An American student visits China.

Will Horowitz, of New York City, is studying in China this year. Here, he writes about a trip to Guizhou Province.

We drove about two hours into what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. I didn't see cars for the last hour of the drive--just peasants wading in the race paddies. In the distance we could hear drums banging, but we didn't know who was playing them.

After about three hours of hiking, we arrived at a Miao [or Hmong] village called Gaoyan. When we arrived, the first group waiting for us was a line of about 50 children banging the drums and tambourines that we had heard.

We came to a table set up by local women who offered us mijiu [a local rice drink], which we drank from ox hams. My friend and I explored the village. We just followed a random footpath--essentially, the only kind of path in this village. We found a pond, a massive bundle of chili peppers, and kids running around on a concrete surface with a rusty ring attached to a wooden post [their makeshift version of a basketball court].

We asked them if they played basketball, and one little kid ran to grab a ball before he could answer. He came back with an airless ball with holes in it, but it was a basketball nonetheless. The kids ran around and tried to throw the ball up, but they didn't seem to have much practice.