The funny thing about my trip to China is years from now I expect to remember it as much for what was going on in the United States as anything I saw in Beijing, Kunming, Shangri-La or Hong Kong.  It was tough to be so far away while dramatic events were unfolding on Wall Street.  However, I did get the interesting opportunity to see situation from the perspective of another country that has absorbed many of its own financial shocks over the years.

The tone of Chinese reaction to the U.S. financial crisis varies widely depending on who you are talking to.  Some party members and government types I met in Beijing were scolding and patronizing.  Meantime, businesspeople in Hong Kong and elsewhere seemed highly empathetic.  Ordinary people on the street seemed to view the situation with a mix of bewilderment, concern and even anger.

A few common themes did emerge throughout my conversations.  First, the Chinese, like many Americans, blame the mess on a lack of regulatory oversight.  They believe leaders like Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson should have addressed the problem sooner.  They think the U.S. should take this chance to create a new kind of watchdog system.  Also, they hope this new set of checks and balances is a global one.  No one in China thinks they won’t eventually be affected by what’s happening in America, and they’d like to see some acknowledgment from us that we are all in this together.

Another theme is that the Chinese cannot believe their eyes when they see big American companies like Lehman Brothers and AIG go down.  For better or worse, there would be no bailout debate in China like the one we are having in the United States.  In Beijing, they would simply cough up the money.  It’s the same thing in Hong Kong, where everyone takes pride in the fact no banks went belly up during the Asian financial crisis.

How do you encourage good behavior in an atmosphere where failure is not an option?  The Chinese believe strong moral leadership is needed to avoid financial catastrophes.  In China and Hong Kong, entrepreneurs and salespeople can make untold fortunes.  However, banking executives tend to be more conservatively compensated.  That’s because they’re seen as public servants, good stewards of firms that take a critical role in the country’s development. " Morality first, profits second," is how the approach was summed up to me by Liu MingKang, chairman of China’s Banking Regulatory Commission.  Mr. Liu is highly critical of American-style executive compensation packages that reward short-term gains more than long-term prudence.  "How can you calculate your credit cost accurately within a short period like one year?  Eventually you’ll be fired, but so what?  You’ve got the money to support yourself a few years, hovering around the financial world and finding a new job very easily"

Chinese rhetoric about corporate responsibility can sound very appealing, but I found myself wondering if such a cautious approach could ever take root in such a vibrant capitalistic society such as the U.S.  Indeed, it remains to be seen whether it can survive in China when this period of explosive growth comes to an end.  Moreover, for all their talk about enhanced regulation, I didn’t meet anyone in China or Hong Kong who could tell me with a straight face their regulators would have been able to predict the current crisis.  The Chinese don’t have all the answers, that is for certain.  Still, I am glad to have gotten a different take on the events rocking the world’s most important economy from people on the front lines in the world’s OTHER most important economy.

Is the Chinese economy headed for a crash?  Those who think so sometimes point to the tourism sector as a possible weak link.  They figure now the Olympics are over foreigners will be less motivated to come to China and spend money.  They may very well be right, but that doesn’t mean the travel industry is dead here.

This weekend I traveled to Shangri-La, a region located high in the western mountains near Tibet.  The area is about as far from China’s crowded coastal cities as you can get, and yet just like Beijing or Shanghai Shangri-La is in the middle of a building boom.  Here workers are doing much of the job by hand, working with brick, concrete and wood to build new hotels, temples and shops in the traditional Tibetan style, all of it meant for new visitors.  Some will come from the U.S. and Europe, but the vast majority will be Chinese citizens who now have the money and the political freedom to visit this once completely isolated area.

For perhaps the first time in its history, the region of Shangri-La is looking outward to the rest of the world, and the strategy seems to be working.  According to the local party secretary, the economy here has grown an average of 20% every year since 1995 when it was first opened up to tourists.  Even if that torrid pace slows down, it could be a blessing for the region, giving the local government a little breathing room to balance all the new commerce with the need to protect the natural beauty and cultural vibrance the area is known for.

Of course, all of this could come crashing down quickly.  Tensions between religious and political leaders go back a long time here and can be felt clearly to this day.  However, if the powder can be kept dry, a region that in some ways feels forgotten by time could help usher in a new era for China.

The tremors from the United States’ financial earthquake are being felt all the way to China.  This week’s dramatic events on Wall Street have been the talk of the town in Beijing, and as with most things in this country the reaction has been varied and complex.  Much of the official newspaper and television coverage has highlighted what some view as American greed and mismanagement (stay tuned to this blog for some very interesting observations from one of China’s top banking regulators).  However, media reports are flying that behind the scenes Chinese officials may be poised to take an even bigger stake in troubled U.S. investment banks, in effect doubling down on their ability to weather this storm.

