On June 3, 2006, the fresh breeze of early summer blew gently in Beijing and the bright five-starred red flag flew high in front of the foreign ministry building. Over 180 people from nationwide, including white-haired teachers, innocent primary school students, workers, farmers, servicemen and public servants, arrived at the foreign ministry with great enthusiasm to attend the "Pubic Day" activity. Among the visitors, the eldest is 78 years old while the youngest is just 6 years old. Some of them come from Guangdong while some live just several steps away from the foreign ministry. Filled with love and care for Chinese diplomacy, they started their long-awaited "diplomatic journey" amidst cheering and laughing.

"They are outstanding diplomats!"

The public first visited the pressroom they frequently see on TV. Foreign ministry spokesman and Director General of the Information Department Liu Jianchao had waited here. His job this time was not answering questions of Chinese and foreign journalists, but introducing Chinese diplomacy to the public. Using carefully prepared multi-media documents, Liu vividly and comprehensively explained the history and mission of diplomacy of the People's Republic of China and China's policies on major international and regional issues. He also told some moving stories of contemporary Chinese diplomats with deep feeling. He said that diplomats had to work abroad frequently, bear the pain of separating from their families, go through the tests of war, diseases and poor environment and sometimes even face the choice of life and death in order to fulfill the tasks entrusted by our motherland and the people. It is their contribution unknown to the public that fosters the achievements of Chinese diplomacy. The remarks of Liu aroused positive responses from the public. A young girl said with deep emotion, "in the past I always think diplomats wearing Western dresses and leather shoes and traveling around the world have decent jobs. I have never imagined they have so much unknown pains and hardships. The outstanding quality of Chinese diplomats is admiring!"

"We shall do pragmatic work for our motherland and the people!"

During the preparations for the Public Day, a great number of people noted in the questionnaire of the foreign ministry that they look forward to meeting Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing most. Therefore, when Foreign Minister Li appeared in the Olive Hall, the public cheered. Li extended cordial greetings to the visitors, and especially best wishes to the child visitors for the Children's Day. He said that no matter how old a person is he or she is always a primary school student in front of the motherland and knowledge and hence he would like to express best wishes for the Children's Day to all the visitors. His humorous introduction made all the visitors smile sincerely. He noted that peace is most important and friendship is most valuable. Chinese diplomacy serves all the Chinese people. We must strive for a peaceful and stable external environment for the construction of our motherland, make a bigger number of friends and partners for our motherland and do pragmatic work for our people. The foreign ministry will join hands with all the Chinese people to contribute to the development and progress of our motherland and to the peace and prosperity of the entire world. Li also asked the visitors to extend the greetings of all the foreign ministry staffs to all the Chinese people. The visitors listened to Foreign Minister Li attentively and were deeply moved by his sincerity.

"Long live China-Arab friendship!"

Two days ago the second Ministerial Meeting of China-Arab Cooperation Forum concluded with great success in Beijing. China-Arab friendship and cooperation became one of the themes of the Public Day. To help the visitors understand China-Arab relations, Director-General Zhai Jun of the Department of West Asian and North African Affairs introduced the Arab history and civilizations, the Middle East issue and China-Arab cooperation in the pressroom. With clear idea, unique insight and vivid explanation, the remarks of Zhai Jun aroused strong interest of the visitors in China-Arab relations.

In the Olive Hall, Foreign Minister Li invited the ambassadors of Oman, Syria, Bahrain, Tunis, Algeria and Morocco to China to meet the public. Li said that the Arab states are reliable friends of the Chinese people. We especially thank all the 22 Arab states for their consistent adherence to the one-China policy and support for the peaceful reunification of China. China is also the friend of the Arab people forever. Al Hosni, Oman's Ambassador to China, delivered a warm speech. He said that he feels delighted to be invited to attend the Pubic Day activity of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and meet with the Chinese delegates from all walks of life. The second Ministerial Meeting of China-Arab Cooperation Forum achieved fruitful results. The China-Arab friendship has been deeply rooted in people's hearts. The relationship between China and the Arab states will turn better and better. Hosni called out with enthusiasm "Long Live China-Arab Friendship", which was warmly applauded by the audience. At this moment, the hall rang with the joyful Arab music. Several students from the Department of Arabic Language of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) wearing the Arab dresses started to perform the dances with strong Arabic flavors. Foreign Minister Li and the six ambassadors were so moved by the ardent atmosphere that they, surrounded by the audience, joined the dance team. The atmosphere reached the peak. The participating public and journalists took out their cameras to capture this beautiful moment.

"Protecting overseas Chinese is our bounden duty!"

Another theme of the activity is consular protection. In the bright and spacious Visa Hall, Wei Wei, Director General of the Department of Consular Affairs, introduced that there were riots taking place in Solomon Islands and East Timor not long ago. The safety of life and property of the overseas Chinese there was in danger, which all the Chinese people felt worried about. The Chinese government paid great attention to the situation of overseas Chinese and decided to dispatch chartered planes to withdraw them. The comrades of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is the governing agency of consular protection affairs, worked with other agencies and finished various preparations within a very short period of time. They worked day and night and even forgot food and sleep. They were extremely exhausted. However, they felt gratified and their exhaustion was gone when seeing the chartered planes that carried overseas Chinese land safely in the airport of the motherland and the overseas Chinese walk out of the plane with hands waving the five-starred flags and eyes full of tears. Wei Wei said sincerely that it is our bounden duty to protect overseas Chinese. Our Ministry has adopted various measures to strengthen the work. On May 29, the Department of Consular Affairs established the Division of Consular Protection committed to consular protection work. The consular officials of the ministry and the diplomatic and consular officials of Chinese embassies will do our utmost to serve the public. A participating legal professional said emotionally, "the Chinese government has provided timely assistance whenever the overseas Chinese encountered difficulties or dangers in the past few years. I feel that the doors of overseas Chinese embassies are always open to the Chinese people. No matter where I go, I feel not far away from home so long as there is a Chinese embassy there. "

"The diplomatic history of new China is a brilliant history of victories!"

Reviewing the history and looking into the future. Lian Zhengbao, Director General of the Bureau of Archives introduced the diplomatic achievements of new China in the exhibition hall of the history of the foreign ministry. He said that the diplomatic history of new China is a brilliant history of victories. Since 2004, the ministry has declassified a total of 41,000 diplomatic documents. This indicates that with the deepening of reform and opening up Chinese diplomacy is getting increasingly mature. The Chinese government fully respects the people's right to know. The declassification of diplomatic archives has become an important aspect of the opening of government affairs of the foreign ministry. Lian accompanied the visitors to appreciate the historical picture scroll and get a feel of the brilliance of Chinese diplomacy over the past 57 years. The visitors were attracted by the pictures and objects. Some stopped and meditated. Some chatted in a low voice. Some were moved to tears.

The 4-hour long diplomatic journey ended at 12:00 a.m. The visitors still felt it was not enough and were reluctant to go. Many friends indicated that they are proud of the diplomatic history of China and the Chinese diplomats and moved by the closeness of the foreign ministry with the public. Many visitors claimed, "Coming to the foreign ministry today is like going home. We hope that the foreign ministry could invite more friends in the future to gather together in this big and warm family. "