We made a trip to China recently, and this is what I found out: If you like bok choy, bargaining, bridges and blue trucks, this is the place for you.

We traveled across mainland China and up the Yangtze River, and I spent most of my time not visiting museums, but gawking at construction. Alas, my husband ran a small construction company for a while, and of course, Chinese scaffolding was as interesting to him as the terra cotta warriors were to me.

I didn't mind the time spent looking at construction, since as an educator, I was curious to see the results of the fabled Chinese manufacturing. After all, nearly everything I use or wear is made in China, and I was amazed by Chinese efficiency. There were bridges all over the place, connecting even the tiniest village along the Yangtze River with the world at large. I was seriously jealous, since I have to circumnavigate Pearl Harbor every morning to get from Ewa Beach to Salt Lake. A nice little suspension bridge would certainly make my life easier.

Frequency notwithstanding, all bridges in China come in two styles, and every construction site I saw had just one kind of truck: square and blue. What it all spoke of was conformity, predictability and speed. It's easy to build a thousand bridges efficiently when there are only two designs, and one set of trucks delivers all the materials.

IN AMERICA we are far too individualistic to stand still for this kind of lock-step approach to production. We like variety in our vehicles, our vegetables and our voters. We would never settle for one color of paint on every truck in the country, and after 28 servings of bok choy (twice a day for two weeks), even the terrific Chinese food began to seem regimented both in taste and style.

I really like my inefficient, unpredictable and messy American life. I like knowing that the price quoted in Sears is what it is, and I love the fact that I have four different kinds of peelers for potatoes. I don't need a peeler that looks like a gorilla, but oddly, it makes me happy to have one.

I like eating a different vegetable with every meal, and I think buildings and bridges should reflect different facets of our cultural variety and innovative approach to everyday life. I don't mind waiting for the bridge over Pearl Harbor because I know if it eventually gets built, it will be different from the Golden Gate both in size and style.

It feels right to be mostly out of the box, rather than in it, and when our last meal in China came with yet another serving of bok choy shaped like a perfect square, I was struck at the metaphor for all that is wonderful about living right here in Hawaii: When we eat bok choy, it stacks, slips and slithers, and wonderfully, the leaves are all different sizes, just like us.

Cris Rathyen teaches English at Moanalua High School. “;The Goddess Speaks”; is a feature by and about women. Essays of about 550 words may be sent to “;The Goddess Speaks,”; 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu 96813; or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).