Recently, the construction of the core array test prototype of China's FAST telescope has officially started. The plan is to utilize the excellent electromagnetic wave environment within 5 kilometers around FAST to build 24 40 meter aperture radio telescopes to form the core array with FAST. The core array will effectively enhance the resolution, precise positioning, and fine mapping capabilities of FAST, greatly expanding the existing scientific research field. On the occasion of its 8th anniversary, FAST has embarked on an upgrade journey. What insights does it bring us? Inspiration 1: Dare to be the first and set excellent goals. In the 1990s, Chinese astronomers proposed the idea of building the "Chinese Eye". At that time, China's largest radio telescope had a diameter of less than 30 meters, and the goal of the "Chinese Eye" was to surpass the world's first Arecibo telescope at that time. Arecibo telescope was built and put into use in Puerto Rico by Americans in 1963, with a diameter of 305 meters, and then expanded to 350 meters. To build the world's largest radio telescope on Chinese soil - inspired by this goal, FAST began large-scale site selection in 1994, approved project approval in July 2007, started construction in March 2011, completed and put into use in September 2016, passed national acceptance and officially opened for operation in January 2020. It has independent intellectual property rights in China, with a diameter of 500 meters, and is the world's largest and most sensitive single aperture spherical radio telescope. Once excellent goals are achieved, they will lead to outstanding results. The world's largest and most sensitive feature of the "Chinese Eye" has stimulated many special technological needs, allowing Chinese scientists and engineers to constantly challenge their cognitive and technological limits, and constantly "discover and solve problems" to improve and upgrade. During the construction phase alone, FAST has won national awards in over 10 fields including steel structure, automation industry, machinery industry, and electromagnetic compatibility research and development. A high-performance large-scale scientific device can help scientists continuously produce heavyweight discoveries. Since its operation, FAST has achieved many important original results in the fields of pulsars, fast radio bursts, and nanohertz gravitational waves. Inspiration 2: Keep striving and aim for practical needs. To maintain a world leading position, innovation cannot be stopped. The lesson learned is that the Arecibo telescope, which was once benchmarked by the "Chinese Eye", collapsed in 2020 with an observation lifespan of 57 years. Sensitivity and resolution are the core competitive indicators of radio telescopes. From a global perspective, the construction of radio telescopes is planned to complete the first phase of the International Large Science Engineering Square Kilometer Array (SKA1) in 2029, and the next-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) in the United States is scheduled to be completed in 2035. However, the "Chinese Eye" has high sensitivity but insufficient resolution. After the completion and operation of the aforementioned radio telescope array, it may amplify the congenital defect of insufficient resolution and gradually lose its advantage in sensitivity, facing huge challenges. If we slack off a little, we may "lose" the forefront of the radio band field of view. The core array of FAST was built for this purpose. After completion, it will greatly improve the "vision" of the "Chinese Eye", allowing it to not only see far but also clearly. Of course, the construction indicators for large scientific facilities should not be blindly high, but also meet the needs of practical scientific research. FAST has set a good example in high-level management and operation, with an annual observation time of around 5300 hours, far exceeding the expected work efficiency of international peers and playing an important supporting role in its scientific output. For this upgrade, the FAST core array also adopts a low-cost and rapidly implementable radio telescope array scheme. In recent years, various regions have launched large-scale scientific installations in Malaysia. While fully recognizing the achievements, we must also face the shortcomings. Some large facilities have insufficient investment scale and international leadership, some places blindly rush to build large facilities, resulting in low-level redundant construction, and some large scientific facilities are difficult to operate after completion, even with no end in sight and shelved, causing great waste. The upgrade of the "China Eye" has shown us that the construction of large scientific facilities requires top-level planning, setting excellent goals, and targeting practical needs. Only by building higher quality "major national weapons" can we continuously strengthen basic research from scratch and seize the high ground of international scientific and technological competition. (New Society)