About the site

A story from Cherry:

This story began in Brooklyn, 2011. I participated in an international “work and travel” program, which was hosted by my college in China. This international program offered students an opportunity to work in America for three months to gain working experience, and also provided an extra month for students to travel in the U.S.

I never thought about what would happen in the four months. I packed my luggage and went to America for my three-month internship. My first internship in America was a cashier in a restaurant in Coney Island, New York. Sometimes I felt nervous about dealing with the coins. In China, we only have dimes and Yuan for coins, so making decisions on dollars, quarters, dimes and cents was a new challenge for me. Luckily, as a Chinese girl, I experienced exam-oriented education before my college life. Although my math is very bad, it’s enough for me to count money (You can treat it as a stereotype thing). I had a wonderful time in America.

“Have you ever been bored of counting money?” Some of my friends asked me this question. No, I am good at digging happiness in different working environment. I enjoyed my customers’ smiles after I finished their orders.

It was around 1 p.m. in the afternoon on Aug. 21 when a young man ordered a crab sandwich from me and paid by his credit card. He told me that he and his friends rode bicycles to Coney Island from New Port, NJ. He looked very tired and hungry at that time. These were all the impression and memories I had for this Chinese young man.

Three years later after this young man, Yaxuan held my hand and we went to the 141 Worth Street, NY for our marriage license. Since we knew each other from traveling, traveling became more meaningful to us. We traveled together in our spare time, and we have been to many places in China, such as Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Inner Muglia, Anhui, Tibet, etc. He used his Canon 7D to capture beautiful sceneries of different parts in China.

He is the reason why I am here in America. Now, I have a lot of American friends here. I heard some of my American friends said that they love Chinese food. I am so happy to hear that. However, they added, especially the General Tso’s Chicken. Unluckily, as a native Chinese I have no idea about General Tso’s Chicken before I came to America. When I told my friends I came from China, many of them told me they know Beijing or Shanghai. Then, I told them I came from Anhui province, which is not far away from Shanghai.

I will introduce more about authentic Chinese food and interesting, beautiful places in China other than Beijing, Shanghai in this blog and share them to my friends. I hope that one day when I tell my friends I come from Anhui, China, they know where it is. Through reading this blog, readers will have a chance to know more about China, and this blog may offer them inspiration for deciding their next travel destination.

A story from Ray:

Cherry and I are not only friends from same class, but also come from the same hometown in Hefei, Anhui province, China.

One day, when I was on the train to Pleasantville, a train conductor stopped by me and asked “are you talking in Chinese”. After she got a yes answer, she asked me a question, “can China town in New York represent the current styles and features of mainland in China?” At that moment, I was a little astonished since today there is a big difference between China and China town and cannot be explained in a few words. Then, I just answered him, “No. It has a huge difference.”

In a second, I realized as a Chinese in New York I should do something to disseminate the beauty of China. For those who are interested in Chinese culture they will obtain useful information from this blog. Before I started my communications study at Pace University, I had achieved my bachelor’s degree in Chinese literature and linguistic, which allows me to explore art and history further. I hope this background can help me introduce fascinating Chinese custom and history, explore and share my thought essence to our blog readers.  

Our blog will use contextual content and visual effects including maps, photos, and videos to introduce unique sites, traditional food and mysterious customs in different regions of China. Additionally, we will introduce some Chinese typical methods about health regime and philosophy that may help people live more comfortable in a fast pace life, especially in New York. We want to provide our blog readers information in a vivid and visual way. After westerners read our blog, we hope when they talk about China, the Great Wall will not be the only famous site in their mind and help them build a solid understanding of China.

Thanks for your reading and let us step into a new journey.