Recently, I made a quick weekend trip to Luoyang in Henan province. I joined a tour group called Foreigners in China Network, designed for “laowai” like me to travel around without the hassle of booking train tickets, reserving hotels and navigating the changing landscape of post-pandemic tourism in China. There are still many places that foreigners are not welcome, and traveling with a Chinese guide just smooths out the lumps.

We met at the train station at 5:30 a.m. for the 4-hour high speed train to Luoyang,  the jumping off point for the trip. Our group consisted in part of another American family, an Iraqi embassy cultural representative,  a London IT guy, a couple from India, my Indonesian friend, and a guy who thinks Beijing winters are tropical compared to his hometown of Philly.

We packed a lot into 36 hours. I could tell you all about the Longmen Grottoes, with their 1,500 hundred year history and 100,000 buddhas carved into caves and niches along the river side.

This cave has over 15,000 Buddhas carved along the walls. See the tiny rows on the right ?

We strolled the streets of Lijing Ancient City, passing vendors selling fresh pomegranate juice, traditional snacks and handicrafts.

Lijing Gate dates from around 600 A.D.

We visited the Kung Fu training school in the Songshan mountains, made famous by the actor Bruce Lee in his 1970s martial arts films where he played a Shaolin monk. It’s currently home to hundreds of young martial arts practitioners who master their school work along with their leaps, kicks and splits.

And of course there is the Shaolin Temple itself, set in a tranquil forest with a view of the mountains. It’s history dates from around 500 A.D.

and the Stone Pagoda Forest, with over 250 stone stupas which serve as monuments for deceased monks.

As  I worked my way through China’s greatest hits and checked off a few more UNESCO World Heritage sites, (China has 55), I realized my favorite part of the trip wasn’t something you could put on a magnet or T-shirt.

It was the people.

Like these ladies. We can’t always communicate, but a smile and thumbs up sign are universal, and I had a few encounters like that.

And then there’s this man practicing calligraphy on the street corner, who smiled when I pointed to a few characters I knew and then penned a poem for me.

And these dancers in their colorful costumes, who were happy to pose for a photo.

And this dude on the Segway who kept us company while we were waiting in line for tickets. He struck up a conversation in excellent English with the American family in our group, then quickly ran off to buy presents for their family before we all parted ways.

Outside of our group, we didn’t see any Western tourists. I felt like a rock star, with giggling teenage girls following me into the bathroom, and people asking for photos with me. Some parents pushed their kids to practice their English on me, which usually resulted in tears, since the kids were afraid of the “da bizi.” (Literally, “big nose” which is slang for foreigners, used in places where Westerners are rarely seen).

Other times, they were curious about us and wanted to know what we thought about China, like this man.

He told us he had seen some really bad things on social media about how Westerns hated Chinese people, and so he was surprised to see us.  He wanted to know what we thought about his country. I could hear the earnestness in his voice. He wanted us to love China as much as he did.

I explained that I think China is a beautiful place, but right now it’s a little difficult to be here because there are places I can’t go, or I get questioned by the police. Finding a hotel is often problematic.

“Oh, it’s for your safety,” he told me. I think sometimes Chinese use the word “safety” when they really mean “security.”

“But no matter what the governments say or the politics are, I want to very much welcome you to my country. My family welcomes you too,” he said before reaching out to give me a big hug. Showing this kind of affection in public to a stranger ?  A foreigner? It’s unheard of. I was moved, almost to tears.

This was the China I was hoping to see.