When Lee Collins’ grandfather offered him a trip as a high school graduation present, Collins suggested China, joking that he likes Chinese food.

But J. Smith Lanier had been to the country more than once, the first time during the Korean War. He took his grandson’s suggestion seriously. So on June 7, Collins, 18, and his family, along with family friend Lori Fawbush, took off on an 18-day tour of the country.

“It was a phenomenal trip,” Fawbush said.

Lee Collins and his family, including his brother Smith, 12, have traveled internationally before.

“This is definitely No. 1 of all the places we’ve been,” Lee Collins said. “I was impressed with all the people and how quick construction is. I’m really into architecture. and they have some amazing architecture.”

The country can date its history back 10,000 years, but ancient structures stand alongside new, modern construction.

Smith Collins was homeschooled until last year and had studied about China previously. It still wasn’t what he was expecting.

“You always think it will be all old cities, but there’s a lot of new stuff,” he said.

The Laniers’ last trip to China was 20 years ago, Fawbush said.

“The perspective is totally different now,” she said. “Since China opened to the West, there’s been so much development. Shanghai has gone from a rice paddy to high rises.”

Fawbush said the Chinese worry about an “invasion” of the Western world’s culture as much as Americans complain about the number of products made in China. Families already are starting to see changes because of Western influence; generations lived together in the same home for years. That’s become more rare now.

“After 10,000 years of the same culture, the young people are moving out,” Fawbush said.

The tour, which was highlighted by a cruise, included sightseeing at gardens, the Great Wall, and shows like the Peking Opera and Chinese acrobats.

“The acrobats were amazing,” Smith Collins said.

The cruise ship went through the locks of Three Gorges Dam, which gave Fawbush an experience she was not expecting.

“I wanted to see what it looked like so I opened the door to the balcony and you could reach out and touch the side of the lock,” she said. “It was like being in a tomb.”

The tour group traveled to Chongqing Zoo to see pandas in their native habitat and went to Xian to see the Terra Cotta Army.

“It’s considered the eighth wonder of the world,” Fawbush said.

Emperor Qin Shi Huang was buried with an “army” of soldiers, archers, horses and chariots to protect him in his death more than 2,000 years ago. An excavation crew found the soldiers and put up a building over the site to protect them.

“When they were buried, they were all different colors,” Smith Collins said. “When they found them, as soon as the light hit them, the colors went away.”

Fawbush and the Laniers estimate they traveled 20,000 miles, including nine separate flight connections.

“It was a cultural experience,” she said.

Lee Collins isn’t sure where he’ll want to go if his grandfather offers him a trip for college graduation.

“I may ask to go back to China,” he said. “It was amazing.”

Jennifer Shrader can be reached at jshrader@ lagrangenews.com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 236.