Green tea Red bean steamed buns

Greens & tofu on every street corner

Boulder heavy mountain trailways

Dating single women with gorgeous eyes, who speak zero English and have had no contact with Americans before

Embarrassment when attempted hugs are ignored

Dating a woman who pulls me lustfully into my apartment, then decides to tell me afterwards that she’s married, and has a daughter

Tea ceremonies

Bewildered, affectionate stares

Vegan cafes

Air filters

3.5 private Chinese lessons

Loud, dramatic spitting in the streets

Calves the size of my torso

AQI readings

Jackets with creatively used English:

“Yeezus Tour” (with Confederate flag patch on sleeve)

“Rich God”

“White Girl”

“Fucking Special” (my quiet 8th grader Kitty’s jacket, in huge, sequined letters)

Fear of temperatures below 70

Mountains

Darkened streets—no fear

Packed trains

Empty streets

Blue patches over belly buttons when it’s mildly cool out

Clean, efficient trains and train stations everywhere

Luxury cars everywhere

Electric cars–everywhere

Brightly colored towers

Buddhist temples

Occasional hammer & sickle reminders

Censored textbooks

Censored news

VPN networks

Freedom to roam

Couples arm in arm, hand in hand

Single women abound

Motorbikes shooting every which way

Hasidic Jews

Mexicans

Indian men speaking Chinese fluently

Tall buildings

Races up the world’s tallest buildings

Badminton

More time

Less stress

Cheap flights

Manicured parks

Clean streets

Flowers

Tomb Sweeping Day

Zero rent

Fruit markets

Beautiful women

Capitalism

Communism

Socialism

China