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This week I stood in the middle of a crowd in Great Falls, South Carolina.
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People lined the road holding flowers, signs, water bottles, and cameras.
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They were there to witness something meaningful and to be a part of something greater than they could ever imagine.
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A group of venerable Buddhist monks were walking through town as part of the walk for peace, traveling all the way from Texas toward Washington, DC.
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Their journey is deeply symbolic, but it is also very demanding and very public.
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They are carrying a message of peace with every mile, and communities across the country are showing up to walk beside them, even if only for a few steps.
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I didn't come only to watch.
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In 2018, I made the trek to Mount Everest Base Camp while raising money for Cancer for College, which is a nonprofit my husband and I work with.
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That trip helped my family create a scholarship we now give every year to a cancer survivor pursuing a college degree.
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During that trek, I was gifted a scarf that represented a safe journey.
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Standing there in South Carolina, years later, surrounded by strangers brought together by the same intention, I passed that scarf to the monks.
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As the monks continued down the road, people slowly drifted away.
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But I didn't feel finished with the moment because this wasn't really about a wob.
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It was about what happens when people choose to move through the world with care, with purpose, and with respect for something larger than themselves.
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Back in November, when I was traveling in China, I was walking a very different path.
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But at the time, I didn't realize how clearly those two moments would end up speaking to each other.
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Everyone has a story to tell.
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We connect and relate to one another when we share our stories.
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My name is Emilia Old, and I am your host of Voices of Inspiration.
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Join me as I share stories of friends, family, and strangers in my everyday life and travels.
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We will laugh, possibly cry, or walk away feeling connected more than ever to those around you and ready to be the change our world needs.
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Everyone has a story to tell.
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What's yours?
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This week's episode takes you to Jingshan, near Hanzhou, where I was invited into a living tradition known as the Jingshan Tea Banquet.
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This ceremonial gathering began during China's Tang Dynasty between 618 and 907 CE.
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It continued to develop through the Song Dynasty and later the Wan Dynasty.
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And over time, the tradition traveled to Japan, where it became the foundation of what the world now recognizes as the Japanese tea ceremony.
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At its heart, it brings together Zen philosophy, etiquette, and a deep sense of presence through tea.
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The woman who welcomed me into this world is Jang Han Yen.
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She returned to her hometown and opened a tea-focused homestay at the base of Jingshan Mountain.
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But her work didn't stop at hosting travelers.
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She is a master of Dian Sha, the traditional art of whisk tea within the Jingshan Tea Banquet, a practice rooted in patience, ritual, and presence.
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She also went on to create a woman-led public service tea collective called Song Yun Tea Affairs.
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Through this program, she developed a teaching system that combines hands-on training, mentorship, and real opportunities to practice tea art in homestays and tea houses.
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Over time, more than 80 women have found employment through her programs, and hundreds more have completed her training, allowing them to gain skills that allow them to earn income while staying connected to their families and their communities.
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For her, tea is not just a product, it is connection.
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And that connection didn't stay just in conversation.
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I was invited to take part in it.
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I dressed in Han Fu from the Song dynasty and wore a lotus crown with small pearl makeup placed on my face, a classic beauty detail for women of that era.
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It was often paired with Han Fu to create a soft, graceful look.
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The garments are wrapped rather than buttoned, with cross collars, wide sleeves, and layered robes that reflect long held ideas about order, respect, and balance with nature.
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Wearing it, I walked the Jingshan ancient path, a road that has carried people for centuries.
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Buddhist monks once traveled it between temples.
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Scholars used it on their way to teach or study.
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Villagers relied on it to move between mountain communities.
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And I didn't have to just read about that history.
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You meet it through the people who decide to keep it alive.
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In the conversation you are about to hear, Zhang Han Yin reflects on coming home, creating opportunity for others through tea, and the first time she felt the pride of her parents in the work she had built.
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She also shares how serving one cup can turn strangers into friends.
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Here is my conversation from her homestay at the base of Jingshan Mountain.
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And I'm the owner of this homestay, which is located in Jingshan District, at the bottom of the Jingshan Mountain.
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And my homestay is focused on the Chinese traditional tea culture.
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You came here to focus on this art of tea making.
