40 days seeing a bigger world

What can you see in 40 days?

Before I left China for the United States to start my 40-day summer vacation, I thought I would see tall buildings, fancy cars, and the places from superhero movies. But when I returned home, I found that the things that really stuck with me were not the famous landmarks — it was the discovery of a much bigger world, one shaped by different cultures, new technologies, and ways of life I had never known.

New York was the first place we went.

I thought the best things in New York City would be the skyscrapers, Times Square, and the Statue of Liberty. But what gave me the deepest impression was a basket of oysters.

Near the Hudson River, our teacher told us about what New York Harbor used to be like. Hundreds of years ago, this place had the largest natural oyster reefs in the whole world. There were so many that you can't even imagine it. One adult oyster can filter dozens of gallons of seawater every single day, kind of like a natural water filter. They kept the bay super clean and gave home to so many sea animals.

But then the port got developed, factories polluted everything, and people caught way too many oysters. The water got more and more dirty, the ecosystem started breaking down, and the oysters almost all disappeared. New York became this amazing big city, but it also made nature pay a big price for it.

But people didn't just give up.

They started the "Billion Oyster Project", whose goal is to bring one billion oysters back to New York Harbor. Schools, universities, scientists, restaurants, and volunteers all joined together. Restaurants collected the leftover oyster shells, cleaned them with really high heat, and put them back in the bay. Students came to the river to test water quality and record data. Scientists studied where the best places for oysters to grow are, and volunteers kept building and fixing man-made oyster reefs.

My teacher said this is not just about bringing back one animal, it's about bringing the whole bay back to life. But for me, it didn't feel like just some environmental project. It felt more like a whole city saying sorry to nature and trying really hard to fix what it did wrong.

That day, we pulled up a basket of oysters by ourselves. We measured them, wrote down all the data, and then put them back into the ocean. We also made these things called seed balls — we mixed seeds with special soil and squeezed them into balls. Then we threw them really hard onto the ground, hoping they would grow roots, bloom, and bring all the life and the ecosystem back.

That was the first time I realized something. A really advanced city is not just about having the tallest buildings or fastest subway. What matters more is, when it finds out that its development hurt nature before, it can use science, technology, and patience to bring the lost life back, little by little.

After New York, I went to Orlando for a three-week technology summer camp.

The thing I remember most was the space class. Each group had to make a paper rocket using super simple materials like tin foil, glue, and white paper. At first our rocket kept failing. It would just fly out and drop immediately. But the teacher didn't tell us the answer directly. He made us keep designing, testing, and changing it by ourselves. If the rocket flew too short, we adjusted the tail. If the nose was not stable, we made it stronger. We failed so many times and had to start over so many times. Sometimes just a tiny change in angle made the whole result completely different.

It was the first time I felt so clearly that when humans look toward space, how much knowledge, courage, and teamwork is needed behind it. Technology is not made by one genius alone, it's the result of so many people trying again and again, and working together.

After class, we played sports together, talked a lot, and exchanged gifts. The panda keychains I brought from China became everyone's favorite thing! We played soccer together under the super hot sun and played cards when we had free time. Nobody there really cared about which country you come from, or what color your skin is, or your accent, or your name. I realized that the distance between different countries is not as far as I imagined. What really makes the world closer is not fast planes or trains, it's people who want to cooperate and understand each other.

The third stop was Washington D.C.

It has the Capitol building, the White House, and all the monuments. But there was one place that made me think seriously about the world for the first time — the World Bank.

Walking into the World Bank, the lobby was really big and bright. There were flags from every single country — so colorful. On the walls there were paintings made by kids from around the world. The paintings had blue skies, schools, rivers, the sun, and also smiling faces and hope. Going deeper inside, there were working areas where people had souvenirs from everywhere on their desks: African totems, wood carvings, small fish tanks, little plants. People were dressed in all kinds of ways, too. Some wore formal suits, some just had casual T-shirts and sandals with their toes showing, and some people wore Indian head wraps. It honestly looked like that "It's a Small World" ride at Disneyland.

