中国故事讲述者—法国人老路

文/叶 珂

老路与妻子在千岛湖。Lao Lu and his wife poses for a photo at the Thousand Island Lake.

第一次走近杭州海创园的办公楼，一只可爱的柴犬朝我吠了几声。当我正想抚摸一下这个小家伙以示陌生人友好的时候，它的主人—一位身材颀长、笑容可掬的外籍男子走了过来，他立马抱起小狗，以略带抱歉的口吻和一口标准的普通话轻轻说道：“不好意思，它总是这么热情。”

这是第一次见老路。

在表明来意之后，我和老路在工作人员的带领之下来到了一个安静的采访间。老路提出，他要去泡点龙井茶，让我稍坐片刻。几分钟后，老路端着一壶龙井茶和一个法式风格的小茶杯再次回到采访间。在简短的寒暄之后，我们开始了之后长达一小时的半采访、半闲聊的对话。

玩笑中却意外结缘中文

老路游览天台国清寺。Lao Lu pays a visit to the Guoqing Temple in Tiantai county, Taizhou city.

老路本名叫Olivier Ruelle，来自巴黎，是个地地道道的法国人，现在和他的中国夫人居住在杭州。从1991年以学生的身份第一次踏上中国的土地，到1997年决定正式定居中国，老路在中国已经生活了将近30年。

聊起和中国的缘分，老路说，这还得从一次和朋友开的玩笑说起。1987年高中毕业后，老路和朋友两人打赌要学一种世上最难的语言。老路的朋友认为，俄语是世界上最难的语言。然而，老路却不以为然。他觉得，中文才是世界上最有挑战性的语言。虽然在之后的专业填报中，选择俄语的朋友并没有坚持学习俄语，而是学习了贸易和商务，但是老路却坚持了下来，坚定地选择中文作为他的大学专业。

本来是一句玩笑话，却开启了他和中文的特殊缘分。

挚爱杭州和“公益浙江”

在之后的中文学习以及在中国的生活中，老路做过很多事情。当过厂长、导游、央视法语频道主持人、公关公司顾问和培训师等，现在还做起了自媒体。从北京、深圳、香港到浙江，老路走过很多中国的省份和城市，也充分感受了中国大好山河的幅员辽阔和独特魅力。本着骨子里法国人热爱生活的态度和勇于突破的精神，老路决心辞去工作，前往香港攻读博士，研究公益实践和公益的未来。

为了做好博士论文，老路先后来到杭州等中国几个一线和新一线城市进行实地走访调研。在杭州，他遇到了此生挚爱的中国妻子。说起对浙江的印象，老路说，总能在这里发现一些有关中国发展最前沿的东西，而遍布全球的浙商群体尤其令他印象深刻，因为浙商恰恰充分凸显浙江民营经济的活力和浙江人勤劳勇敢的品质。

浙江不只有山水诗画，也有活力和热情。

就好比说公益这件事，浙江人做事情总是走在前面。最突出的表现就是互联网赋能公益的尝试。在浙江，比如杭州的这些“互联网+”公益项目，总是能将普惠辐射到全中国的老百姓。这一点，让老路觉得非常佩服。

现在，老路和他在杭州全职从事公益的妻子，也会做一些力所能及的公益项目来帮助需要帮助的人。凭借对中国文化的深厚热爱和对推动中外交流合作的热情，老路还被杭州市政府授予杭州国外专家最高荣誉—钱江友谊使者。

诗画江南中感悟中式美学

采访中，老路始终不离他的龙井茶壶。他提及，来了中国之后，喝茶已经成为了一种习惯。1993年第一次来浙江的时候，老路和朋友在杭州逗留了整整28天，其间逛遍了杭州几乎所有的热门景点，特别是西湖和植物园。这段占据他们中国之行三分之一的时光，也成为之后他脑海里对江南最灵动的记忆。

老路回忆说，当时和朋友在西湖边驻足观赏时，还点了一杯当地人口中的“特级龙井”。是否特级，老路并没有概念。只是回想起来，那滋味太好了，从此也让他深深爱上了中国茶和中国茶文化。