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What made you want to come here and continue this long-held tradition?
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I'm the Cha Dai.
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Cha Dai in Chinese literally means I'm the second generation of the tea making uh family.
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In 2016, you know, um I I had a dream, uh well, I want to come back to my hometown to make our to make my hometown much more beautiful and the people villagers much more richer.
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And because my parents' home, this big building, is available at that time.
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And many vacant or empty rooms there and say, uh, well, why not we build a uh you know, homestay?
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Yes, that's the original reason.
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I think that's very special because when we are young, we don't want to be where we grew up, and when we grow up, we want to go back to where we were raised.
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I was very fortunate to participate in the tea ceremony today, and thank you for including me.
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And it has such a long history.
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Why do you think it is so special for visitors from other parts of the world to see?
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Tea making has a long history, actually, at least 1,000 years.
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When different when when I have this homestead, different people come from different places and they come here.
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I can meet a lot of interesting guys, interesting persons when I serve a cup of tea to to someone or to others, and then we can make friends.
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It's not just the making tea, it's also the making friends through a cup of tea.
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And I think when I have this business of the homestay, I found I have a lot of interest in this.
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Yeah.
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It's all about the human connection no matter where you're from.
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Yeah.
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Use your true heart.
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So you've helped many women learn the art of tea and to build new careers or who are building new careers.
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Why was it important for you to start a program like this?
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One person works faster, but a group of people can work longer for a long time.
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Uh at the very beginning, I just did this by myself.
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But more and more people, I mean more and more women in my village uh know this and we start learning the tea cultural or the tea ceremony activities together, and we join in the same uh training class.
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And also um at the beginning, when I when when my home stays very busy, I invite my classmate uh to come my uh to come to my homestead to do the part-time job or um to make tea.
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I think uh when we when we are doing this together, every one of us is very, very happy.
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That's very important.
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We are happy.
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And the connection between us becoming more and more stronger, I think.
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Yes.
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So um and then we uh what we do attracts more and more people to join in together.
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I think this is a good thing.
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I love to do that.
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I agree.
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Um, and especially in rural areas where there may not be as many opportunities uh for a woman to have a career, uh, whether that's part-time or full-time, I think that that is a really great thing that she's offering women in the area to start something that they can become passionate about as well.
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How has welcoming guests from all over the world changed the way you see your own culture?
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I think uh there are several steps.
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Uh first, uh, we'll invite the audience or the guest to see the video.
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The video is about the history of the tea culture.
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And then second, uh our tea master will do a presentation or demonstration and one by one step.
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And uh for the guests, I'll I will know that.
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And then um every one of the guests will be invited to participate in the steps.
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Um I will teach you how to make the tea, how to use uh the whisk, and uh what are they and what we are going to do in the future or later and one by one, one by one.
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And then I think uh this is very impressive for everyone, since you have been invited to join in different parts of that.
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I'm going to pause right here for a quick break and I will be right back.
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Today's episode is supported by China Eastern Airlines.
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They offer three nonstop routes from the United States to Shanghai Pudong, which is how I traveled while working on this series.
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China Eastern is headquartered in Shanghai and is one of China's major international carriers.
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The airline operates 108 domestic and overseas branches worldwide and serves destinations across China, Asia, Europe, and other global regions.
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They're also a member of the Sky Team Alliance, partnering with airlines such as Delta and allowing SkyMiles members to earn and use miles across participating carriers.
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On international flights, China Eastern offers three cabins of service: first class suites, business class, and economy.
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Long haul routes include entertainment screens and Wi-Fi is available for purchase and economy class.
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If you're planning travel to Shanghai or exploring future international trips, you can find current schedules and booking information on the China Eastern Airlines website, which I'll link in the notes of this episode.
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Is there a moment from a guest that you really think about that has reminded you why this is your purpose in life?
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But the most important one I think is the the comment.
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My my parents, my mother, shared my photo to the guest to say, well, this is my daughter.
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And then the guest told me this story.
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I feel so proud.
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And I think, well, everything deserved.
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I deserve everything, or everything is deserved.
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You know, I feel so proud to be their daughter, and I also feel proud of that my parents feel proud of me because of what I'm doing right now.
