Oh my gosh! it has been a great year for Beijing, China. First of all they host the 2008 Olympic games and now the ancient city will play host to the “Sheridan Dental , World tour.”
The office team had a vision about a year and a half ago to begin to save toward a special office trip. We dreamed big and came up with China. At the time we didn’t know how long it would take to save the money needed for an endeavor of this magnitude. Looking back it has gone rather quickly.
I didn’t think at the time that China would be so prominent in our western media. First of all the tragic earthquake in Sichuan province captured the attention of our media. From our living rooms we could see the pain and resilience of the chinese people. We wept and prayed for them.
Just a few months later and we get to celebrate with them as the chinese host their first Oympic games. We have been reaping the benefits of the increased media coverage of China and now we have loads of interesting places to see and learn about.
My son, who has studied in Beijing for the last 8 months has provided us with connections to several Chinese citizens. These chinese people are anxious to make some new american friends and practice speaking english, and we are excited to get and insiders peak into Beijing and Shanghai. They will show us a little of the Beijing that only the locals know about. Of course we will see the great wonders of the area such as the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall but we also hope to sample lots of traditional foods and experience the chinese customs.
Through this trip I hope to get a better understanding of the chinese people and I want to learn how they deal with dental health in their country. As their middle class continues to grow I think some of their attention can turn away from mere survival and towards improving their dental and physical health.