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China: Intro

September 2017

By Kelsi

Everything in China's extensive history holds meaning. Everyday customs, elaborate celebrations, and ancient traditions are all steeped in significance and ritual.

And I found immediate connection with this – it's similar to how I write; every indent, comma, and metaphor has layers, purpose, and intent.

So in these entries, I honor this.

In Chinese culture, six is one of many luck-filled numbers. I've segmented my collection of writings for this trip into six entries: Beijing, The Great Wall, Qingdao, Suzhou, Jiaxing, and Shanghai.

For the two weeks I spent in China, I was completely removed from the outside world. No Facebook, no news, no Internet, no tweets.

This disconnect allowed me to connect. I checked the mental baggage of home at the airport, and plunged into this country face-first. (And here's to all that dead weight being lost in transport, because I know I’m better off without it.)

Every time I travel abroad, I come home with something new: a learning, a cerebral trinket – my mental souvenir. I always return with this gift; it's something I've come to expect. I feel kind of like a child at Christmas; eager with a tentative excitement knowing that a present is on its way, paired with the flutter of curiosity for what's beneath the wrapping.

No matter how much I anticipate its delivery, the gift's content is always a surprise. The expected memento is never what I expect. So at this point, I've stopped even trying to guess and simply let it come to me as it will, bestowing itself to me with no effort on my part. This is, after all, the definition of a gift.

So get to it, Kels. What is this trip's acquired gift?

Well.

Perhaps because China was the farthest from my cultural comfort zone than any place I have ever been, or maybe it's because of everything going on in the world right now (or some combination of the two), this trip ignited within me an even stronger belief: we all have more in common than we realize, we are not as different as we may initially think, and there is more connecting us than pulling us apart.

It’s a beautiful, unifying sentiment. And one that I would often unknowingly capture throughout the two weeks.

As human beings, we all seek connection – with friends, family, or strangers; it is the adhesive that bonds us to one another, and wraps our lives in a sense of relevance, meaning, and purpose – much like the multiple levels of relevance, meaning, and purpose I was to experience first-hand in China.

I was aware that China has a very complex history, but I was to soon experience first-hand that its culture was more deeply-rooted, intricate, and immensely rich than I ever anticipated. Thank you for that gift.

First stop: Beijing.

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