在浙江，老路仿佛遇见了“老乡”。当热爱生活的法国人遇上“会过日子”的浙江人，奇妙的化学反应就发生了。老路说，他觉得浙江人特别会生活，会慢慢享受过程，会喝茶，会吃一些很精致的东西，这一点和他们法国人很像，都是爱生活的人。

在浙江生活的这么多年里，他深深爱上了中式美学以及中国传统文化中“中庸之道”强调平衡和和谐的理念。在他看来，中国文化强调平衡这一点，对现代人很有启示意义。当代社会浮躁的环境下，很多人往往忘记了生活的本真是什么，而中国传统文化讲究“中庸之道”和平衡这一点，可以让现代人在忙忙碌碌的生活中重新发现生活的本色和生命力。

“中庸，就是以一种平衡的态度看待生活，不急不慢，享受过程。”老路反复说道。

做中国故事的讲述者

老路现在的一个主要身份是视频博主。他运营的“爱喝茶的老路”账号在全网拥有50万粉丝，在哔哩哔哩的视频播放量超过1200万。可以说，老路已然是个名副其实的“网红博主”了。

在浙江的生活，让老路得以以一个旁观者的身份观察浙江和中国社会的发展。在他看来，还是有很多外国人不够了解中国，特别是浙江。也许很多人知道北京、上海、香港、广州，但大多数外国人对浙江的了解相对较少。而且，很多外国人对中国的经济模式、中国人的思维方式等至今仍然无法理解。所以他想通过视频介绍浙江、介绍中国。

目前，老路创作了《路游记》《老路故事汇》《老路说》三档栏目。《路游记》以外国人的视角，走进宁波东钱湖等地，用一帧帧生动的画面展现鲜活的细节，通过Vlog等短视频形式把浙江和中国的人文历史、美食文化、田园风光等展现出来；《老路故事汇》记录了老路在中国近30年的真实生活，向外国网友展示老路这些年来亲眼见证的中国发展变化；《老路说》向中国网友介绍法国及其他国家的文化，让中国也更加了解世界。

谈及未来的规划，老路说，他希望可以制作出更多让海内外用户感兴趣的内容，叙事对象更加侧重于海外受众，自觉承担起做好中国和外国之间的“桥梁”的角色，让全世界更多的人能相互了解，彼此喜爱，互相信任。

诗画江南，活力浙江。定居杭州的老路，和许多热爱这片土地的外国友人一样，还将续写更多中外友谊的动人篇章。

老路在台州府城墙拍摄的景色。A picture taken by Lao Lu of the city wall of the Ancient City of Taizhou in Taizhou city.

Lao Lu: A Frenchman’s China Journey

By Ye Ke

老路在黄湖镇青山村骑行。Lao Lu cycles at Qingshan village, Huanghu township in Hangzhou.

As I approached the office building of Hangzhou Future Technology City Haichuang Garden for the first time, a lovely dog barked at me. When I was trying to touch the little guy to show my friendliness, the owner, a tall, smiling foreign man, came up and immediately picked up the puppy, speaking in an apologetic tone in standard Mandarin: “I’m sorry; the dog is always excited.”

That was also the first time that I had met Lao Lu (or Old Lu).

After stating my intent, I went to a quiet interview room with Lao Lu. Before the interview started, he excused himself, saying that he needed to make some Longjing (Dragon Well) tea, and asked me to wait for a moment. A few minutes later, he came back with a pot of Longjing tea and a small French tea cup. After some brief pleasantries, I began the one-and-a-half-hour interview with him, although in truth it was quite casual.

Lao Lu, or Lu Ming in full, is the Chinese name that Olivier Ruelle gave himself. A Frenchman from Paris, he now lives in Hangzhou with his Chinese wife. He first came to China as a student in 1991, and, 25 years have already passed since he decided to settle in the country in 1997.

Speaking of his love story with China, Lao Lu said that it all started when he made a joke with his friend. After graduating from high school in 1987, Lao Lu and his friend placed a bet with each other to learn the hardest language in the world in college. For his friend, Russian was the most difficult. However, Lao Lu did not agree. Chinese, he believed, was the most challenging language on earth. Although Lao Lu’s friend studied trade and business instead of Russian subsequently, Lao Lu stuck to his belief and selected Chinese as his university major.

