If you were to host someone from a different country, what would you highlight to show off America? Would you bring them to the Statue of Liberty and impress upon them that the US is a melting pot of many different cultures? Would you visit the Grand Canyon or the Great Lakes and regale them with the abundance of natural beauty that the country has been blessed? Or would you simply sit with them in a fast food restaurant (a symbol of American efficiency) and brag that the Internet, the airplane, and the electric light bulb were all invented here?
Now what if the roles were reversed and the foreigner was an American and the country was instead the People’s Republic of China?
You might begin with silk and a visit to a government-run silk factory. There you would teach them about the centuries-old and highly-guarded technique of teasing the delicate fibers from silkworm cocoons. You might even offer them the rare opportunity to purchase some one-of-a-kind silk products.
Next you would move on to Jade. Visitors would learn about the varying shades of the semi-precious stone and their corresponding healing properties at a state-sponsored jade emporium. That flawless jade bangle might seem a bit pricey but it pales in comparison to how well it will help with mental well-being and kidney detoxification.
Add more bang for the buck by throwing in a trip to a very “exclusive” Pearl farm.
Maybe also tout the long history and use of TCM (“Traditional Chinese Medicine”) in the country and its growing popularity in the West as an alternative healing modality. Remind them that the medicinal ingredients the practitioner recommended for their aching feet can also be found in any Chinatown the world over.
Appeal to their humanity (not to mention their sore limbs) and treat the visitor to some relaxation at a massage school for the blind, where generous tips go a long way in helping those shunned members of society.
Let the piece de resistance be a private tour of a tea plantation where the very best tea is reserved only for the highest government officials and where the tea is so delicious that the native fauna is reluctant to leave.
