China…

I’ve always told people it’s not terribly high on my ‘to-go’ list.

I’ve always seen it as a pretty intimidating, impenetrable, unwelcoming country.

I’ve always assumed that the language barrier would just be too great, and the culture, just too… different.

I’ve always told myself to just continue travelling elsewhere, and when I’m a little more mature, maybe then try China.

So I think I surprised even myself when I boarded the flight:

AMS – CTU

Amsterdam to Chengdu.

And there I was, renting an apartment in one of western China’s core economic hubs, joining the other 14 million inhabitants on my daily commute to my internship with a business consultancy firm.

Exciting stuff, and more than anything I was hoping to prove myself entirely and unquestionably wrong on my uninformed notions and stereotypes of the country and its inhabitants, and endeavour to prove to you all how unfounded preconceptions are all too often extreme misconceptions. I began this blog on 30/07/2014, and left Chengdu on 05/10/2014, yet it still is not quite complete… Please follow me, because at some point the rest (and best!) will eventually make it online.

It is time, however, to reassess the following sentences:

I will now always tell people that China is…
Diverse. Exciting. Modern.
Yet simultaneously intimate. Caring. Inclusive.
And also resilient, innovative and awe-inspiring.

I will now always see China as…
A country of contrasts. Cities that are all skyscrapers, high heels and fast cars. Villages nestled in forested valleys, shrouded in the dawn cloud-oceans that have yet to be coaxed into the wide blue skies by the rising sun. Those clouds, that then dance upwards to tarry amidst the summits of some of the world’s highest and most majestic mountains.

I will now always assume…
Nothing.

I will now always tell myself to…
Keep exploring. Keep surprising myself. Keep being spontaneous. Because those three things make the future such a wonderfully exciting place to be heading for.

To visit my other travel blogs, please go to my main overview site, A Bune Abroad

7 thoughts on “China…”

    • Thank you Tavy!

      I’ll be posting as often as I can, and if there’s anything you want to hear more about just let me know 🙂

      Hope you’re well, and having a lovely summer so far.

      Lots of love x

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  2. Very interesting I must say and can’t wait to get your posts! I guess I will have to follow you as well here. China has always fascinated me and I hope to live there one day. In fact I just turned down a job there as my memoir about my life in Sri Lanka is taking longer to write than expected. Since we did not get to meet in in Sri Lanka, maybe we can meet in China one day?

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    • Thanks Doria – great to hear from you! It must be interesting to be writing up all your memoirs. How did your second trip there go? Are you enjoying the write up? I received your other comment too, and yes, certainly I will send you my findings! I’ve submitted one copy of my project to my tutor, but as I’m out in China I can’t get the written feedback until I’m back. I’m going to try and summarise the findings in a neat write-up once I’ve received the feedback, as there’s a blog on conflict who are also interested, so once I’ve done that I’ll let you know! And yes, indeed perhaps we will cross paths at some point!

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