I have to admit, when it comes to China, and what I was to expect when I arrived there for hte first time in July 2006, I was completely ignorant and naive. Although I have met many Chinese people in my life, both American-born and China natives, that were just as Westernized as anyone else I knew, I for some reason, was expecting to go back in time, to a place where everyone rode around on bicycles, were pulled by rickshaws, fanned themselves with painted Chinese fans and wore the typical grey Mao Zedong suits. Boy was I surprised!

I decided to visit China for the first time as a volunteer English teacher. What better way to get to know a country, I thought, then to sit in a classroom full of bright young students for a few hours a day, right? I thought the school would also be able to help me get acclimated and provide me with enough English speakers so I wouldn't feel totally lost. All of this is 100% true and I strongly recommend it to anyone who can escape their lives in the states for a month or more. I was lucky enough to find a great program out of San Francisco that helped arrange the whole thing at minimal cost to me and that provided me practically everything I needed to feel as comfortable as I could possibly be in a foreign a land.

My first night in China was in Shanghai, and it absolutely amazed me! I could not believe my eyes; not only that the city was so big, vibrant, and capitalistic, but that in one short evening it seemed more modern than any other city I had been in; and I've been to many cities in the 13 countries I've visited. Soaring skyscrapers, bustling freeways, constructions towers left, right, above and below you, and some of the best looking people I've ever seen sporting some of the trendiest cloths I've ever laid eyes on. And this was just within the first few hours of arriving. Unfortunately, this stay in Shanghai was brief as I, along with three other American volunteer teachers, was told I needed to board a train the next day to the small town of Zhuzhou in Hunan province where I was to be teaching.

What a difference a train station makes! Now although there are some really nice trains throughout China, like the one between Shanghai and Beijing, or Xi'an and Beijing, or Shanghai and Hangzhou, this particular train that I was on, heading to a small town in central China, was not one of those nice trains. Since I consider myself to be quite an adventurous person, I actually found it quite entertaining and educational. This is where I finally started to see some of the things I was expecting to see in China; Families carrying their entire possessions on their backs, including chickens in their hands that they probably were planning to have for dinner that night; the famous "slit pants" open down the middle to allow young children not yet potty trained to relieve themselves without ruining their pants; and the curious looks on the faces of young children, while sucking on chicken feet, as they watched these four foreigners try to get acclimated to this new situation.

Unfortunately, this was also the first time I had even heard that many parts of China didn't have toilets! And our train was one of those places. You may be wondering at this point what we did have if there weren't toilets. Well, it was pretty much just a hole in the floor that opened up to expose the railroad tracks below when you hit the flush button; quite an interesting sight for the first time visitor to China. Needless to say, I decided to hold it until arriving to our destination.

Upon arrival, we were treated extremely well. We were welcomed by the headmaster of our school and an administrative assistant, both of whom spoke near perfect Chinglish. The welcome was rather quick, however, as we were rushed into the cars waiting for us just outside the train station. Apparently, however, they had underestimated the packing habits of Americans so they needed to hire an extra taxi to help transport our bags that we just couldn't make room for. This was the first of many things they would come to learn, and be surprised, about us and our habits as well.

Once again, I was pretty shocked to learn some details about our new home for the next month. This town, considered a small town by China standards, had a population of almost four million people, four KFCs at the time (and at least six at the time of writing this article), two McDonald's and enough shopping centers to fill my entire hometown of Pasadena, California. In fact, I don't think Pasadena is able to beat out this town in any way when it comes to measurements, except maybe standard of living, of course. The town was bustling and I was once again seeing some of the things I was hoping to see in rural China. Makeshift automobiles that looked like they were built in someone's garage, small trucks carrying payloads that must have reached at least 20 feet high, street vendors hawking all sorts of goods and yes, the animals; dead ones hanging from store windows and live ones in cages; and all of this in just the drive to the hotel.

The next 30 days were full of experiences, stories, people and friendships that I will never forget. Since then, I have traveled to over 28 cities in China, visiting big cities and small towns alike, tropical resort towns, mountain retreats, isolated desert villages and bustling world-class metropolises; yet, to this day, the place that holds the dearest place in my heart is that small town of almost four million people smack dab in the middle of China; the place that Lonely Planet describes briefly in its China book as a town only likely to be visited by tourist looking to change trains.

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