She had heard many things about China, some negative, before she left Kenya for the Asian nation.
However, having stayed in the country for over six month, Sandra Rwese, a Kenyan living in China, has fallen in love with the country and is working hard to achieve her dreams.
The tourism analyst is relishing every bit of time she is spending in China as she discovers the nation.
"When I was leaving Kenya for China, what I had in mind was a country where people have no freedom because government controls everything. At least that is the picture I had gotten from the foreign media," said Rwese in a recent interview in Nairobi.
Rwese thus believed that the Chinese do not live in egalitarian conditions and they do not like it.
"I have stayed in China for few months and to be quite honest, millions of Chinese are highly-satisfied with their government's policies, structures and rules of law," said the tourist analyst.
And this is the reason: "The government caters fully for basic human existence, leaving little room for want. Public transport is really cheap, rent is controlled, academic scholarships are in plenty, job fairs are extensive, salaries are reasonable, road network is superb, there is ample water supply and food is available and more importantly affordable."
Never in her over six months stay in China has she ever seen electricity fluctuate.
"Supply is stable; never has it flickered since I arrived here. Not even once. What does this tell you? The basics are largely covered."
The analyst advises that foreign media should highlight China's achievement in that regard.
"The Chinese are having it smooth when it comes to several provisions due to structured policies. There are millions of Chinese who would on no account have it any other way.
Can we also say the same for developed economies worldwide? In fact, how many first world economies can even boast of the successes highlighted? That is food for thought," observed Rwese.
Another thing that has impressed the tourist analyst is China's ability to feed its huge population.
"I appreciate a lot of what China has done for food security, especially considering it has over a billion mouths to be feed daily. This is quite admirable," she said.
From a social standpoint, Rwese appreciates Chinese reverence for the elderly. The Chinese nationals publically recognize their senior citizens, giving them a lot of respect.
"By this l mean giving elderly persons preference in public buildings, queues and buses. The youth instantaneously rise up and offer their seats to the elderly who enter buses or subway trains. Several countries, especially Kenya, can learn a lot from this as in some places, old men are killed due to their advanced ages," she said.
However, as the tourism analyst gives thumbs up to her second home – China, there are things she wishes could change in the country. During her travels, Rwese has noticed that customer care is lacking in many places.
"In the bigger cities, things are sometimes different. But you cannot, for example, compare it with emphasis given to customer care in the US. There is simply no comparison to be honest," she noted.
She has visited many public places like hotels and hospitals, and according to her, the people she has come across so far aren't attuned to aspects like phone courtesy and neither did they go extra mile to give quality service.
"In most instances, it's has been quite mechanical. From hospital nurses, to hotel managers, airline ticket agents, wait staff, and even office administration staff. I feel they have dealt with me as a client nonchalantly."
"While riding in a taxi recently, recounted Rwese, the driver shouted at her for not knowing which suburb she was headed to.
"This was despite having printed the full address in Chinese and given him. He went ballistic because it hadn't included the exact neighborhood. A hotel liaison officer also sent me an e-mail saying l could go ahead and call the police if l felt he wasn't doing enough to get my initial deposit refunded," recounted Rwese, whose main friends are expatriate residents (professionals) and students.
"A friend of mine in Xi'an recently had a pharmacist throw a packet of medicines over the glass counter since she was too busy chatting on phone to actually hand it over politely."
The tourism analyst noted that the person representing the first-point-of-contact is essentially the face of an organization.
"How they dress, communicate, and commit to service quality matters so tremendously. Perhaps it is the reason why a good number of Chinese social scientists dedicate their PhD studies to researching customer orientation? It's truly that big a deal," said Rwese, who gives credit to the Chinese banking industry, which she noted is among sectors with great customer care.
