At home on the other side of the planet

No matter how much I thought I knew about China, as soon as I got here after leaving my native Spain, I discovered I was wrong. The contrasts were way beyond my expectations, and discovering the Chinese way of life has been an interesting experience.

Sir Alan Donald wrote: "There is no such thing as a Western 'expert' on China, only varying degrees of ignorance." And that's part of the charm of living in this country.

When Marco Polo arrived in China, paper money, coal, silk garments and gunpowder amazed him. Today "modern explorers", known as tourists, are surprised by other things. They follow with their eyes small kids running around wearing typical Chinese split pants. They can barely believe that a proper Chinese woman would be going to the supermarket in her pajamas and flip-flops.