“A Jain version of the story, Blind Men and an Elephant, says that six blind men were asked to determine what an elephant looked like by feeling different parts of the elephant's body.

The blind man who feels a leg says the elephant is like a pillar; the one who feels the tail says the elephant is like a rope; the one who feels the trunk says the elephant is like a tree branch; the one who feels the ear says the elephant is like a hand fan; the one who feels the belly says the elephant is like a wall; and the one who feels the tusk says the elephant is like a solid pipe.

A wise man explains to them

All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently is because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all the features you mentioned.

This resolves the conflict, and is used to illustrate the principle of living in harmony with people who have different belief systems, and that truth can be stated in different ways.”

I learnt this tale in my primary school, but I didn’t understand its significance at that time. A few years later, I go to university and take business English as my major. During the 4 years, I read quite a lot on the Internet about America and its people, the comparison between American and Chinese cultures, and what Americans and Chinese think of each other etc. Then, I realize – we Chinese and Americans are both “blind men” and “elephants”.

What do Americans think of China and its people? I guess, you may think: China is heavily polluted; Chinese people are brain-washed; socialism, Marxism, Leninism, Maoism etc are what Chinese people believe in; cats and dogs are popular dishes for Chinese people; Chinese people can not speak freely to the public or the government; all Chinese people are friendly; China has been as rich as America; the Chinese language is the most efficient in the world…

What do Chinese think of America and its people? I can say this with a bit more certainty to you, we Chinese tend to think: America is very open, you can say anything you want to say; America is dangerous, there are always gunshots; Americans are all rich, since America is the richest country in the world; a foreigner in China is most likely to speak English, because he/she is most likely to be an American; Americans are arbitrary, because America is the single superpower in the world; Americans are mobile, and they keep moving all day long…

“Fortunately for some, unfortunately for others, these talks have some degree of truth in them.” But, there is some degree of misunderstanding in them too.

Why we misunderstand each other? First, of course, it is because we have different cultures, political systems, values, education systems etc; second, our governments tend to make their people believe what they think the people should believe; third, the media are nor perfect, on the one hand, they can not cover everything of a country but some aspects which are “typical”, “important”, “major”, or “mainstream”, and on the other hand, they sometime even mislead the people on purpose; fourth, the people do not have the time, the energy, and the channels etc to discover what another country and its people are really like, so they have to rely on third-party information. All of these factors make us have to “determine what an elephant looked like by feeling different parts of the elephant's body.”

Fortunately, in this age, we have the Internet – it gives us the possibility to communicate directly, and to know more parts of the “elephant’s body”, so that the “elephant” we feel is more likely to be what it really is. Instant messaging, forums, email, language communities etc have all been great help for us.

At the end of last year, a young man from New York, with a nickname Honglaowai (Red Foreigner), begins to release videos at some Chinese video-sharing websites like Youku, Tudou and 56, which run like Youtube. And then, he even begins to communicate with Chinese people more directly through blogging in Chinese at Sina Blog, which is the biggest and most popular blog hosting website in China. What he does inspires me, and I would like to do something like that as well to communicate more directly with Americans through building a website, building my blog or joining a language exchange community. But, I didn’t find a good choice until one day I got an email from Uncle Stephen. In that email, he invited me to join Chinauspals.com. To my surprise, this website is exactly the one I’d been looking for. Without hesitation, I immediately signed up to join those existing members, and I’ve been enjoying it so much now.

“I hope someday you will join us, and the world will be as one”!

I hope you will keep making contributions, and the “elephant” you feel will be as the “elephant” is. :)

At the end of this post, I would like to say thank you to the developers of Chinauspals.com for their work, and Uncle Stephen for inviting me to join such a wonderful website!