One of the many things I find so enlightening about my travels is the extent to which I learn about world politics and goings-on beyond what I hear at home in the news or social media.
To say that travel expands my understanding of current world affairs is an understatement. Often I have to step out of my immediate circle of reference to get a better picture of what is really going on around me.
Sometimes we are so focused on what is happening under our nose that it behooves us to pull back the camera angle to panoramic and see what is really happening around the world that ultimately affects us at home.
Take the example of China for instance. China is a country I love to visit and Zoom China is a well-balanced trip that hits all the major cultural highlights of China’s glorious past and present. Visiting Xian, one is reminded that China is a country with a 2,000 plus year history of conquering. The great Terra Cotta Warriors army shows how they did it 2,000 years ago.
But to understand how China continues to be relevant you also have to look outside China. For instance, it’s no secret that China has been quietly building infrastructure around the world and buying political influence through the implementation of massive building projects. On recent trips on Zoom Southern Africa, Zoom Rwanda and Tanzania, Zoom India, Zoom Sri Lanka and Zoom Maldives I saw first-hand China’s involvement.
In mineral rich Africa, one can hardly ignore the many hospital and highway projects China has donated. In Maldives, the Chinese are expanding the airport island and a massive new bridge between Male island and the airport island. They have become so good at creating islands out of nothing that they are lending their talent to the Maldivians to build islands to expand the land mass of this country of gorgeous vanishing islands and atolls. Well, thanks to the Chinese the Moldavians’ global warming concerns of sinking islands is becoming less of an issue.
In Sri Lanka, the Chinese are building an impressive residential and entertainment island complex in Colombo that will give Singapore a run for its money. One can hardly blame the Chinese for quietly capitalizing on the noise and chaos emanating from their political rivals to quietly implement what they have learned over millennia to build their own nation.
Stay tuned from pictures from our upcoming trip on Zoom China.
