China

I'm oddly intyerested in China.

Not just because it's likely to be the economic giant of the 21st Century, with a huge influence on geo-politics and all the rest, but because it seems to be such a genuinely fascinating nation.

The culture and history of all countries interest me (I've been to a fair few and experienced what it's like to live in them for awhile, although i'd love to know more about South Korea for one) yet there is something about the sheer size of China that draws me to it.

A nation that doesn't really seem to give a fuck about anyone else in the world as all they need is within their borders (Yep, I know that isn't the case anymore what with their presence in Africa and the import of foreign investment - which is, if we're honest, just the Chinese using outside expertise before they learn what they want and discard the foreigners) can't help but be interesting. That certainty of the nation that their way is the right one, that belief in the superiority of the Han and that disregard for the whining of outsiders is, rather perversely, quite appealing.

What is the real China anyway? Is it the State, still held in a tight grip by the Communist Party regardless of the opening up of China to capitalism, or do the people want different things? Do the Chinese have the same concept of indiviuality that we in the West have and is there anything wrong if they didn't?

I'd love to find out some answers to all these questions, to visit China and walk their streets, converse with the people and even settle there for a short while (Always the best method of getting to know a people) and attending the Bejing Olympics in 2008 would be a good start I guess. Except we're dirt poor and could never afford to. Ho hum, one day.