Final Thoughts on China
This had been our hardest trip...language barrier, cold...our quick exit...but mostly seeing people in such desperate need of water, heat, education & mostly acceptance. I felt I had so little to offer and what I did was but a drop in a bucket that seemed to have holes in it. Their own determination to improve was the brightest beam of hope and witnessing that was what inspired me to do whatever I could. I won't forget the joy on the faces of the old & the love the children showered on me. I loved our team and felt each gave their all so we had accomplished the most we could.
China itself was a wonder...acient like I'd never seen or felt...the Great Wall, the Terra Cotta Warriors, the tombs, the Stone Forest. When we speak of old we say hundreds, they say thousands. And yet amidst that old are islands of very new...solar heat...bullet train... amazing roads...buildings with unique architecture. And the forest of highrise buildings going up...up...up. In China the crane (bird) stands for longevity but today it seems to mean future as they are thousands cranes (the structure) creating the new China. So many we met are hoping and looking forward to that better future. And as in all the countries we've traveled to...their crown of jewels are the people: helpful, happy, hopeful, curious, caring and so friendly to us...and the shear number of people there is hard to grasp. China may be full of walls around cities & homes, but they sure opened a warm & welcoming door for us and I'm so glad we entered!!!
