After an exciting and activity filled Spring Break, we finally headed back to the US. My time in China had broadened my horizons, and exposed me to a culture and environment very different to the one that I was used to back home. I had enjoyed my time in China, but I was very glad to return to the United States, and the freedoms and amenities which I have become used too. Mobility, pollution, political suppression, and access to the internet and social media were all issues in China that were not issues I encountered in my everyday life in the US.
If I could repeat this trip again, there is little that I would do differently; the process of learning and exploration that we undertook on our trip to Shanghai and Beijing was invaluable in giving me a broadened perspective toward the socio-economic layout of a complicated and rising nation. I would probably have chosen a slightly different project idea originally, as I did not find much evidence for my first proposal. I also would have brought more basic amenities (razors, shaving cream, etc) and learned more Chinese prior to leaving on the trip.
If I return to China, I would want to speak with more government officials or university lecturers in Shanghai and Beijing. Further, I would like to visit the more rural areas of China or explore some of the “smaller” Chinese cities. At the end of the trip, I can say that I have certainly gained a new appreciation for life here in the States, while at the same time an appreciation for the complex ambitions and faults of the modern Chinese state.