Travel is full of surprises. I think it's one reason so many of us love it so much. The farther away we go, the more we expect the unexpected.

In everyday life, we can often predict what's coming around the corner. When traveling, the challenge is to find the corner (while gazing gallantly at our "Visitor's Map"), realizing that once we find the corner and make the turn, the excitement of the unknown still remains.

The first surprise on my trip to China is not one I recommend. I had looked at my itinerary a month in advance, filed it away in a secure place, and went about my everyday responsibilities as publisher and editor-in-chief of GolfNews Magazine.

What I didn't do is put the exact dates and times of my departure and return flights in my daily appointment book. Beijing time is 15 hours later than L.A. time (14 when it's not daylight savings time).

"World traveler" Dan Poppers missed his flight to China by 24 hours. By not reading my itinerary carefully and often, I got my days mixed up (my eye focused on the next day arrival day rather than the actual departure day) and my trip to China started with unexpected anxiety.

Air China
Fortunately, the general manager of Air China at LAX, Zhihang Chi, came to my rescue. Thanks to Air China 's policy of personalized service, Mr. Chi arranged to change my flight to the following day. Reminder: learn a lesson from me. Days beforehand, when traveling through multitude time zones, check flight days and times carefully. Write down in your appointment book the exact days/times you leave and return.

It seemed only appropriate to fly on a Chinese airline for my first flight ever to China . An airline from another country wouldn't have felt the same. It would be like a visitor flying to America for the first time on Mexicana or British Airlines. Whenever possible, I say start your visit to a foreign country on that country's airline-then your travel adventure starts the minute you walk on the plane.

Air China was definitely the right choice. Based in Beijing , Air China is the largest carrier, and the preferred carrier for Chinese national leaders traveling abroad and for foreign government leaders who visit China . So, I knew I was in good hands when I boarded the plane. The service was excellent and the meals turned out to be very good.

Right away, just a few minutes into my flight, I realized I was visiting a country with friendly people. The Chinese people on board (and the overwhelming majority of people on board were Chinese) were very friendly to me; my smiles met their smiles, and it was a great way to start a trip that I only had dreamed of taking, never realizing that someday-this day-that I actually would be going to China.



Studied China When Mao In Power
My fascination with China started over 40 years ago as a political science major at UCLA. I studied China in an undergraduate class during the late 1960s when the United States government and the Chinese government were bitter enemies, and most everyone in this country feared a war with China . Mao was in power and part of our required course reading was Mao's Little Red Book. I remember how odd I felt walking around campus with the Little Red Book, wondering what others might be thinking. As a political science student, I was fascinated with what was going on in China with its cultural revolution; also plenty fearful because China and the United States appeared to be on a military collision course.

So, as a young college student trying to understand the intricacies of China under communist rule in the mid-to-late 1960s, I now in 2006 had the opportunity to actually visit China and see the country with my own eyes. I remember when no flights from the U.S. were allowed to fly in and out of China . The U.S. government wouldn't allow Americans go to China and the Chinese government wouldn't allow Americans in. Mutual disdain ruled. I remember when China was referred to in America , usually with a snarl, as Communist China, Red China, or Mainland China . A lot has happened in 40 years, friendship between China and the United States is well established. While sitting on the plane, I felt it was an honor to be part of and contribute to the harmony that has grown.

What brought me to China ? I was invited to play in the 2006 GoTone Cup China International Media Golf Tournament hosted by Asia 's #1 golf facility, Spring City Golf & Lake Resort. Though my golf game, unfortunately, was nothing to write home about (I'll do better next time if invited!), my many adventures in China including the very beautiful and well manicured world-class golf courses were.

Beijing: Modernization in Progress
There's an old saying, "How do you govern 19 million people in a condensed city like New York; it's impossible." The same thing can be said of Beijing where 15 million live, and even more so for of all of China with an astounding population of 1.4 billion.
However, as huge and spread out as Beijing is, there is orderly chaos. The wonderful rhythm to the pedaling of bicycles and horn honking cars is the music and dance of the city.

Beijing is filled with the new and the old. You'll see a modern airport (Beijing International) immaculately clean and well organized. From the airport, by rental car or taxi you drive on a modern freeway that could be in any major city in the U.S. Go by a large newsstand and you're likely to see for sale Cosmopolitan, Vogue, National Geographic, Men's Health all written in Chinese.

High rise buildings are going up everywhere. Part of the construction has to do with preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, but much of it is the on-going phenomenal growth China is experiencing. Next to some of the high rises, cracked sidewalks and ancient buildings show sad faces knowing that it's only a matter of time when they will be replaced.

