Sometimes life offers unexpected experiences which provide incredible highs without taking drugs or drinking alcohol. That happened for me this autumn when I was fortunate to be able to take part in a Quest to China run by LeadersQuest who offer individual business leaders and corporate groups the opportunity to explore the DNA of a country by providing opportunities for high-quality experiences which facilitate business connections and enable personal development.

I had previously travelled on Quests with LeadersQuest to Brazil and to India. I have learned that for me, going on a Quest is about the inner and the outer. The outer is the essence of the place you visit, the people you see in the streets and those you meet face-to-face, the sounds, the smells, the experiences, the food, the views.  The inner landscape is what is going on inside me throughout the seven days of the Quest, both in terms of my personal learning, my experience of being part of a group of people whom I have not met before who become a supportive community for this short period of time – and my response to myself as a conscious being – who am I in these very changed circumstances and what might I learn about myself that I did not previously know?

LeadersQuest offers personal challenges of a kind that take you out of your comfort zone. I am challenged to explore my response to the newness of the places I visit, to what is comfortable and what is uncomfortable, to how I feel being surrounded for most of the day by people from different countries and different backgrounds who I am going to travel with on this inner and outer journey.  This Quest took place partly in Chengdu in Sichuan province known to some as China’s ‘Silicon Valley’ and partly in ShangriLa, originally called Zhongdian and now in Yunnan province, 10,000 feet above sea level, the gateway to the Ancient Silk Road which led over the Tibetan mountains to Lhasa (although you cannot travel that way now).

In Chengdu we stayed in an independent Chinese hotel in a traditional part of town. The first afternoon, dizzy with jet-lag but high on excitement, I wandered in the area around the hotel. People were buying takeaway food for the weekend from stalls where it had just been cooked. Chinese families were sitting outside cafes drinking tea and eating their own food which they brought with them.  I watched people going into an intriguing courtyard surrounded by buildings with traditional Chinese roofs and following them in, found myself in a restaurant  surrounded by beautiful gardens and waterfalls. I later discovered it was vegetarian and next to the local Buddhist Temple.  I felt drugged with the thrill of being in China and the anticipation of the exciting days ahead..

The Quest began with a visit to the famous Panda Breeding reserve where we saw dozens of beautiful animals living in their natural habitat. Then it was back to a gracious meeting space in a tea-house to get to know our fellow participants for the next week.  We were a group of 17 from places as varied as Turkey, India, Nigeria, America, Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore. We ranged in age over 40 years.  Over the next few days we learned much about many different aspects of China from the wide range of people we were introduced to including Chinese people and employees from different nations working in large organisations, people running successful companies, entrepreneurs creating small enterprises and Buddhist monks, sharing ideas and philosophies from ancient times which are still very relevant today.

Sichuan Province is renowned for its food and we experienced a wide range of cuisines and a variety of different eating places. On the third day we were already very full of Chinese culture as we flew together on an internal flight to ShangriLa.  The city is 10,000 feet above sea-level and as we turned into the main square at 8 o’clock at night, it felt completely magical.  Ancient Chinese buildings towered above us, lit up by many lights for the tourists and in the square itself, there was circle dancing which everyone could join in.  I was enthralled by the faces of the Tibetan people, hitherto only seen on the television or in a film.  I was overwhelmed with my good fortune in being able to experience such a remarkable place. I was on a high in every way.

Over the next 48 hours in ShangriLa we learned about the history of this ancient City, an intriguing blend of Tibetan and Chinese culture. We met with people from different nations who had found their way there in different circumstances. We drove into the forbidding countryside on narrow winding mountain roads and observed how people lived in small towns and villages. We experienced real poverty first-hand and were humbled by the generosity of our hosts, offering hospitality so graciously when they had so little themselves.  We were frequently moved by the experiences of the people we met:  the young woman from Hong Kong who was ‘called’ to start an orphanage for ‘lost’ children from chaotic homes whom no one else wanted to care for, the man who had travelled from India on a dangerous journey through the mountains as a teenager and who now owned one of the town’s best hotels; the apprentice artists who had been working on a huge and detailed painting for the  famous Buddhist Temple for nearly two years… Such an amazing cast of characters, all revealing different aspects of the Tibetan and Chinese experience.

At the end of our week together, firstly in Tibet, and then back in Chengdu there were sessions when we had the opportunity to explore how we were feeling and what we were experiencing. All of us felt strong emotions at different times, moved by the people whose stories we heard, the experiences they had lived through and were having now, and the problems that many of them were faced with.  Each one of us in the group had come on the Quest to learn something different but many of us were taking home unexpected learning, about ourselves, about our responses to one another in the group and about how we were experiencing China and the many interesting and remarkable people we were meeting.

I had not planned ahead sufficiently for my time at an altitude of 10,000 feet above sea level and was very aware how my body was responding to the atmosphere so high above sea level.  I felt cold all the time we were there even though I was warmly dressed, the temperature was moderate and the sun shone frequently.  I learned that I was fit enough to keep on the move for seven days constantly, as long as I didn’t try and stay up all night as well.  I was encouraged that, after so many years in the workplace, I still have much stamina and could keep going through a very intense week.  I learned also that, after having experienced two previous Quests, I am comfortable with myself whether I felt part of the group or on occasions when I felt that I didn’t necessarily want to take part.  I learned that I am getting better at being less judgmental though there is still a long way to go.

Throughout the trip the LeadersQuest team of four co-leaders were amazing.  Each day of the trip consisted of dozens of arrangements which must have taken weeks to co-ordinate. Nothing was too much trouble.  All of the leaders modelled conscious-leadership and servant-leadership in the most beautiful way. Every one of the participants learned from their kindness and generosity and we all shared our experiences of being with each other at the end of the week.

If we are ever to achieve peace and harmony in this chaotic and unsteady world in which we live, it is essential that we meet and share what we know and what we have with others, no matter who they are or where they are from.  It is essential that we recognise both the power of difference and the power of similarity.  As technology unites all of us around the globe, we also need to come together face-to-face, to meet one another in harmony and to learn from each other both in the expected and in the unexpected ways. To be taken out of familiar circumstances and have the opportunity to explore the world as seen through completely different eyes is a huge privilege. The sharing reverberates at unexpected times as I return to my life in London and I hope that I am able to use my experiences to open other people’s minds to the greater possibilities of our existence together on this planet.