Understanding China
by Brother Rogers
In the spring of 2000, I had the opportunity to see China perhaps like no one since Marco Polo. I was part of a five-person delegation from Mississippi on a four-week trip to China sponsored by Rotary International. Rotary’s goal is to promote world peace and understanding.
The purpose of our trip was to learn about Chinese culture, politics, and business from interacting with the Chinese people. They treated us like VIPs everywhere we went.
Our team from Mississippi visited four primary areas: Beijing, the center of government; Shenyang, an aging industrial center near North Korea; Xian, the ancient capital of China and endpoint of the historic Silk Road; and Shanghai, the cosmopolitan financial capital and symbol of modern China.
One inescapable conclusion from our visit is that China does things on a grand scale. Of course, their population is the largest in the world at 1.3 billion. (By comparison, the U.S. has less than .3 billion people). The Great Wall is 3,000 miles long and was originally built over 2,000 years ago. The Chinese imperial political system lasted from 220 B.C. to 1912 A.D.
Tiananmen Square is the largest public square in the world. The Forbidden City is the largest ancient royal home in existence. Beijing’s Summer Palace is larger than Central Park in New York. China is home to the largest cave in Asia (which we visited in Benxi), and it contains the longest underground river in the world. You get the picture. Size and scale take on new meaning in China.
Meals in China are very important occasions. All of our meals were served at large, round tables with a revolving lazy Susan in the middle. The food is not served all at once. Course after course continues to come out with seemingly no end in sight. We finally learned that serving slices of fruit, such as watermelon, signals the end of the meal.
Moreover, our hosts had never heard of moo goo gai pan or fortune cookies, confirming that Chinese food in America is not authentic Chinese cuisine.
We sampled dog meat, turtle soup (including the head and feet), lotus root, shark fin soup, and other unusual foods. I learned what most people already know—that eating Peking Duck means eating the entire duck, including feet, stomach, intestines, tongue and so forth. Also, the Chinese prefer the neck, back and skin of the chicken. As much chicken as we ate, I never once saw a breast, leg or thigh.
Despite seeing world-famous sites such as the Great Wall at Badaling, the 2,200-year-old terracotta warriors in Xian, or the sparkling new Oriental Pearl Tower in the Shanghai skyline, what impressed me most about China is the Chinese people.
Right now the Chinese and the Americans are not very close. We don’t have a strong relationship, and that leads to suspicion and misunderstanding. For example, nearly all the Chinese believe the U.S. intentionally bombed the Chinese embassy last year in Yugoslavia. Of course, most Americans think this bombing was accidental since we had nothing to gain from provoking an international incident with China. This episode demonstrates the gap of understanding which needs to be bridged by building relationships across the Pacific.
Building stronger relationships with the Chinese is definitely in America’s best interest because China is awakening as a world power economically, politically, and militarily. Moreover, everyday people in China are just plain nice.
Having a close relationship does not mean we will agree on everything. I have relatives with whom I don’t agree on much politically, but that doesn’t prevent us from having a close relationship.
One meeting with a Communist Party big cheese, or big potato as they say in China, made a distinct impression on me. He said, “When Americans think of China, they think of Communists. I am a member of the Communist Party, but I am a human being first.” Aren’t we all, and therein lies the basis for world peace and understanding.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and recently spent a month in China on a Rotary GSE Trip.
In the spring of 2000, I had the opportunity to see China perhaps like no one since Marco Polo. I was part of a five-person delegation from Mississippi on a four-week trip to China sponsored by Rotary International. Rotary’s goal is to promote world peace and understanding.
The purpose of our trip was to learn about Chinese culture, politics, and business from interacting with the Chinese people. They treated us like VIPs everywhere we went.
Our team from Mississippi visited four primary areas: Beijing, the center of government; Shenyang, an aging industrial center near North Korea; Xian, the ancient capital of China and endpoint of the historic Silk Road; and Shanghai, the cosmopolitan financial capital and symbol of modern China.
One inescapable conclusion from our visit is that China does things on a grand scale. Of course, their population is the largest in the world at 1.3 billion. (By comparison, the U.S. has less than .3 billion people). The Great Wall is 3,000 miles long and was originally built over 2,000 years ago. The Chinese imperial political system lasted from 220 B.C. to 1912 A.D.
Tiananmen Square is the largest public square in the world. The Forbidden City is the largest ancient royal home in existence. Beijing’s Summer Palace is larger than Central Park in New York. China is home to the largest cave in Asia (which we visited in Benxi), and it contains the longest underground river in the world. You get the picture. Size and scale take on new meaning in China.
Meals in China are very important occasions. All of our meals were served at large, round tables with a revolving lazy Susan in the middle. The food is not served all at once. Course after course continues to come out with seemingly no end in sight. We finally learned that serving slices of fruit, such as watermelon, signals the end of the meal.
Moreover, our hosts had never heard of moo goo gai pan or fortune cookies, confirming that Chinese food in America is not authentic Chinese cuisine.
We sampled dog meat, turtle soup (including the head and feet), lotus root, shark fin soup, and other unusual foods. I learned what most people already know—that eating Peking Duck means eating the entire duck, including feet, stomach, intestines, tongue and so forth. Also, the Chinese prefer the neck, back and skin of the chicken. As much chicken as we ate, I never once saw a breast, leg or thigh.
Despite seeing world-famous sites such as the Great Wall at Badaling, the 2,200-year-old terracotta warriors in Xian, or the sparkling new Oriental Pearl Tower in the Shanghai skyline, what impressed me most about China is the Chinese people.
Right now the Chinese and the Americans are not very close. We don’t have a strong relationship, and that leads to suspicion and misunderstanding. For example, nearly all the Chinese believe the U.S. intentionally bombed the Chinese embassy last year in Yugoslavia. Of course, most Americans think this bombing was accidental since we had nothing to gain from provoking an international incident with China. This episode demonstrates the gap of understanding which needs to be bridged by building relationships across the Pacific.
Building stronger relationships with the Chinese is definitely in America’s best interest because China is awakening as a world power economically, politically, and militarily. Moreover, everyday people in China are just plain nice.
Having a close relationship does not mean we will agree on everything. I have relatives with whom I don’t agree on much politically, but that doesn’t prevent us from having a close relationship.
One meeting with a Communist Party big cheese, or big potato as they say in China, made a distinct impression on me. He said, “When Americans think of China, they think of Communists. I am a member of the Communist Party, but I am a human being first.” Aren’t we all, and therein lies the basis for world peace and understanding.
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and recently spent a month in China on a Rotary GSE Trip.