I enjoyed China immensely, the culture is ancient and diverse, the people are friendly and interesting and the language challenging and beautiful. Before going on this trip my image of average daily life in China was more like that of the movies.  What I mean by that is I expected an oppressive government with no civil rights for the people. Religious diversity was not even to be mentioned because the communist government was the religion.  This is not true at all during our visit we saw Muslim mosques, Christian churches and Buddhist temples. Religious diversity is alive and well in China.

               The sheer depth of culture in China was awe striking.  Thousands of years of culture mixed with modern science and beliefs create a rainbow of views of the world. Modern technology butted up against ancient culture causes conflicts and also enlightenment. How do you light a 3000 year old temple so that it can be visited at night without ruining its overall authenticity? How do you have modern production styles and levels of production without creating smog and pollution that will destroy ancient relics? These are some of the questions China is facing. Beijing is much polluted but is also full of historically important sites. Beijing is trying to complete on a global level for production and technology and must expand. Very old buildings and sites that need preserving impede this expansion and bring up moral dilemmas that have to be answered.  China must deal with their pollution issue of risk destroying its history and its people’s health. I am not sure how they will do this but they are working hard at it. Almost every building in Beijing, ancient and new alike has a solar panel on the roof. All of the trash cans are labeled recyclable and none recyclable. These are steps in the right direction but only a start.

               I found the students and NPU very energetic and excited to learn. Their views of the United States where a little surprising, they thought we all where rich and had expensive cars. The NPU students English was impeccable, a stark contrast to my Mandarin.  These students told me they all dream of coming to the USA that was good to hear even if they have misinterpretations of what life is like in the US.

               China is a place I will visit again and I will learn more about it. This was a life changing trip for me and appreciate the opportunity afforded to me by JCCC.