes called), even if they cooperated in other areas. A political realist and far more knowledgeable than most of our politicians on China matters, Raby presented a very compelling argument. The panel discussion was quite rigorous, with much debate around where Russia and China's relationship sat on the continuum of a "marriage of convenience" and a "marriage of values", a discussion spurred by UNSW Professor Mimi Zou's deft initiation and use of the metaphor.

All of this inevitably leads to some personal reflection. I know that I am in some danger of becoming a bit of a Sinologist despite what I consider a rather modest knowledge of the subject (even my knowledge of the standard Chinese language is only CEFR A2 level on a good day). Of course, there are certain enticements of being present with notable political, cultural, business and academic figures at such events, but after many years of being on the fringes of such things and with a discerning clarity of purpose, I feel rather inoculated from titles and the importance of others. My focus is based on pragmatic realism ("shí shì qiú shì", "seek truth from facts"), that this century is China's century, and no other country on the planet has the capability or interest to provide solutions to the problems of climate change and poverty eradication. Whilst certainly not as hedonistic as other lifestyles, this is living with meaning and intent.