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. Most of the time our Chinese gets a laugh first, followed by a response that we usually can't understand and have to request for it to be written down. Experiences and encounters like this work to both support and challenge stereotypes. I hope that we are challenging the stereotypical view of Americans as greedy, self-centered people, and I know that I have gained a deeper understanding of how Chinese society functions under a authoritarian government, and the subtle ways they are establishing individuality. My hope is that we are supporting the positive parts of stereotypes and challenging the bad, while opening doors to further experience each others' cultures to develop accurate perceptions and an understanding that one does not represent all.