The top headline in the Springfield News-Leader read "Bush: War with China an option" as we boarded a United Airlines flight at 6:05 a.m. on April 26, 2001. Ward Bryant, an assistant professor of communications, Stephanie Goad, project coordinator of the Missouri Multicultural Network, and I were headed to the Beijing Broadcasting Institute to present a paper at an international forum on Internet communication. We first flew from Springfield, Mo., to Chicago in order to catch a nonstop flight to Beijing that United Airlines had launched only 25 days earlier. The flying time was 13 hours and five minutes.

Many people were surprised that we would still go to China given the perilous situation between the two countries after the April 1 collision between the U.S. Navy surveillance plane and the Chinese fighter jet. But we had given a commitment to the Beijing Broadcasting Institute weeks earlier and were determined to represent Missouri Southern at this prestigious forum, cosponsored by the British Broadcasting Corp. The BBC was represented by Nigel Chapman, its World Service Deputy Director; Christopher Westcott, the World Service New Media Director; and a few other lower-ranking officials.

Founded in 1954, the Beijing Broadcasting Institute has developed into a comprehensive institute of higher learning with journalism, art, engineering, foreign languages, and administration as its major academic disciplines. It has schools of journalism and communication, radio and presentation art, television electronics, engineering, recording arts and adult education, with 15 departments in all. The BBI has a total enrollment of more than 15,000, including 5,500 full-time students in residence. It is world-renowned for training standard Chinese language television and radio announcers. Our president, Dr. Julio León, visited the BBI on a trip to Asia in late September and was so impressed that he frequently refers to it as the "Harvard of China."

Ward, Stephanie, and I were met at the Capital Airport late in the afternoon of Friday, April 27 by "Patty," a young BBI professor who spoke English. The Institute sent two cars to take the three of us and our luggage to the BBI International Center, where we would be housed for the next four days. Dinner that evening was at the Beijing Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant, a seven-story restaurant that can accommodate 2,000 guests at the same time. We were told that it was the best Peking Duck restaurant in all of China and that Henry Kissinger had once dined there. I was seated next to Su Zhi Wu, one of the BBI's vice presidents whose English was as good as my Chinese. Still, we managed to toast one another with shouts of "Ganbei!" as we emptied our mugs of beer.

Stephanie Goad, Ward Bryant, and Chad Stebbins on the Great Wall of China at Badaling.

Cai "May" Wenmei, a professor of English at the BBI, was assigned to be our guide during our stay in Beijing. Sixty years old, she was married to a general in the People's Republic Army but lived in a high-rise apartment on campus with her elderly parents. After breakfast on Saturday, April 28, we set out by taxi for the Great Wall at Badaling. It took more than an hour to reach Badaling, the most visited — and the most crowded — section of the Wall. Much to our amazement, we met a pediatrician and his wife from Springfield, Mo., who were on vacation. The afternoon was spent at the Imperial Palace (also known as the Forbidden City), the home of 24 Chinese emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The International Forum on Internet Communication Development in the New Century began with much fanfare at 9 a.m. on Sunday, April 29. Approximately 150 scholars, students, and government officials were in attendance. All were from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Korea, with the exception of the contingent from the British Broadcasting Corp. and five North Americans — Brian Lewis, director of the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia; Benjamin Lee, an associate professor of technology at California State University in Los Angeles; and the three of us from Missouri Southern.

British & Chinese flags honored the co-sponsors of the International Forum, the British Broadcasting Corp. and the Beijing Broadcasting Institute. Nigel Chapman from the BBC is on the far right.

The forum was held to celebrate the first anniversary of the founding of the Internet Communication School of the BBI. The majority of the presentations were in Chinese, but were simultaneously translated into English. We spoke about the Missouri Multicultural Network, a web site that links immigrants and service providers to a wealth of information and resources. Dinner that evening was at the Great Hall of the People, on the west side of Tiananmen Square, where the Chinese parliament meets. The Great Hall, an immense building covering 562,000 square feet, was completed in 1959 — the 10th anniversary of communist rule. I was asked to sit at the table occupied by BBI President Liu Jinan, two other university presidents, several BBI vice presidents, and Nigel Chapman of the BBC.

