We visited a Children's Cultural Palace in Chengdu where we saw children as young as three playing music, dancing, painting, drawing, or practicing calligraphy. They appear to be learning some ancient Chinese arts. Our Chinese translator and guide, Melody, told us why a few of her friends send their child to the Palace. It seems most children are there for an interesting form of babysitting, or to enhance their college applications by knowing an art form. Few are sent to help keep traditional arts alive.

I find the people of Tibet very interesting. We have visited two cities, one with a mixed ethnicity and one mostly if not all Tibetan. The people of the rural city (Tagong) lead harsh lives by out standards. They use coal or wood for heat in there homes without venting the fumes to the outside. They only heat one or two rooms and the rest of the house is pretty much at the outside temperature. These are a tough and hearty people who don't complain and just take on their live mostly cheerfully.

I'm not sure one can really understand what stereotypes one has until those stereotypes are challenged. I think that this trip to China has both challenged the stereotypes we hold as Americans, and the stereotypes the Chinese people hold about us. It always surprises me who knows some English here, and clearly it surprises the Chinese people when we ask them, in Chinese, what the price of something is, or tell them that we aren't interested in buying it.

We just got back from 5 days in the Tibetan country. There we experienced how others live. Here in Chengdu it seems that the most important thing is to get where you need to be and get there fast. Everywhere you look you see people working whether is be business men on their phones, taxi drivers weaving in and out of traffic, or people selling food on the streets. Everyone is trying to make money and make it count. After spending time in Kangding and Tagong we got a different look at what life is like for these Chinese and Tibetans.

In today's get-rich-quick culture in China, it is a delight to find someone who defies the stereotype of a popular music superstar. Yadong is known all over China as the first Tibetan pop star, and he lives here in Chengdu. I have been working on getting an appointment with him for over a year, and last night finally succeeded. Our group of 13 students and myself, accompanied by two translators, met with YaDong for three hours at his studio complex in downtown Chengdu.

As I prepared to come visit China, I was especially excited to visit the Tibetan region within China. This was mainly due to my interest in Tibetan Buddhism and the way it will influence the people of Tibet. However I was not expecting a warm welcome due to the usual reserved attitude towards foreigners that I had expected from the Buddhist monks. This stereotype was blown out of the water the second we arrived in the small town Tagong. When we exited the car we were surrounded by the familiar sound of Hello.

Daily life here in Chengdu is fast paced. Pedestrians, taxis, cars and buses all rush to get from one destination to the next. From the early morning to around midnight, people are always seem to be on a mission. The only time that I have seen people completely relaxed was at the People's Park where the elderly come together for martial arts, sword fighting, yoga, dancing and singing. We were told that once you retire in China, it is hard for the elderly to go from a structured, hard working life to a slow paced, relaxing environment.

Students with very little pocket money like to go to Hot Pots in China. They are an inexpensive way to eat out. Typically, at Hot Pot restaraunt there are two boiling pots filled with a different kind of flavored soup and people add a variety of vegetables or meat into either pot. When the various foodstuffs are adequately cooked they are removed from the soup (with chopsticks) and eaten.

Before I came to China I had the stereotype that the Chinese people were very quite and reserved. Anyone who has ever walked down a popular tourist site in Bejing knows better. Over-eager "merchants" shout "Hello", "You buy, You buy" amd "Is very good" along with other very simple yet pushy sentences. Very quickly we all learned to say "BU YAO", which means "Do not want." On one occassion a merchant grabbed a girl by the arm and Ira, a sergeant in the military, had to come to her aid.

At this point in my life, I go about things in a very individualistic fashion. I come across new things everyday, experiences that I attempt to ride through, getting jarred by turbulance along the way. This study away course I feel hasn't done more than change my perception as it changes everyday, but I do feel It has changed it in a much more descisive way. Instead trudging about Salem, Oregon or the PLU campus, I'm in China where my surroundings are as confusing as a labyrinth.