Epilogue
OK…believe it or not, I had genuinely intended to end my blog at this point. However, upon reflection, once home, I felt that I would be remiss if I did not add this epilogue in good conscience for two very important reasons (important to me and, if I may be so bold, I think, what should be important to all Americans). Those reasons are basically borne of a desire to hopefully bring home (literally) these last (I promise!) two points:
First, it is also hope that, if you have ever have an opportunity to visit China but have any misgivings or preconceived negative ideas about the Country, please dissolve those thoughts from your perspective and widen your horizons; for, if you do not, you will miss out on an amazing experience should you opt not to visit this marvelous country.
You see, I have always considered myself a minor “world traveler” of sorts- if I may use that term- because I have been blessed with the opportunity of visiting more than a few foreign countries and had a multitude of experiences in many geographies in this fabulous world which we humans populate. As I have half-jokingly teased many of my friends who love to travel as I do, “if you have never been scuba diving or, at a minimum been snorkeling, you cannot consider yourself a world traveler because 70% of our magnificent planet is underwater!” A similar argument could well be advanced about visiting China. It is not only a huge land mass in relation to the rest of the world but it is also such an important economic power and social influence on almost every aspect of our society- even here in the US. So, if you consider yourself to be, although first and foremost, a citizen of the USA, but also a citizen of the world and/or a world traveler, China should be right at the top of any thinking person’s list of “places to visit before I pass on!”- a major entry on your bucket list.
Please note that I also wanted to address this point because I have discerned from a lot of the comments I have received from friends who have “inquiring minds that want to know” that many of you have concerns about your personal freedom while in China. If that is the case with you, you should not be concerned about this issue in the least. In fact, were it not for restrictions on worship opportunities, national police “check points,” and a few restrictions on some forms of social and political sites on the internet, the US visitor would never know they were in a Communist state. For the most part, China is as open and free in terms of the experiences of average daily life as any of the many countries I have had the blessed pleasure to have ever visited.
Not once did I feel any limitation on my activities or my daily experience the whole 2 months that I was there. To the contrary, there were many instances when I felt that the fact that my appearance as an obviously non-Asian American worked to my advantage in China not only because of the points I made in my comments above in relation to the Chinese wanting to know so much about western life and basically “anything U.S.” but also because the Chinese government has clearly made it known to it’s law enforcement authorities and the local, provincial and central government “powers that be” that they want their western visitors to feel welcome. Of course, one cannot escape the fact that there is an underlying political motive to the directives of the Chinese leadership here: they know that U.S. visitors are there for two reasons: 1) to spend dollars and 2) to invest dollars and they go to great lengths to do anything possible to not only accept us but to make us welcome. But, no matter their motives. They make westerners so very welcome. And, more importantly, the hospitality of the average Chinese person far removed from the leadership and their motives, love western people and learning more about us- and not just for our money.
As to the second and final point, you can believe this for sure: the people of China are an amazing and wonderful people who, as I said in my last entry above, are, at their core, they are a loving, kind and generous people who have little say in their government and should not be accountable for any of the negative aspects of the communist state in which they happen to live. They “do the best they can” and, in doing so, are a fantastically inventive, creative and entrupanierial people especially given their circumstances.
Most importantly, there are hundreds of thousands of Christians in this country, a fact which has opened my eyes and made me disavow any notion of them being our enemy as a people as a whole. Many times, I have heard people say of such totalitarian or other “evil axis” countries (and, most recently, of countries such as Afghanistan and Iran and Iraq) that we should simply “bomb ‘em all and let God sort them out.” I must confess to having ignorantly made similar statements as well. However, I recently learned there are approximately 700,000 Christians in Iran. I considered the consequences of a mass nuclear “solution” to the problems we have with that country and others similarly situated. The consequences would be devastating to not only our brothers and sisters in The Church in those countries who have no control over where they were born but would obviously also result in a permanent and immediate end to any opportunity to convert those in those countries who are not believers- a position that is antithetical to any genuine evangelical beliefs a Christian should have. Well, there are many, many more Christians in China than Iran. And my newfound enlightenment in this regard is now solidified in a whole new way.
Please know this: the Chinese people go about their daily lives much as we do. As pointed out heretofore, they have similar beliefs. They give love. They receive love. They have beautiful families. They love their children. They love their families. Those of them who are able bodied all either have jobs or some vocational position in their society and they work hard. Just like us, they love television, sports, karaoke, music, and walks in a park (such as the beautiful one beside my Huaqiao apartment) on a sunny day. They love talking about the weather, griping about the traffic and politics and, without a doubt, fireworks on holidays! In other words, they are more like us than we would ever imagine. They speak differently. They have different beliefs. They sometimes eat peculiar and exotic foods. They have different habits and customs. But, for the most part, the people of China are just like us in more ways than not.
And, in point of fact, the Chinese people have a great love for the U.S. and American citizens. They have a love for most all things American and most all things western. I personally think that this attraction is more than the results of a shallow desire to satisfy their creature comfort and hedonistic entertainment needs listed on Abraham Maslow’s list (“Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”). I truly believe this affection for and magnetism to U.S. customs and the attraction to almost everything in our society is derived from a greater desire. I believe this attraction comes from seeking the ultimate goal that we all seek: the goal of finding the very freedom and liberty that these things are a product of and which they represent. And the more we can perpetuate, advocate and represent this goal for them, the further along we, as a people and a democratic republic, will find ourselves in the basic human endeavor of peacefully assisting the Chinese to accomplish those goals.
Yes, of course I would be more than a bit naïve if I didn’t realize that there are many of my countrymen and women here in the US that have a genuine and serious distaste, if not hate, for China. But, it is my hope that- in some small way- my scratchings here have dispelled that for you as my travel did for me.
Finally, I would like to thank my business partners for this opportunity and the blessings of being able to make a minor contribution to the further success of our company. I thank my family for not only giving me their blessings to go on this trip but for encouraging me to do so. I thank all my friends for their prayers and words of well-wishing before, during and after my trip. And, most of all I thank God for this marvelous voyage, for the strength and good health He gave me to make it, for the fabulous friends He brought into my path during the trip, for the beautiful world He has made and allowing me to see this vast portion of our planet and for the fantastic experience that it has been.
And, thank YOU for reading my China travel blog. Perhaps, the next time we cross paths, should you so desire, we can “talk China!” God bless you all!
Reese