The conference continued on Monday, but we implored "May" to take us shopping rather than attend the morning sessions. We mentioned going to the Friendship Store, described in most guidebooks as a good place to find traditional Chinese souvenirs, but she said she never took her friends there due to the store's high prices. Instead, we took a taxi to the Hong Qiao Market, commonly known as the "Red Bridge" market. Once you got past the stench of live seafood in the basement, there were incredible bargains to be found in the pearl and jade booths on the third floor. After extensive bartering with the salesgirls, a necklace could be had for as little as $10. And if you were short on Chinese yuan, they were happy to accept U.S. dollars.

After the final price is determined through extensive bartering, the salesgirl at the "Red Bridge" market assembles the jade necklace.

After closing ceremonies in the afternoon and dinner at the BBI International Center, all the delegates were taken to the Beijing Concert Hall to hear the China National Symphony Orchestra. Yin Chengzong, one of the world's leading pianists, performed "The Yellow River" concerto after intermission. The concert was an unexpected treat, another example of the BBI's wonderful hospitality. Except for our airfare and souvenirs, the BBI paid for everything connected with our visit — our lodging, food, taxis, museum admission fees — and even sent several nice gifts home with us. Additional gifts were designated for Dr. León in remembrance of his visit to the BBI last fall.

Tuesday, May 1 was departure day, so we decided to make the most of the time we still had in Beijing. Lei Yue Jie, vice president of the BBI's News and Mass Communication School, was our guide for a morning visit to the Temple of Heaven. Built in 1420, it's the most famous temple in China and one of the city's most visited parks. The Ming and Qing emperors would go to the temple once each year to fast and pray for a good harvest and to honor their ancestors. Professor Lei, a gracious host whose English improved remarkably as the day progressed, even allowed us time to return to the nearby "Red Bridge" market for some last-minute shopping.

We were taken to lunch at a five-star hotel and met by "May" and Liu Jinan, president of the BBI. Ward and I were asked to sit on either side of the president, who personally selected the menu. She took delight in heaping our bowls with a variety of foods from the Lazy Susan and insisted that we try everything, including the chicken feet. Needless to say, we barely ate anything on the 13-hour flight to Chicago. We invited the president, Professor Lei, and "May" to visit Missouri Southern in the hope that the BBI would become one of our partner institutions and that we could begin to exchange students. Although the president pointed out that the BBI preferred "Green Vine" (Ivy League) partners, we were optimistic that they would accept our invitation.

A few of Beijing's 8.5 million bicycles.

Impressions of Beijing: Despite a population of nearly 12 million, the city is very clean and safe. It is heavily congested, though — a taxi ride from the BBI to the city center and Tiananmen Square usually takes 45 minutes. And, of course, there are the bicycles. China reportedly has some 500 million bicycles, more than half the world's total. Beijing has 8.5 million of them — they are used for more than 50 percent of all trips in the city.

The other thing that struck me was the highly visible effort by Beijing to host the 2008 Olympics. Seemingly thousands of billboards announce the 2008 Olympics, but few of them mention that Beijing is only a "Candidate City" along with Paris, Toronto, Istanbul, and Osaka. (Since our return, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that Beijing, Paris, and Toronto are the front runners and that there would be no risks involved in awarding the games to any of them. The only concerns noted by the IOC for Beijing were a "significant air pollution problem" and "the usual congested road traffic situation.") Beijing, because it lost out to Sydney for the 2000 Games, has made landing the 2008 Olympiad a national priority. China's impending membership in the World Trade Organization, by contrast, seemed to pale in comparison.

Thousands of red taxis contribute to Beijing's congestion problem.

Overall, the people we encountered in Beijing were among the friendliest I have met anywhere in the world. There was no mention of the spy plane incident or any hostility directed at us as Americans. Rather, the Chinese on the street seemed anxious to meet us. We were asked repeatedly at the Great Wall and Tiantan Park to have our photos taken with family members. Ward, Stephanie, and I agreed that we would like to return to China someday — perhaps as early as next year for the BBI's next International Forum. But in the meantime, we hope to have the opportunity to bestow the same kind of hospitality on our new friends from the BBI when they come to Joplin.

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