Introduction

Enter the Dragon – Cheesy title, real implications

China – does anyone really understand it completely? I had the opportunity to come to China in the summer of 2008 as an Environmental Health and Safety Intern at the PPG Tianjin facility. Despite my half-Chinese background, my knowledge of China was extremely limited and essentially composed of a mishmash of biased media presentations, angry derisions from classmates at my university and the disrespectful pot-shots from westerners who believe they know everything about this great, mysterious land. However, nothing could have prepared me for the real China. Upon arrival, my expectations were exceeded, ideas changed and admiration heightened. In this blog, I hope to paint you a picture of a real experience of China, without all of those condescending biases which seem to be so often applied. I just want to say it outright that I adore China, and hopefully you’re interested in finding out why this is the case.

As for the title of the blog, I came to China with an environmentalist’s background. I am currently studying Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences at Queen’s University in Kingston. As you might have guessed, my education and surroundings often convey the idea that corporations are large and evil polluters, and that China is a scourge upon the world’s environment. Those certainly are strong and overtly biased lessons, but they seem to be stamped in many people’s minds over in the west. Conversely, as a green leaf blowing in the great winds of China’s change, I am more than pleased with the progress over here! I believe that China is taking great strides to improve its ecological footprint and is quickly becoming a world leader of environmental conservation. In this blog, I hope to communicate my daily experiences and powerful moments which have helped convince me that this is the case. I hope that this blog can stimulate debate, change minds and open eyes to the place I’m now experiencing. There certainly is a smokescreen up around China. I’m not sure why it is there, but I certainly hope that this blog will change things. Hopefully, my experiences will help cast off the shadowy veil of groundless, negative opinions that so many have used over time to blanket China. Hopefully, this blog can be a step towards more mutual East - West cooperation and understanding.