Walk in the streets on any given day including Sunday, people everywhere are working industriously. They're busy, active, energetic. You know you're alive in Beijing. Everyone seems to be going somewhere and fast. Pleasant determination pervades. The only exceptions are the elderly playing checkers or chess on park benches, or moms and grandmas sitting on the sidewalk overseeing their children play cards. Even they play with energy. Beijing is city where pleasant determination pervades.

I personally did not have a chance to play golf while I was in Beijing, however, there are dozens of reputable courses in or around the city including Beijing CBD International Golf Club (where the PGA European Tour 2008 Volvo China Open is scheduled to be played), Beijing Hone Shee International GC, Pine Valley Golf Resort & CC, Beijing Willow GC, and many more.

China Has More Than 300 Golf Courses
You might be surprised at this statistic: China, with its over 300 golf courses, is now ranked 5th among all countries for having the most golf courses. Considering that golf was first introduced to China in 1984 when it had only eight golf courses, this is an amazing accomplishment. And there are confirmed plans for building dozens and dozens of new golf courses each year for many years to come in China.

From Beijing, I flew to Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province in the southwestern part of the country. Yunnan, home to the #1 golf resort in Asia-Spring City Golf & Lake Resort-is the 12th most populated province in China with over 44 million people; Kunming metropolitan area is home to approximately 15.5 million, over a third of the province's total population. Among the country's 56 ethnic groups, 25 are found in Yunnan. Some 38% of the province's population are members of minorities, easily identifiable because most wear their native garb daily. I met some individuals from the Naxi ethnic group and they were charming.

Met at the Kunming Airport by exceedingly friendly hosts, we made our way to Spring City Golf & Lake Resort; about a 45-minute drive by car. Coming out of the city, from the modern freeway you see the intermeshing of the old and the new; fresh buildings being built, old dilapidated buildings ready to be torn down. Kunming, as with the rest of China, is going through a revolutionary modernization unequaled in our time.

Soon, we are in the countryside with beautiful farmland and rolling hills. Another part of China unfolds before my eyes and I see peasant farmers working the land on hands and knees, ox and ox-cart alongside them.

As beautiful as the farm landscape is, I begin to wonder if the driver is lost. Where is this incredible golf resort I've head about? It can't be out here in Nowhere's Land.

Soon, we exit the freeway and I get really confused. We jiggle and jaggle around turns and curves on a two-lane, sometimes one-lane, narrow primitive road. "How is it possible that a world-class golf resort is out here?" I ask myself. "This sidewalk of a road couldn't be taking us to a golf resort".

Lo-and-behold, we begin to incline up a hill. The primitive road magically becomes a modern paved thoroughfare and rows of trees appear as part of a well-kept middle road divider, and the environment changes before my eyes. The entrance of Spring City Lake & Golf Resort is as beautiful as any I've ever seen. I finally understood that, indeed, I was at the #1 golf resort in Asia .

Because of misconceptions so many Americans have of China, it's quite amazing that a golf resort of Spring City's magnitude exists. It's as exquisite than any of the high-end, top-rated golf resorts that I have been to in the United States and Europe . Spring City is complete with a luxurious reception area, fine dining, Spa, two immaculate and challenging championship 18-hole golf courses, Villas as modern and sophisticated as any you'll see in America, and a breathtaking lake. It even has it's own small zoo where indigenous animals live and relax.

Spring City has two of the finest golf courses you'll ever play. The Mountain Course designed by Jack Nicklaus features gently rolling fairways, greens as good as on the PGA Tour, total distance ranging from 7,453 to 5,322 yards depending which tees you play from, beautiful scenery and immaculate maintenance. It's a big, meandering course; the type of course I love because I feel a golf course should be large enough to have a life of it's own. It deserves its own identity.

The Lake Course designed by Robert Trent Jones II zigzags along Yangzonghai Lakeshore. All 18 holes offer spectacular views of the lake while preserving the rocky cliffs and undulating terrain of the mountain. Close your eyes on some holes, then open them and for a moment you find yourself at Pebble Beach , looking over cliffs with gorgeous views of the water. Instead of crashing ocean waves, you see sparkling lake water kissing the sky.

One of Spring City Resort's monikers is "A Home Away From Home." Without question, Spring City offers the quality of life and golf that any of us would be willing to call home all the time.

For more information on playing golf in China, particularly Spring City Golf & Lake Resort, contact China Golf Travel at email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it