I first came up with the idea for this blog while in China last June. I was there for a month as part of a U.S. State Department/University of Montana exchange program between U.S. and Chinese environmental professionals. I was the water “expert” … or something.
The reason I originally wanted to start a blog when I arrived in Beijing is because it’s impossible to capture China in a postcard, ora 10-minute conversation, or even in a 5-hour debrief with a loved one when you return. It needs to be captured in real-time, as the bizarre and fascinating experiences unfold. Since I’m a year late to capture the “real-time” China visit, I figured a brief summary reflection would have to suffice.
This was my first trip to Asia, and I was nervous. I’d never really been anywhere I couldn’t speak the language, or even decipher symbols spelling out “bathroom.” All my travels through Latin America and Europe did nothing to prepare me for how freaking DIFFERENT China was from my culture in most ways: food, language, customs, bathrooms, group mentality. Luckily, I’m good at laughing at myself, and was able to appreciate my social gaffes instead of getting frustrated at my naivety.
Yet I was surprised at how much I loved it. And how much hope it gave me, when I was expecting despair—especially going as part of an “environmental” contingent. The speed and determination with which the country implements new policies, programs, and ideas was reassuring. Even refreshing. And, yes, slightly terrifying, too.
In some ways, the country is leaps ahead of us, at least on the water conservation front. For instance, instead of debating “septic tank vs sewer” when building wasteware infrastructure in rural regions, the government just skipped straight to composting toilets, with cheap, efficient systems that deal with human waste,add nutrients to croplands, and use natural wetland processes to filter the water. A solution that delivers triple-bottom-line benefits.
It was remarkable to see the scale of consumption … and even more than that, the general sense of entitlement felt by 1+ billion Chinese to consume as much as they want. And why not? We Americans started it, after all. You can buy anything you might ever need just by crossing the street. The cities have underpasses that functions both as a mall full of vendor stalls, and as a way for pedestrians to survive crossing 8 lanes of hectic multi-modal traffic by keeping them beneath it. Ingenious.
If I were to use 5 words to describe my visit to Beijing and Guiyang cities, they would be: overwhelming, tasty, loud, confusing, fascinating. A few highlights:
- I ate 100-year-old quail eggs, chicken knees, and pig feet.
- I sampled foot massages in dozens of venues (and realized—the hard way—that they don’t get naked for massage in China).
- I got really good at peeing standing up.
- I felt in my bones the history of the Chinese civilization, and how shiny-new and small America is in comparison.
- I realized how unique the individualistic perspective of the West is on this earth, and witnessed the how and the why of cherishing the community, the whole, and the society over one person.