Later, Lao Lu would “play all kinds of roles” in the process of his studying Chinese and during his life in China. For example,he was twice the head of a factory. He worked as a tour guide.He also served as a host for the French channel of China Central Television. He worked as a consultant for a public relations company as well as a communication coach, too, among other jobs. Currently, Lao Lu is part of the “we media” or “self media”,which in China refers to independently operated social media accounts. From Beijing, Shenzhen, Hong Kong to Zhejiang, he has traveled through many Chinese provinces and cities, and fully basks in the vastness and unique charm of China’s great mountains and rivers.

Indeed, as be fitting a life-cherishing and adventurous French,at one time Lao Lu decided to quit his job and went to Hong Kong to pursue a PhD degree, focusing on the practice and future of China’s public interest (volunteering and charity) projects.

To prepare for his doctoral thesis, he visited several Chinese cities including the so-called “new first-tier” cities such as Hangzhou for his field work. In fact, it was in Hangzhou that Lao Lu met his Chinese wife. For him, Zhejiang province is always at the very forefront of China’s development. He is particularly impressed by businessmen of Zhejiang origin, who can be found across the world. They represent the vitality of Zhejiang’s private economy and Zhejiang people’s diligence and courage, Lao Lu said.

Apart from its poetic landscape, Zhejiang’s dynamism and enthusiasm are in abundance as well. For instance, when it comes to volunteering and charity, people in Zhejiang are invariably ahead. The most prominent case is the attempt of the internet industry to improve public welfare, which is admired by Lao Lu.

At present, Lao Lu, together with his wife who is fully engaged in volunteer and charitable work, is doing whatever he can to help people in need. In 2021, he was bestowed with the Qianjiang Friendship Award, the highest honor presented by the Hangzhou municipal government to international experts.

During the interview, Lao Lu never left his Longjing teapot.He mentioned that after his stay in China, drinking tea had become a habit. When visiting Zhejiang for the first time in 1993,Lao Lu and his friends spent a full 28 days in Hangzhou, exploring almost all the hotspots in in the city, especially the West Lake and the Botanical Garden.

He recalled that when they stopped to appreciate the West Lake, they ordered a cup of “super Longjing” tea. Every time he remembers it, he can’t forget the aromatic taste, and it was at that time that Lao Lu had fallen in love with Chinese tea and Chinese tea culture.

In Zhejiang, Lao Lu seems to be living among his French“kinship”: for him, the Zhejiang people love life as much as the French and they can truly enjoy life. Drinking tea, in particular taking pleasure in the slow process, is a very good example.

After so many years in the province, he is now deeply attached to Chinese aesthetics and idea of harmony embedded in the Chinese “Doctrine of the Mean”. At a time when the whole world is afflicted with so many ills, many people have forgotten the essence of life, which Lao Lu believes the “Doctrine of the Mean” can help correct.

“The Doctrine of the Mean is an attitude, which is to live your life in a balanced way, neither too quick nor too slow,enjoying the process,” he said repeatedly.

Right now, Lao Lu is mostly occupied with vlogging. His accounts have garnered over half a million fans in various social media platforms and his videos have garnered 12 million views on Bilibili, one of China’s most popular video-sharing websites. He has become an internet celebrity.

Decades of living in Zhejiang has enabled Lao Lu to observe more clearly the development of the province and China as a whole. In his opinion, there are still quite a large number of foreigners who do not know enough about China. They may have heard of Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, but perhaps relatively little about Zhejiang. Moreover, many still cannot understand China’s economic model and the Chinese way of thinking. Therefore, he hopes his videos can help introduce Zhejiang and China to a wider audience.

As to the future, Lao Lu said he plans to create more content that will interest both Chinese and international viewers. His role is more like a bridge between China and the world. Like many international friends who are in love with this ancient country, Lao Lu will continue to push Sino-foreign relations to new levels.

老路被授予“钱江友谊奖”。Lao Lu is honored with the Qianjiang Friendship Award.

体验千岛湖划艇。Lao Lu tries kayaking at the Thousand Island Lake.