As a foreigner, and especially as a white American, everywhere I went in China, I truly felt like a celebrity. Walking down the streets was like walking down a runway. I felt like I was being followed by the paparazzi when I was doing something as simple as eating a meal and someone would take my picture. Additionally, any time we took a group picture, at least 10 other Chinese people would take a picture of our group photo.

I had heard before leaving for China that people would want to take my picture, but I never thought it would happen as often as it did. I was completely shocked by it at first, but as the trip went on, I embraced my newfound psuedo-fame it and would smile, wave, or pose for anyone trying to take my picture.

As Americans, it’s hard for us to imagine living in a country with such little diversity. One of our tour guides told us that almost 92% of the population is the Han Chinese. Thus, it is no surprise that so many people took pictures of us; most of them have probably never seen Americans or even white people before.

Overall, it was fun feeling like a celebrity for a while, and I’d be lying if I said I’m not a little sad to be an average citizen again at home.