On the 29th of August, my parents, my brother, my partner and I set forth on a far away journey through China. Starting in Shanghai, our trip took us past many places right in the center of this huge country, and ending up in the North in Beijing. For me personally, it had been 10 years since I was last in China, during my exchange program with AFS. For my fellow travellers, it was their first time, so it would be fun and interesting to see what they thought of this place.
My time in China 10 years ago changed me in ways I could not have imagined. It set me on a path that I am now able to walk with a fully committed heart. Being back in China and revisiting some of the places that I used to walk past daily truly rekindled within me something I hadn’t fully felt in years: a feeling of freedom, wonder and curiosity. It allowed me to reflect back on the teenager I was a decade ago, and where I stand now as an adult.
Apart from a trip down memory lane, the journey took us all to a lot of new places as well. Visiting several villages of the Miao and Dong ethnic minorities seemed to teleport us into a different reality. The craftsmanship that the people there showed through their architecture, their making of clothing, jewelry and art, the cooking of food, their way of agriculture, was most plainly put astonishing. It made me happy that these traditions still survive in our modern era, and sad because of the loss and emptiness of tradition and knowledge that I experience in my own life. For a moment while being in those villages, that hunger was stilled and I could sense a way of being human that is built on community, rather than individuality.
There are two days that stood out for me during our trip. The first was on the 4th of September. We were in Yangshuo, which is a very beautiful place with incredibly steep mountains that seem to be swallowed up by rivers, nature and farmland. On this day, we went on a long bike tour, with a bamboo raft ride along the Yulong river in the middle. It was during this experience on the river, that my partner and I got engaged. The whole rest of the day was filled with love and excitement, congratulations from all angles, and of course good food.
The second day that stood out the most for me was when we visited the Shaolin temple. I honestly felt like a kid in a theme park. We watched an amazing kung fu performance, visited the temple complex and walked past many more spiritually significant places. I also received about half an hour of tui na massage that helped me greatly with a pain I had been having in my neck for a good while now, reminding me that while there is a lot that one can do by themselves to stay healthy, some things you cannot and that it is okay to ask for help. The whole day ignited in me a sense of discipline and will to dedicate myself further in the path of martial arts, spirituality and traditional healing methods, for myself, but more importantly for others.
There is a lot more that happened during our trip that I won’t mention here. China is truly a vast land with a deep, rich history and culture. For anyone who has the opportunity and ability to visit this country, I would highly recommend it. If you do, have done or want to, feel free to send me a message to chat.