Lots of people have been to China. And now I am one of them. And you know what? It feels great. The Great Wall. The Forbidden Palace. The Summer Palace. The Pearl Marketplace. The Capital city of Beijing. The Terra Cotta Warriors. All of them were and are fabulous sites to experience - "the stuff dreams are made of." I can only hope others get to travel to this part of the world, too, one day. And, while I am at it, I hope the citizens of China get to travel outside their country, too. We and they have much to share. Perhaps the biggest thing to share is how much we have in common. This was my primary takeaway from my six days in the most populated country on the planet.
Granted, I did not talk with scores of folks, but ones I did, including a former engineering student, a cab driver, school teacher, a sales clerk, and a tour guide, share the kind of day-to-day challenges I do, too: contending with the high cost of living, keeping strong family ties, staying up-to-date on the latest in entertainment and sports, traffic, and education, to name a few. Yes, they think about government, but so much as one might expect. Their attitude is there is government and then there is them. Never mind the form of government under which they live is communist. They still have to live their lives.
Th people with whom I talked think America is pretty great. They also recognize how their government relates to the U.S. government does not necessarily reflect their views. Their attitude was a reminder of how the folks in power are not always in sync with the many they are supposedly trying to serve. Sadly, that is true in the U.S., too. For me, it speaks to the need we all share of having more opportunities to communicate with folks from different backgrounds. The revelation is we are not nearly as different as we might think. That is a good thing. After all, commonalities help foster more meaningful interactions and, ultimately, tighter bonds.
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