“Different races meet on the street, and different believes can be seen there. Diversity is one of the things that impressed me most in Qinghai, and the mixture of elements makes this area rich in all aspects. In the streets, “modern” people, Tibetan monks and some minorities make the big population of the city like Xining.”

　　Some philosophers and people say that despite cultural differences all human beings act similarly and enjoy doing the same activities. Traveling and getting to know people of other parts of the world with different backgrounds and culture are examples of that.

　　When I first came to China, I did not want to see the differences but to see what makes us similar. Living in China I have noticed that many things make us equal, and despite coming from a faraway country as Mexico is, with different cultural background and language still we are very alike. When traveling around Qinghai, I wanted to look for those similarities as well. Qinghai province is a place where diversity is a particularity.

　　Different races meet on the street, and different believes can be seen there. Diversity is one of the things that impressed me most in Qinghai, and the mixture of elements makes this area rich in all aspects. In the streets, “modern” people, Tibetan monks and some minorities make the big population of the city like Xining.

　　Nevertheless, this richness was also appreciated in the landscape of the region. On the beautiful pastures and mountains of the highlands, nature and villages live in harmony. Animals on the pastures live a peaceful life and later may become a part of the culinary tradition of the region. We were lucky enough to visit some places that have been developed; it is noticeable that in Qinghai there is a lot to be done and the people are looking forward to the development of the region. Thus, people are eager for different technological companies to be set up in the area, for example, the “Tibetan google” company (Yongzin) developed technologies for people to use the internet and search in their own language.

　　I was particularly impressed by the temples in Qinghai, from the Tibetan Buddhist temples to the Muslim Mosques. The religion is said to be necessary for some people, and people who have always been committed to a religion say it helps them to be in balance. In Xining City, many Muslim mosques could be seen and surrounded by different culinary places of Halal food. However, the Buddhist temples were a bit more hidden from the city. In both, many people could be seen praying and worshiping the god or gods they identified.

　　A characteristic of some Buddhist temples is that many people visited them, even though they would not identify themselves as Buddhists. However, these people still prayed and offered some gifts or money to the gods there. The faith could be seen in the crowded temples; however, more peace could be felt in the temples with fewer people. As I mentioned before, the religion is an important part of human beings. In my country, Mexico, most of the population is Catholic and when one visits the places that are considered the most sacred or with Saints that are very recognized in the region, also faith and fervor can be felt in the atmosphere. For instance, in Mexico City, I have visited the temple designated to the most important figure in Catholic Church after Jesus: the Virgin Mary. However, the one in Mexico is quite special since it is a figure that is somehow mexicanized and we call her the Lady of Guadalupe. Many people from other countries travel to Mexico on December 12th to celebrate the anniversary of this Virgin and there is a big party around the temple.

　　Finally, I want to discuss the food in Qinghai. We could see that the food is different from that in the North part or the capital area. The flavor of the mutton and beef is very good and it does taste like mutton and beef. In addition, we could notice that noodles forma is an important part of the diet in Qinghai, and also some special bread, etc. Qinghai offers a wide variety of food for all tastes, from spicy to sour, from diverse meat to only vegetables, from Halal food to dishes containing pork. Seafood is not very popular since Qinghai does not have a coastline, therefore I think that seafood is not very common as in other parts of the country where seafood is a must in all dishes and in all homes. The spices used in Qinghai are not very strong as in other cuisines, for example, Sichuan food is known to be very spicy and with plenty of flavors. On the other hand, Qinghai food is more sober and the flavors are less but still tasty.

　　In conclusion, I think that the period of time spent in Qinghai was well used and also it helped us realize how different life can be from province to province and also how some minorities live there, for instance, Tibetans are very accommodating and they were proud of showing us their lifestyle and their customs.