West Village, NYC. It was late, getting later. They’d already closed the windows to the bar, likely to abide by some neighbourhood noise ordinance.
We yell at each other to be heard.
“What was it like?”, my colleague said as softly as possible, and yet, it was still a bit of a shout.
She was asking about China. About the 9+ months that I had spent there.
So for the first time ever, I started to tell her in several acts, the brilliance and the fallacy of it all. And after only a handful of examples, my eyes started to well, I broke down and was only able to tell her this.
Describing China to someone who’s never been is like asking someone to describe love to someone who’s never been in love. How do you do it? How can someone understand the breadth and the depth of that particular experience until they’ve actually lived it? All the news, literature, poetry – no matter how much it may move you, it will move you so much more once you’ve lived it. It’s just that simple.
And if you’ve never experienced it, either love, or China, no words could ever describe it. No experience could ever replace it.
So for all the people who wonder, just go. Experience it for yourself. And if you come back, I’ll know by the look in your eyes that you’ve lived it.
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China in a nutshell is impossible
Lived it for a year. Visited for over a month on five occasions. And there are a great deal of adjectives to describe it. Sadly many are negative. There are some great things about China. But there is an awful lot wrong with it. No country is perfect. But China is far from so. Culture shock, yes. Cultured, rarely. Contradictory, often. China; rude, dirty and annoying for the most part. But interesting, yes, frustrating, most definitely. But also an unforgettable experience!