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comment by OftenBen
OftenBen  ·  1940 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Traveling in Xinjiang

Business or pleasure?





bryson1216  ·  1862 days ago  ·  link  ·  

both

steve  ·  1924 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Pleasure? I guess? I don't do well sitting on beaches... I like to go places, take photos, eat street food, and meet people.

OftenBen  ·  1924 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Sounds like pleasure to me. I feel similarly.

What interested you guys in the area to begin with?

steve  ·  1919 days ago  ·  link  ·  

My dad has been a China nut since he spent time in Taiwan during the mid 60s. He got to go to the mainland for the first time in 1980, and has been back 25+ times on various academic, business, and leisure trips. I grew up watching him curate the hundreds of slides he shot while in country. Most of his friends when I was a child were from China. I can't count the number of Chinese New Years parties we attended as a family - we would be the only non-chinese family there. Even though he's of eurpean-mutt heritage genetically... I've always felt like he was Chinese at heart.

I've been a few times as an adult. I love it there. It's an itch I have to scratch every couple of years.

OftenBen  ·  1919 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Sounds like something a bit beyond 'pleasure' then!

Hope things pan out for your trip.

What's a common misconception among people who have never been to China, and what is the reality?