In December, 2008, I had the privilege of touring China for three weeks from Beijing to Shanghai to Hong Kong with travels excursions in between along the Yangtze and Li Rivers. While three weeks is not a long period of time much can be learned about another nation with concerted effort and visual observations. To say the least, what I was told and what I saw surprised me.

Until my visit to China my view of the nation was somewhat negative. I thought of China as a dark and forbidden country, closed to the West, culturally backwards with the people being under an oppressive regime. It was not too long ago that Chair Mao ruled and murdered his own people with such socially evil programs as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. But that was in the sixties and seventies. Today it is easy to see that new freedoms, social progress and economic prosperity have come to China. The amazing wealth of the nation is displayed everywhere. Multitudes of sky scrappers reach into the heavens in city after city as people move from slums to very nice dwelling places. It is not uncommon to have to strain the neck to gaze upon towering buildings 50 stories high and reaching upward to 80 stories. One building in Hong Kong soon to be completed will be 108 stories tall. There are so many new magnificent and majestic buildings in China. Everywhere one goes they discover China to be a nation under construction, literally.

Of particular concern to me is the state of the church in China. From what I was able to gather from a variety of sources is that there is much freedom of religion in the nation. I saw signs of religious freedom everywhere. On one building at least fifteen stories high there was a gigantic banner down the whole length of the building proclaiming in both Chinese and English that 'Jesus is Lord'. I was able to take a picture of the building. In every city I visited there were Christmas songs and not just holiday songs. In public places people listened to the words of Christian Christmas carols such as Silent Night, The Little Drummer Boy and O Come All Ye Faithful. As freedom of expressing faith in the Christian religion declines in America, freedom to embrace the Christian religion is on the rise in China. It may be that one day the Spirit of the Lord will leave America completely and let it sink deeper and deeper into the abyss of spiritual and moral darkness while the dawn of spiritual light grows and glows in a Communist nation. The gospel conquered and transformed the Roman Empire of old with all of its problems; surely the gospel can conquer whatever obstacles a Communist regime might impose on individuals. In fact, the gospel has already won the strategic victory in China. According to an official government count there are no fewer than twenty million Christians in China with eighteen millions Bibles having been printed in the country.

This is not to say that all the freedoms which Americans enjoy are the same in China for they are not. People cannot gather in public places to protest the government. Individuals must be careful not to appear as agitating others to overthrow the political status quo. To join the Communist part a person must embrace a non-religious philosophy of life. The image and spirit of Chairman Mao is still pronounced. However, people in China work hard, study hard and compete on every level. Private ownership of property is allowed and capitalistic business principles are obvious. There is upward class mobility and wealth that is hard to believe without witnessing it firsthand.

Much of the wealth of the nation is derived from the incredible artistic ability of the Chinese. "Made in China" might be a cliche for an inexpensive product but it also stands for incredible ability. Whether in architecture, landscaping, jewelry, pottery, woodworking, painting, photography or printing of books beautiful artistic creativity is on display. Other monies come from trade and tourism. Millions pour into China each year to visit the Great Wall or the Terra Cotta soldiers or the numerous other historical sites.

I was surprised by how much oil the Chinese people use in cooking and how many deep fried foods they have, not to mention their love for sugar. The Chinese put sugar on tomatoes and potatoes chips and even the popcorn. (They use way too much sugar --even for me.)

If you get a chance to visit China you will not want to miss out on the adventure of a life time and witness firsthand a nation in transformation. Change has come to China.