As a Chinese, I am incredibly proud today. China has launched its first astronaut into space.
The dream is old. Legend has it that in the Ming Dynasty, a man named Wan Hu strapped himself to a chair with 47 rockets and had his servants light the fuses. He was never seen again. Whether the story is true or not, the ambition was real.
Today, Yang Liwei rode the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft into orbit and returned safely. From a man on a rocket chair to a man orbiting the Earth — it took about six hundred years, but we made it.
Ming Dynasty astronaut – Wan Hu
Today – Yang Liwei