love at first sight?

Before I even knew I would have the chance of going to China this year, I pictured my China in a lovely way. It was a sort of romantized China to say the least.

I guess that in my mind and heart I wanted to fall in love with China, its culture and its people. I remember desiring to breathe in Beijing and feel something I had never felt in my whole life. I did fall in love with China, its culture and specially the Chinese people, but it wasn't love at first sight. Maybe it was love at first sight until I had my first meal. Haha. No, not really. While I was daydreaming during my flight, I could almost see my happy face about everything I would do in China. I really thought it was going to be a perfect dream.

The fact that food and some Chinese manners were a problem for me at first didn't make me give up on Chinese or China. It was just a matter of time and patience and I could cope with that. Experiencing a real, tangible, palpable China in 10 days was more than I could ask. I wasn't frustrated for not having the dreamlike country I was looking forward to.

China is a country full of surprises and unthinkable things. I didn't get the chance to see them all, but I'll enjoy discovering them.