Flying 10,000 meters above the Silk Road that has connected China and Iran more than two millennia, I found that Urumqi lies exactly half-way between Beijing and Teheran.

Thanks to modern technology it took only hours to cover a distance that took caravans months or even years to complete, in ancient times.

The long history of cultural exchanges that took place through the Silk Road can be felt even today. Someone from Northwest China can easily find Farsi words that are instantly recognizable. Not only religious terms such as namaz (prayer) and akhung (Muslim cleric), but also many words used in daily life are the same, such as nang (bread) and piyaz (onion).

Of course, you don't have to come from Northwest China to feel welcome in Iran. Walking the streets of Tehran, I was greeted with ni hao every day, and I would reply with the Farsi equivalent, salam.

When I first arrived in Iran, I often hesitated to take photographs of people on the streets, afraid that it may not be appropriate. I was soon relieved to find that many Iranians were equally eager to take pictures of me with their cell phones. In the end, we both took a lot of pictures of one another.

Before landing at the Imam Khomeini International Airport of Tehran, my knowledge of Iran was limited to a few films such as Abbas Kiarostami's Taste of Cherry, soccer players such as Mehdi Mahdavikia, and knowing that it is an Islamic republic. I reckon this is typical for the average Chinese.

One of the questions I often asked Iranians was, "Do many Iranian men have four wives?", while one of the questions I was often asked was, "Does every Chinese eat cats and dogs?"

The answer to both questions was, of course, no. I realized that if I felt offended by the cats and dogs question, Iranians probably felt the same by my question.

Every day that I was there, I got to talk to many Iranians. After learning that I was from China, the most common comments were: "The Beijing Olympics were the best ever"; "President Jiang Zemin has visited Iran"; and "Yao Ming is a great basketball player"

Often, I would be surrounded by a group of people, all eager to ask questions, some with the help of an English interpreter. Besides the one about eating cats and dogs, many asked, "How many letters are there in the Chinese alphabet?" and even "How much is your salary?"

Some wanted me to give them Chinese names, while others asked for my contact information in China.

I enjoyed getting to know the country by interacting with its people. Though we live in times when modern communication has shortened the distance between people, personal experience remains the most reliable way to understand a people.

One of the few TV reports about Iran that I had seen in China was a demonstration against the United States in which people shouted angry slogans, leaving me with the impression that every Iranian hated the Americans.

"No, that's not true. The intense relationship is only between the governments of Iran and the United States. Iranian people are friendly with everybody, including Americans," said Mehdi Moazami, a 29-year-old Iranian whose favorite singer is Britney Spears.

Moazami, who has a Bachelor's degree in English, speaks fluent English with an American accent, which he attributed to watching Disney cartoons.

Quite a few Iranians that I met seemed very interested in Western culture. In Esfahan, the second city in Iran that I visited, not far from a big poster in the Imam Khomeini Square that read "Down with the U.S.A.", I found advertisements for courses offering coaching for tests such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

"More and more Iranian people are interested in learning English," said Ensieh Ghanadzadeh, a 24-year-old female English teacher with the Kish Institute, a government organization devoted to teaching foreign languages. "If you speak good English, you won't be unemployed in Iran."

The country has four English-language newspapers - Tehran Times, Iran News, Iran Daily and Kayhan - and many English-language magazines. Surprisingly, I also found a bookstore in Tehran that dealt exclusively in Western magazines.

Before I left China, a colleague had told me that the National Geographic had a story on Iran, but in my hurry to leave, I forgot to borrow a copy from the library.

This bookstore had everything, from Time and Newsweek, to Economist and National Geographic, so I asked a shop assistant if she knew about the issue of National Geographic that had the Iran story.

"Yes, it's the August issue of 2008," she said with a smile.

"Can I get a copy of it?"

"No. That issue is banned. Every other issue is available."

I gave up the idea of reading about Iran, and continued to discover it on my own.

Mehdi's cousin and the bridegroom at their wedding. Photos by Mu Qian

One aspect that I think is unique to Iran is its women. Here I set eyes on some of the most beautiful women I had ever seen in my life. Their big eyes, long, black eyelashes and slim figures define a beauty ideal that is neither Eastern nor Western. I thought their hijab or head cover, only added a sense of mysticism to their beauty.

However, wearing the hijab is not always pleasant as it is hot in the summer. Salmaa Pkhami, a 28-year-old photographer and sports lover, told me that she had to wear the hijab even while skiing, playing tennis, basketball, or soccer. Since the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979, it is compulsory for women to wear the hijab in public.

"What if the hijab falls off in a header when you play soccer?" I asked.

After thinking for a while, Salmaa replied: "We don't use headers in women's soccer in Iran."

Salmaa also goes swimming, of course, in women-only swimming pools.

A similar segregation exists on buses where the seats at the back are reserved for women. There are also women-only compartments on the subways, though women can choose to go to other compartments.

I fully respect and support such measures which are aimed at protecting women in public, but did find the separation of men and women a little unusual in one case.

I was thrilled when Mehdi invited me to his cousin's wedding. Now I had a rare opportunity to see a side of Iranian life.

The wedding was held at a "teachers' club" in Tehran, which was rented to teachers or their relatives at much lower rates than what hotels charged. I was received warmly by Mehdi's father, brothers, and uncles. Just as I was wondering where the female members of the family were, Mehdi told me that all the women, including the bride, were in a different room.

All the men, including the bridegroom, were in this room. That meant the bridegroom would not be with the bride during the wedding!

Nearly everyone was dressed in Western suits and ties. A man took the stage to sing pop songs, while all the others began to dance to the music. The kids were the happiest, for the dancers kept throwing money into the air for the kids to catch. Toward the end of the dance, the bridegroom too joined in.

Then came the banquet. As alcohol is not allowed in Iran, the wedding was not as noisy as the ones in China, where alcohol flows freely. As the banquet came to an end, Mehdi said, "Hurry, now is the only chance to see the bride!"

We rushed out of the hall to the courtyard. Three weddings were held that night at the "teacher's club", and all were nearing the end. Men and women came together to socialize for the first time that night. Three limousines waited for the couples.

The brides finally came out, in white wedding dresses, hand in hand with the bridegrooms. The bridegrooms opened the doors of the limousines for the brides, and waved goodbye to the guests. I caught a glimpses of all the three brides, and all were very beautiful.

During my stay in Iran, I didn't go to many tourist sites, but I made a lot of friends. The hospitality of the Iranian people alone is a sufficient reason to visit Iran.

Reza Mohammadi, a 27-year-old bank clerk, took me to lunch and accompanied me for a whole afternoon in the Friday Market of Tehran just because he saw that I was a lone foreigner wandering the street. When I climbed Mount Tochal in northern Tehran, a couple shared their food with me and taught me to sing Iranian folk songs. In Esfahan, an old man walked with me a long way to my hotel at midnight, fearing that I might get lost. He told me that he was a retired sailor who had visited China five times, and that his favorite Chinese city was Dalian.

After my return to China, I received many phone calls from unfamiliar numbers, sometimes in the early mornings.

Many a time, the callers sounded like they were speaking Farsi, but I never got to figure out their identities.