More true to tradition, the love of tea is still deeply rooted as it seems customary for people to carry a long glass container with hot water and tea wherever they go. It is still more common for people to drink hot beverages instead of ice water in restaurants partly due to tradition and also for sanitary reasons.

In a large city like Shanghai, the multitudes of people surging against the passage of cars makes jaywalking even more rampant then in New York. Most men seem to smoke everywhere as restrictions are lax, but it is hard to find women who do. Personal space seems to be a lost concept in this heavily populated city, as people push and pull through traffic. Haggling seems to be a way of life in the new market economy. No one is shy when they solicit you to stay in their hotels, ride their buses and cabs and buy their "mai mai" or small foods.

On the bus that I am taking to my hometown, Wuhu, the driver and a middle-aged woman begin arguing over the fare for her son. They argue over his height and whether he is over 1 meter tall. The women wants to pay only half price, but the driver argues that the boy occupies a full seat. Eventually, the woman and her son give up the fight and leave the bus while others crowd on eager to make the four hour journey sitting or standing. As the bus runs out of the seats and prepares to leave, many are forced to sit on small plastic chairs in the aisle of the bus. Profit overrides any concerns of safety.

Wuhu

While the cities of China have undergone modernization evident in the rising towers and bright lights that have awakened the sleeping country, the countryside remains largely the same.

Rectangular rows of rice fields litter the landscape separated by long lanes of water designed to provide the constant supply of water that is vital to producing the crop. The experience is not unlike driving through the American Midwest, only rice not corn dominates the landscape.

Four years ago, when I last took this trip, the roads were dust and telephone wires did not run parallel to the highway. Bare roads have been replaced by sleek, newly paved highways running from Shanghai to Nanking, to my smaller, home city, Wuhu. Unlike the changes I had heard of and expected in Shanghai, Wuhu was much more of a surprise. The small city where I was born had grown up as I have. There are large high-rise buildings, each ringed with smaller buildings around it, many of these apartment complexes. Little seemed familiar and I wonder what my grandparent's flat built of brick and mortar had become.

Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised to find out that their home had been demolished and rebuilt as an six story apartment complex as well. Walking up to the second floor I saw my grandfather's face peering out of the screen door. He began to smile as he saw me, and so did I. Time's changes did not alter the way his face crinkles up and the way my grandmother grasps my hand lovingly, however infrequently it is that she sees me. Their home is now no different from a western apartment. Equipped with the modern amenities of a gas stove, a toilet, a shower- this was indeed different from four years ago.

Gone were large, public bathrooms and one story homes where families would cook their meals with coal. Instead of living next to each other, families now lived on top of each other in low-rise buildings. Old traditions clashed with the new as my grandmother liked to keep the door open so neighbors could drop by and chat as they walked up and down to their own homes. However, my grandfather, fearful of burglars liked to keep the door closed at all times.

Beijing

Before setting off for Beijing, concerned family warned me about the "big city." Those warnings were probably not unlike those that people travelling to New York City receive.

"Beware of Beijing natives, they'll try to take advantage of you because your not from the city," cautioned my grandmother. Although I'm from New York, I felt strangely like a country bumpkin when travelling to the capital of China.

After arrival the atmosphere of Beijing was clearly different from Shanghai and Wuhu. The streets were cleaner and less people traveled by foot. The city was largely made up of the network of roads and bridges that formed concentric circles from the center of the city, Tiananmen Square. Preparations for the 2008 Olympics had already began with signs that read: "Beijing's people are friends to the world." Beijing's subway system was extremely clean, but limited as there were only two major lines. One line ran horizontal across the city and the other "loop" line traveled in a circle around the inner circle of the city. Tiananmen Square, the center of political controversy in China's contemporary history was expansive and surprisingly peaceful.

Hopeful Chinese line the street opposite the US Embassy everyday in hopes of obtaining a visa in order to travel to the "mei-guo" or the beautiful land. Their gaze is curious and hopeful as they watch those who enter and leave the embassy. Down the street fake clothing and bags are being sold to American and foreign tourists who have traveled to the area in order to visit various embassies. Fake Prada and Gucci bags line the walls of each stall while merchants entice buyers with extremely low prices for products which often look entirely genuine.

The weather in Beijing is often hazy as the skies are overcast with pollution. The summer days are known to be notoriously hot while at night the temperature drops steadily. On my last night in Beijing while riding a cab, a sunny dusk suddenly turned into heavy rain and hailstones. The hardened ice stones banged noisily against the car even as the driver assured me that the car would not be damaged. After arriving at the hotel, I was amazed to have survived the ride as several of the glass windows of the hotel had been shattered.