I didn't know what to expect. I had never been to another country before, save for Canada.

What would the food in China be like? Or the people? Would they be nice or nasty toward tourists? Everyone in my family told me that this would be an unforgettable trip. But in what way?

The biggest question I had was about my grandparents.

Over a year I spend maybe two weeks or so with the family, and each visit with them I only spend about 20 minutes talking to the grandparents. The most time I had ever spent with them was a few summer weekends on their sailboat.

Two weeks in China would be well over twice as long, and no breaks. What, actually, would traveling with them be like? Would they sit around a lot because they needed their rest?

I didn't have to worry so much about that. On the trip I became very comfortable with them, comfortable enough to tease them about being "Old Timers." And I realized that the Old Timers weren't so serious and sensitive. They may look like they're in their 60s — which they are — but they were full of energy to try new things and they have a sense of humor. What I thought would be an inactive trip turned into a summer adventure.

I had learned at school that the food in China was unusual — not exactly like the Chinese food in America. But what does unusual mean? When my grandparents went to Guangzhou a few years ago, they actually had snake for dinner. I pretty much figured that might be the type of food I would be eating for the next two weeks. All I needed to know was whether it was good or not.

On one of our first dinners I was introduced to a fish 100 percent whole, guts and all. Its eyes seemed as big as its head and its mouth was full of teeth. Our guide used his thumb to pop the eyes out and splattered them on my plate. Then he looked at me and said, "eat." I passed the plate to the Old Timers and they handed it to the guide, like we were playing Hot Potato. He shrugged his stocky shoulders, tossed them in his mouth and crunched down. Yuck.

Most of the food we had after that was pretty much like the Chinese food we get at home. And to this day I wish I'd tried those fish eyes, to experience something I may never have a chance to do again.

The traffic was enough excitement for me. When we got off the plane in Shanghai, we were boxed in a van and taken to our hotel. Sleep was on my mind, but before that, death. We drove for an hour on a highway I call Hell. It was like one mad traffic jam, with cars swerving in front and behind you at 70 mph, horns blowing and people screaming words we couldn't understand out their windows.

In Beijing, our guide told us the best way to experience the city was by bicycle. I looked at the Old Timers and they shook their heads, "no." Too many cars, buses, bikes and pedestrians and not enough rules, they said. But I begged — I can be pretty clever — and finally they gave in. Weaving in and out of all that mad traffic turned out to be one of our best adventures.

I was really impressed by the Great Wall.

In school I had seen pictures and read articles about it, but nothing beats actually being there. Standing there, we could see an endless stretch of green forest, fading away into low clouds. I was amazed that the people could build such a wall in a relatively short time.

I've done a lot of climbing and backpacking, and I was surprised the Old Timers could keep up. But they did, and we walked the wall for several hours, exploring the history and the vastness of this great piece of manmade work.

Many people would say Asian culture is completely different from American culture. They would say the food, lifestyle and religion are completely different. I would have agreed to those differences.

But the one thing that seemed the same is the people. We all have hobbies, families and beliefs. Deep inside we all have the same wants and needs in order to survive in life. Overall, there is only one species of human in the world, a world that we all share.

Max Wallace is the grandson of Sally and John Macdonald. He lives on Whidbey Island.