The real eye-opener for me though was my conversation with a mid-level manager at the Chinese web site SOHU.com.  Upon learning I was a American financial journalist, he peppered me with questions about the crisis and its implications.  When I asked him why he was so interested in financial events half a world away, he explained he and his wife both worked at SOHU.com and were both heavily invested in the company’s stock, which is traded on the NASDAQ.  Like so many U.S. investors, he has watched his savings crumble as financial concerns rock the stock market.  It was clear from our conversation this guy wasn't interested in laying blame, in fact he was very hopeful that the U.S. will be able to find some way to resolve this situation quickly so he could move on with his life and save for the future.  For all our differences, when it comes to this latest crisis Americans and Chinese are riding in the same boat.

Many companies in China face new realities now that the Olympics are over, but few will be affected as much as SOHU.com, the highly popular Chinese-language web site that was the official carrier of the games in this country.

When I toured the company’s headquarters today, the Olympics were everywhere.  Logos from games were splashed across all the walls and life-sized stuffed mascots were waiting in every hallway.  Strolling the dozens of rows of cubicles where staffers toiled night and day I could see calendars counting down to the closing ceremonies - the moment everyone would finally have time again to spend with family and friends.

For SOHU.com management, the Olympics play into a larger competition for eyeballs in one of the world’s fastest growing economies.  Print and television outlets in China are mostly state-run and declining in popularity, so whoever wins the internet is truly the "king of all media."  SOHU.com hopes to capitalize on some of the increased traffic brought on by the games, and so do shareholders who buy the company’s stock on the Nasdaq exchange in the United States.

However, CEO Charles Zhang also says associating with Olympics is about more than money pointing out that "recognition is the most important thing in Chinese culture."  The more time I spend here in Beijing, the more I realize the real buzz isn’t all about riches, it’s also about respect.

Touchdown in Beijing and I feel like I’m watching my own personal opening ceremonies.  The airport is massive and virtually spotless.  Headed to the hotel, I’m whisked past row upon row of new skyscrapers, their twinkling lights seem somehow synchronized.  It’s more than three weeks after the Olympics, and the air is still easy to breathe.

Its hard not to be in awe of Beijing, but I’m reminded of what one security expert I met in Hawaii told me.  He spoke about Beijing’s "Potemkin skies" and how they could pose problems for China going forward.  The blue horizon doesn’t come easy here, it has requires factories to shutter and people to stop driving.  Imagine Americans being told to stay home from work and stay off of the roads!  How long can all that last?  What happens when it ends?  Will the Chinese put up with choking smog for themselves again after foreign visitors got something better?

I can see more of this country’s contradictions once more while walking the capital city’s Sanlitun bar street.  There are two kinds of young Chinese here, those dressed like rock stars drinking and carrying on inside the tiny pubs and those in army uniforms patrolling almost every corner.  Right now, they all live side by side, but each group seems to be waiting for a stiff breeze to send the country off in one direction or the other.  The question is, will that gust of wind be clean or polluted?

The first stop on my voyage to China is a place most Americans know well, or at least they think they do - the state of Hawaii.  Millions of people come to the Aloha state every year for beaches and luaus.  My hosts from the East-West Center are based here for a different reason.  Because of Hawaii’s geography and its people, it is a vital link between the U.S. and Asia.

The strategic importance of this place used to be well known.  It's why the U.S. built up a big military presence here and why the Japanese chose to attack Pearl Harbor and draw America into World War II.  However, some of this was forgotten as the U.S. shifted focus to places like Russia and the Middle East.

Everywhere I go in Hawaii today, I see a resurgence in the state’s Asian identity.  Hawaiians pepper more of their indigenous language into everyday conversation.  The state’s many ethnic groups (including five percent of the population descended from Chinese immigrants) are becoming more prominent.  Everyone here is extremely proud to be American, however as one native confided, Hawaiians in some ways find it easier to relate to other Pacific islands than the "lower 48."

As I look at the skyline of Honolulu, for some reason I keep thinking of Saint Louis.  The Missouri city’s massive arch marks a time when it was the "Gateway to the West" where so many pioneering Americans would go forth to make their fortunes.  Will Hawaii someday need a similar monument to mark its status as a vital entryway into China and the rest of Asia?  Only time will tell.