A staff member asked me: "What does the World Bank do?"

I thought about it and said, "Lend money to poor countries."

"That's right,” she said with a smile. "The World Bank's mission is to help developing countries reduce poverty, share prosperity, and give more people a chance to change their life. Our dream is to build a planet with no poverty and nobody left behind."

Before this, I only knew banks as places where you save money or get loans. But here I learned there is another kind of bank that puts most of its energy into helping the world become better.

Standing in that lobby, I thought for a really long time:

Why do some countries have super advanced technology, but some places don't even have clean water to drink?

Why can some people research outer space, but other people are still worrying about their next meal?

Technology is developing faster and faster, but the world still has so many problems. I started to feel more and more that the real meaning of technology is not just about making newer, faster, stronger products. It's about giving more normal people a better life.

For the last part of the trip, we went to Los Angeles.

The sunshine in California feels different from New York or D.C. It's bright and warm, and the sunset at Santa Monica Beach is just as beautiful as everyone says. Standing on the Pacific coast, watching waves hit the sand again and again, with the ocean and sky connecting far away, it felt like the whole world became wider.

When we got to Griffith Observatory, it was slowly getting dark, and the whole city of LA started to light up bit by bit. Standing on top of the hill and looking out over the city, there were so many lights covering the ground. The streets going in all directions looked like glowing rivers that go on forever. When the wind blew, all the city noise seemed to become quiet. There was only the shining night view in front of me and the deep starry sky above my head.

Inside the observatory, I saw giant telescopes and lots of exhibits about the universe, galaxies, and how humans explored space through history. From just looking up at stars, to making telescopes. From inventing rockets, to landing on the moon. From the first satellite going to space, to exploring deep space today. Humans never stopped chasing the stars.

Standing in front of Griffith Observatory, I didn't talk for a long time. In front of me was a city full of lights, above me was the endless universe. Compared to the stars, humans are so, so small.

Then suddenly I remembered a trip to America I took a few years ago.

Back then, I visited Silicon Valley and walked around Stanford University just for fun. The campus had so many green trees, the grass fields were quiet and wide, and the sun was bright and strong.

At that time, I couldn't really understand why so much technology that changed people's lives was born in this place.

But this time, I suddenly connected everything together.

The "Billion Oyster Project" in New York showed me technology can fix nature. The summer camp in Orlando showed me technology can connect kids from different countries. The World Bank showed me that countries should help each other, and that in the end it should all be for making normal people's lives happier. Standing at Griffith Observatory, I saw that all the great explorations of humans were never just one person's journey. It's a super long relay race, finished by countless countries, scientists, and regular people together.

Maybe this is exactly why Silicon Valley and Stanford are so special.

It's not just about starting companies, it's about the dreams and ideals of young people, generation after generation. Every new invention could make humans and nature get along better, connect people closer together, and push the world one step forward to being fairer and better.

After coming back to China, I keep thinking about the oysters growing back in New York Harbor, the friends I worked with in Orlando classrooms, and those paintings about children, poverty, and hope on the walls of the World Bank.

These experiences are like three seeds, quietly planted inside my heart.

They tell me that the technology really worth chasing in the future is the kind that can protect blue skies, rivers, and forests. Truly great innovation is the kind that helps more regular people. And that real, lasting peace comes from different people being willing to understand each other, respect each other, and walk forward together.

I believe no matter where I go in the future, this trip will always remind me: technology should make nature more beautiful and life better. Different cultures should accept each other and make the world more peaceful.

I believe as long as humans keep respecting nature, keep wanting to learn, and keep treasuring peace, technology will for sure make the world better, and that different cultures will definitely be able to face a bigger and brighter future together, through understanding and working together.

The author is a student at the Junior High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

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