Many people have been asking about my recent trip to China. I figured I would explain my insights through a few blogs. I do understand the interest people have in that country as very few ever visits this mysterious land. It made sense that the first thing we were told was that nothing in China is, as it seems. I found that to be the theme of my time there.

The purpose of my trip was to learn how I might send students there to teach conversational English to Chinese students. I must admit much of the allure was the opportunity to visit the country. Yes, I always love the chance to touch the live of college students. After all I am the College Impact guy. It’s become a life’s work, but the thought that I could be in a country many people will never see was a big deal.

When I hit the ground in China I was a bit overwhelmed. I am used to being a minority here in the states, but 1 in 1.6 billion is very different. People would stand a few feet away from me and just stare. I was polite and said, “nǐ hǎo” and they responded with hello and would continue looking at me. This was not rudeness on their part it was simply many of them had never seen a black person before. It is an all-Asian world so a black person in their context is just an oddity.

My first couple of days in Beijing was filled with smog. During the Olympics I remembered people saying how polluted the city was. It’s so true, but as a foreigner you don’t want to mention it, because Chinese people are very sensitive about criticism of their country and they take it personally. But, by day three things changed and it was beautiful. I remembered when the weather cleared and I saw the scope and size of the city. Beijing is the largest city I have ever seen. I thought I knew what urban was, but the city stretches on forever and there is tall building after another.

I did get a chance to leave the big city and go to a smaller one in Inner Mongolia called Hohhot (its former Mongolian territory now in China). This area was much different in that it is a city of only 2 million. They only allow 50 foreigners to live in that area a year.  A teenager was watching the westerners get off of the bus and when he saw the black guy he did the ‘Bugs Bunny’ big eyed lean back. It was hilarious! He had never seen a black man.

Hohhot was interesting in that it seemed much more religious then Beijing and there was more minorities there. The Muslim population is pretty visible. There were Buddhist temples and large Catholic churches all in this one area. It was the bustling yet a much slower pass than the large city. I did find a little leather shop that had some amazing bags. One major difference was for the first time I saw children. In Beijing children are in class longer and during the week they are not visible, but in Hohhot at 4 pm kids are everywhere.

Once I got back to the big city it was all about site seeing. I went from the Forbidden City to the Great Wall. It was interesting to see the intricacies of the former home of the Emperor. I studied ancient China, so this was simply awesome. The Great Wall was not my favorite. It was an experience that you must have, but it was just a big wall. Sightseeing was good, but my big, wow was the food. I did eat a scorpion and a silk worm, although they weren’t highlight of the trip. I can barely stand Chinese for here in the states now, because the authentic is so much better.

All of my expectations were exceeded. China is like no place else in the world. I truly am excited about going back. I don’t have the time to talk about the shopping, or the culture, or the amazing people. In the next blog I will try to tackle those topics. I strongly encourage others who enjoy traveling to put China at the top of your list.