A Front Row Seat
In 1974, as one of the first batch of international students who received a scholarship to study in China, 21-year-old Raja Magasweran could sense the huge difference between this country and his island home of Sri Lanka the moment he got off the plane.
Magasweran described the scene to Beijing Review: “At that time, it was difficult to tell apart men and women from the back because they were all dressed in the same navy blue workwear.”
This was truly unexpected for a wavy-haired young man flying in from a tropical island with a penchant for wearing bright, colorful prints.