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So I I want to share this moment to you.
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And this is what the tea cultural, the Jing Shan Dian Cha brings to me.
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And maybe this kind of the confidence.
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I think that's a really special story.
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Thank you so much for sharing that.
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I always remember that when I feel frustrated or maybe in face of the challenging, my mother always hold a cup of Xing Shan tea and say, Well, have it, take it easy.
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You can do it, you can do it.
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And then I will calm down, you know.
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I believe I can do it, I can make it, I can make it.
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So uh the support from the friends, support from, you know, the villagers, um, are very, very important, but I think the most important one is the support from the family members, from my parents.
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Well, I want to say thank you so much for having me today.
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It's been such a special treat, and I feel very lucky and grateful that I am able to be here in this moment in life because not many people from the states have had this opportunity yet, but I can't wait to share your story to a different audience, and I really appreciate you opening your arms to me um today.
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After the interview ended, I couldn't stop thinking about something she shared.
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When she feels overwhelmed, her mother doesn't give her advice or a solution.
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She hands her a cup of Jing Shan tea and tells her to slow down.
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That moment feels so different from the way many of us move through life.
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We rush to respond, to problem solve, to carry everything at once.
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But in that small exchange between a mother and a daughter, there's another way to move forward.
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One that starts with breathing, with warmth in your hands, with remembering that you were allowed to take a moment before deciding what comes next.
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That reflection pulled me back to something that happened before we even sat down to talk that day.
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And once the conversation wrapped, I had a moment to just sit with everything I had experienced.
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Earlier that day, nearby, I visited the Jingshan Temple, an ancient Buddhist site on Jingshan Mountain that traces its origins back to the Tang Dynasty more than 1200 years ago.
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It grew into one of the most significant Zen temples in the region, especially during the Southern Song dynasty, when its complex housed thousands of monks and more than a thousand buildings and was a major center of Buddhist life.
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Walking its courtyards and corridors, you feel how long people have been coming here to seek presence and peace.
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It's a place with deep roots and history, and it's still very much active as a spiritual site today.
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I was really nervous about wearing the clothing.
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Conversations about cultural boundaries can be complicated, and I really wanted to make sure that I was mindful.
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My host encouraged me to wear the Hanfu, and at the temple I caught many double takes.
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But it wasn't because of the garments themselves, but it was when they noticed I had a Western face.
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In my mind, I expected to get not so nice looks, but instead it was quite the opposite.
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Everyone smiled and many people approached me and told me that I was beautiful.
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My translator Joanna said something that changed how I saw that experience.
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She told me that Chinese people are deeply proud of their long history and that sharing it is part of that pride.
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The clothing that I wore was an expression of an aesthetic that still matters today.
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She said that one of the beautiful things about China is that its ancient culture isn't stored away in museums.
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It's lived every day.
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You can see people practicing calligraphy in the morning.
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You can hear Buddhist prayers moving through temples like Jingchan.
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You can see young people wearing modern interpretations of Han Fu.
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She reminded me that people in China and the US come from very different cultural standpoints.
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And that maybe the purpose of this show is to serve as a bridge between them.
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And when I asked her about appropriation, she didn't hesitate.
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She said that in Chinese culture, traditional clothing like Kung Fu isn't owned by a group.
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It represents shared heritage.
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When someone wears it with curiosity and respect, it's seen as appreciation.
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It means the culture is still alive, it's still meaningful and still worth sharing.
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The monks walking across America, a woman teaching tea in rural China, a scarf carried from Everest to South Carolina.
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These moments aren't separate.
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They are reminders that small, intentional actions can travel farther than we ever expect.
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If this episode spoke to you, I hope that you share it with someone who could use a reminder to slow down and maybe have a cup of tea.
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You can check out other episodes of Voices of Inspiration wherever you stream your podcast and also at Voices of Inspiration Podcast.com.
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And please leave a review and subscribe wherever you listen.
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It helps these stories reach people who need them.
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You can also find photos and moments from this journey and others on my social channels, AmeliaOldOfficial.
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And you can also learn more about some of my other work at AmeliaOld.com.
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Thank you for listening.
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I hope you join me next week for another story from my time in Zhejiang.
