"All things change, and we change with them."-Chinese Proverb

4-14-10

Coming into China, I had convinced myself I would not like the country. To my unaccustomed ears, the language sounded like rocks clinking and clanking down a metal tube. I was not used to seeing communist signs displayed openly throughout cities, and while I did go to A&M, seeing soldiers march past in the middle of the city still sent chills down my spine. My outlook on China was still tainted by their past, a country that not 50 years ago was in the middle of the Cultural Revolution. As much as I try to hold these things against it, after only one week I am beginning to be won over. Don’t get me wrong, I still have MANY reservations, and the loud and angry manner in which every conversation is screamed still tries my last nerve. But, from my limited observations, China is nowhere near the same country it was during the atrocities of the Cultural Revolution. While many things like facebook and blogs are still blocked, the country is slowly becoming more open.

Shanghai is really quite amazing. I couldn’t even tell where downtown was because the whole city, consisting of 20 million people, is a continuous series of skyscrapers. The city is constantly teeming with energy as buildings, subways, and parks pop-up overnight. Each night as we walked around town Terry would comment on all the new things he hadn’t even seen because they had just popped up (One of the perks to not requiring the peoples’ input on anything. No one mentions who was kicked out of their homes in order for the new construction…).

The city was fun, but the people were what finally won me over. Yes, the people who obnoxiously squabbled back and forth, slurped their noodles, hawked loogies, and absolutely refused to even guess at our failed attempts at charades. I realized, apart from their politics and government, the people were PEOPLE, full of goofy quirks and mannerisms just like us. They were kind, generous, funny and hardworking. They also had a pride in their country, much like us, and this is something I have missed in many of the countries we have visited. It wasn’t until I’d seen the absence of such pride that I realized how much I respected it. I have no political opinions on China, but if you are going to judge a country by its people, China deserves a place among the best.