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The eyes of the world will be on Beijing, China, as the Summer Olympic Games begin next month, but Wheeling resident Robert K. Edmundson has seen some of the Olympic venues already.

While academic subjects were the main reason behind Edmundson's visit to China, the university professor enjoyed opportunities to visit some of the vast nation's impressive tourist destinations and to meet other professors and students on their home turf. He also saw facilities under construction for the Beijing Summer Olympic Games, to be conducted Aug. 8-24.

Edmundson is an associate professor in the Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry at West Virginia University's School of Medicine. He visited China at the invitation of Dr. Guoli Liang, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, who was making a return trip to his home country. Edmundson befriended Liang 10 years ago when the China native moved to Morgantown to work on his doctorate at WVU.

During their two-week trip to China, Liang arranged for Edmundson to make some presentations at Beijing Normal University. Edmundson gave presentations to faculty and staff of the university's counseling center about psychological services that are available to students at WVU. He also spoke to a group of about 200 students regarding mental health issues on college campuses.

In addition, Edmundson presented a workshop for professionals in the community on the use of group therapy in treating addictions. "It was pretty well received," he said. "I had an opportunity to meet some nice people."

Through the presentations at the university, Edmundson said, "I got to meet several really neat young people who were graduate students. The psychology students were very bright people."

Edmundson noticed some lingering reluctance on the part of Chinese students to discuss mental health issues openly. He related, "When I gave the talk to the students, actually there was some participation from the students. Some actually sort of admitted they had a problem."

Later, he received an e-mail message from a student who had been too ashamed to ask questions about having a problem. "She even felt shame at talking to a professor," he said, adding that some Chinese students feel shame because they do not want to be seen in a bad light by their peers or professors.

When Liang went to other locations, graduate students always were on hand to accompany Edmundson as they traveled by subway, bus and taxi. "They (the graduate students) spoke some English. It gave them an opportunity to practice English, and gave me a local person to translate and show me around," the Wheeling man said.

During his travels, Edmundson visited the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and Tiananmen Square, among other famous landmarks, and several Buddhist temples. He also walked on the Great Wall of China with Liang and a couple of friends. "That was quite an experience," Edmundson remarked. "It was just gorgeous."

"I also visited the site of the Olympic Games," he said. There, he saw the new stadium, dubbed the Bird's Nest, where the opening ceremonies of the Summer Games will be held. He also observed buildings under construction for the swimming and equestrian events. "It's pretty impressive," he said.

The Wheeling educator also observed other efforts being made to spruce up Beijing for the Olympic visitors. For example, he said, Chinese authorities are refurbishing buildings in the Forbidden City, "polishing this place so it looks good when the world comes" to visit.

On the negative side, he experienced the effects of China's heavy air pollution. The Chinese face "a tall order to diminish pollution" in time for the Olympics, he said.

Beijing also has lots of traffic, which makes traveling on foot or by vehicle "really interesting," Edmundson said. The streets are filled with many first-generation drivers of motor vehicles, as well as an abundance of bicycles and three-wheeled vehicles. "Being a pedestrian there is quite dangerous. Drivers don't give an inch," he related.

Edmundson, who was joined by his brother-in-law, Martin Pirhalla of Wheeling, for the last part of the trip, also visited Shanxi province when Liang was invited to speak at Shanxi University. Their hosts were Jianying Li, a faculty member who is going to be an Olympics judge, and his wife, Xia Li, who owns a hotel. "We were honored by them to attend the Moon Festival with their families," he recalled. "We had some wonderful hospitality."

They also had dinner at the Peking Duck restaurant with another university professor who met Edmundson 10 years ago as a visiting professor at WVU. On this occasion, Edmundson received a certificate stating that he ate a "certified" Peking duck. They also were served duck feet and duck tongue. "I ate one of each just to be hospitable," the westerner quipped.

Edmundson's favorite place in China was Pingyao, an old walled city that is "just breathtaking." