The much delayed China post

Apologies for my tardiness... I returned from China a week ago last monday, and am just now getting a post up on our much-neglected blog. In my defense, I was holding out hope that I would get pictures from my fellow travelers (still hoping). I do have a few shots that I took with my camera, and I thought I would share those along with my thoughts on China, chopsticks, the Olympics, and more...

China yesterday

China is a country of such a long and amazing history. I find it interesting that their language does not have tenses for when events occured. To the best of my understanding, when people speaking Mandarin describe events in the past, they say (roughly) "Chinese emperors rule huge kingdoms in the past."

In short, past and present seem to coexist in China in a way that I've never really experienced.

Adventures in Chop Sticks

Eating in China was a lot of fun. Very communal and very sociable. The Chinese use little plates and lots of shared dishes on a lazy susan-style rotating table. Dining is all about grabbing food off plates with chop sticks as it spins by. Very indicative of the nation's communal culture.

I especially loved the "homestyle" breakfast place that our Chinese hosts took us to. For about 40 cents, I could get an egg, tray of steamed pork buns, and a bowl of tofu soup. Nice!

China for the future


Beijing is BOOMING. The Olympics are everywhere, including the cute little figures who will mascot the games. While I don't agree with all of China's policies, especially as it regards to freedom of religion, I definitely grieve for them with the turbulent first days of the torch's transit. China is SOOOOOO excited about the Olympics, and they are pouring so much into it.

Anyhow, the growth in China is pretty specatular. We visited a number of companies in a variety of industries, and all were very excited China's prospects. Not sure what I think about it all. I feel conflicted about China's record on human rights and oppression, but I am excited about their rapid rise out of poverty and isolation.

Ultimately, I hope the confluence of east and west will be good for all... Such is my general optimism. We'll see...