The Chinese Dream－riding in on the Year of the Horse

Peter Buffett  Provided to China Daily

On my first trip to China in 2008, I was quite surprised at what I experienced. Of course there is much to see in a new culture. Many things seem exotic and strange: the architecture, the food … the customs and language.

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But I was surprised because what I saw was deeply familiar. It was in the soul of every person I met. Young or old, businessman or artist, male or female, the impression was the same. Usually, I saw it in an instant.

While I am often known in China as the "son of the God of Stocks, Warren Buffett," my life in the United States has been spent making my own way in music composition. That path of my own choosing, without my father's wealth to pave the way, led to a book that has sold well in China called Be Yourself.

It was my musical background that gave me a profound insight. Through my musical career, I became very close to the American Indian culture. I heard many stories about the tragedies that befell them as America became a country, but I also learned a deeper story of how they viewed themselves and the world around them. They have always had a relationship to the natural world that is very different from the Europeans who took their lands. To many Europeans, America was a commercial enterprise to be exploited. To the Native Americans, the land was something to be honored and nurtured for future generations.

My trips to China have had a different intention from visits by most Americans. I have no business agenda. Yes, I am happy that my book is selling, but my purpose is not to make money, it's to open hearts and minds. So when I arrived in China－with no "deal" to make－I saw a different China. There was poetry in the language, a profound sensitivity to surroundings as shown through feng shui and other practices, a welcoming curiosity and a giving spirit. Qualities that were sometimes too ethereal to describe but too clear to ignore.

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