Chinese Proverb

I recently introduced one of my favorite Chinese proverbs to a friend of mine and she loved it.

I am not sure how to say it in Chinese, but if roughly translates in English as: "It is better to have walked 10,000 miles than to have read 10,000 books."

I first heard this proverb when I took an anthropology class called "People and Cultures of China" in spring 2008. The professor for the class hailed from the Yunnan province in Southern China and is a cultural anthropologist with a PhD from Stanford.

I had lunch with him one day after class and upon looking at my backpack he was truly amazed at how many countries I have been privileged and fortunate to have traveled, all neatly sown like medals of achievement. In my lifetime I have traveled: The Bahamas, Canada, The UK, France three times, Ireland twice, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Switzerland and, my favorite, China for an entire summer.

We both agreed that while earning a college education can go far, traveling to other countries and experiencing other cultures can go a lot further in terms of your education.

While someone may be able to study subjects like journalism, political science, history, economics, etc, to be able to travel to different countries that are discussed in those subjects can broaden your perception and education on those subjects and the world around you.

Next up, I will post a story that has everything to do with this proverb as I wrote a feature of a friend of mine who spent his Fall 2008 semester abroad through the world-renowned study abroad program Semester at Sea. Check it out!