Now, in my final moments of this trip, i sit reflecting over the China that i have seen and the person it has made me. Throughout this journey i have had to linger between two identities, a foreign traveler or a Chinese local, which am i? Born in the USA, but with the bloodline and heritage that i only partially understand, i have the label of an ABC (American born Chinese). But on the road i have been subjected to the Chinese aspects of my appearance in a way i could not have understood in the states. I bare tension and frustration that flows within modern china, whether i choose to or not. I think back to the north, where due to my Han heritage i was almost stabbed in a late night restaurant, or to the midwest of china, where the monks impassionedly reminded me of their dream of a free Tibet. In the south i related strongly to an embattled Chinese youth, their desire to break away from the confines of china's suffocating modernization. And in the mideast, the people of a time past reminded me of the origins of all human civilization. Finally i think back to my Mongolian blood, where overwhelming hospitality of incredible family reminded me of the ideal world, where we are all one family working together to survive in this crazy land. In the end i choose the identity that is embedded in the meaning of my name (Yu-min). I choose to be, as we all are, a "citizen of the universe". Thanks for reading! It will take me a week or so to post pictures but i will send some out soon. Albert Yu-Min Naching Lin