I spent the week before I went to China worrying about all the negative stereotypes about it. Poor hygiene, would I like the food, humidity, safety, WhatsApp access so that I can call my family without crippling call costs and authoritarianism. Etc…

On all these fronts, however, my fears were assuaged when I arrived in China. One important thing I learned was to go into things with an open mind and anticipate the best instead of the worst. Perhaps I’m just speaking for myself, but the Western view of mainland China is, unsurprisingly, highly critical. It is of course right to focus on human rights abuses and lack of certain freedoms in China, which are indeed true. But if that is the only image of China we have, indeed it was the one I previously did, it means we rule out any ideas of there being any fantastic people going about their normal lives. 

The people I met in China were incredibly kind to us and so interested in meeting foreigners. I expected hostility but only got friendliness and gestures of kindness: whether that be people and schoolchildren’s parents wanting to cook for you, to people coming up to us on the street to practise their English with a warm smile. When you meet Chinese people, you instantly realise the stereotypes about the country don’t seem to add up. This serves as a wider lesson in judging people and categorising them, as we tend to do. It made me question why also I went into it so negatively, assuming the worst of a whole group of people. It seems obviously irrational, but at that time that it is your judgement. Reminding yourself why on earth they would be different to you helps prevent that.

On another note, I am currently dreaming about a bowl of Guilin rice noodles and a nice mango smoothie (my lunch staple) which brings me on to my next topic. The food, its affordability and freshness, was one of my favourite aspects about China. I imagined myself having not the best relationship with Chinese food, since beforehand, I never especially sought after it nor ate it frequently. However, everything was simply fantastic: the variety, flavour and food portion too. English cuisine has simply nothing to offer in comparison: the only thing that comes to mind is potatoes, meat and boiled vegetables.

As I write this, there are many aspects of China I already miss greatly: indeed, before I left China after my fantastic experience there, I had similar worries about returning to the UK – food, safety and the cold etc… It only remains to be said that I only explored a small slither of it in the south and cannot wait to see more!

Trying not to sound too cliché but having no clue how to write succinctly otherwise, the most important lessons I learned were the importance of keeping an open mind when starting new things and thinking positively about the future. It always turns out better than we fear it might.