Ringing the Changes

孙佳慧

Once an exotic novelty， the telephone has become a daily necessity in the last few decades

从当年的稀罕物“德律风”到今天人手一部的智能手机，电话在中国已经走过了一个多世紀

In 1876， the same year that Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the patent for his invention of the telephone， Li Gui， a Ningbo customs officer， became the first Chinese to see the contraption.

Sent by the Qing empire to visit the Worlds Fair in Philadelphia， Li glimpsed the ground-breaking device， but didnt get to use it. That honor was claimed in 1877 by Guo Songtao， the first Qing minister to visit Great Britain， who was invited to try a phone in an electronic appliance factory while his interpreter Zhang Deyi answered from another set downstairs. “Can you hear it？” began Guo. “Yes，” Zhang replied. “Can you understand me？” “Yes.” “Please count out some numbers.” “One， two， three， four， five， six， seven...”

This simple conversation is believed to be the earliest record of Chinese people talking over the telephone. As Guo pointed out in his diary， however， the sound quality was not perfect： “Long sentences were mostly blurred. Only these few words were clear.”

Zhang， who later phonetically translated “telephone” as “德律风” （d9l_f8ng），  expressed his admiration in his memoir Strange Tales from Over the Ocean： “Upstairs and downstairs， inside or outside the room， people transmit their voices with it， just like talking face to face...whether users are literate or not， with this device， messages can be sent.”

Soon， this magic device began showing up in China. In 1882， Denmarks Great Northern Telegraph Company founded the first telephone office on Shanghais Bund， installing telephones in 25 households in the International Settlement. But most Chinese didnt embrace the new invention immediately; Guo was even deemed unpatriotic for praising the advanced Western technology， and forced to resign from his position in 1879. Before 1949， the countrys phone penetration rate was only 0.05 percent， with most sets used by foreign households or government and commercial offices of Western powers.

After the Peoples Republic of China was founded， the government decided to upgrade the countrys network. In 1958， the Beijing Telegraph Building was established and soon became the hub of Chinas communications industry.

Thereafter， the telephone began to play an increasingly important role in daily life. In 1960， 61 workers in Pinglu county， Shanxi province， fell sick with food poisoning， and needed medicine that was unavailable even in the surrounding cities. Faced with a health crisis， local party secretary Zhang Mingliang phoned Beijing for help.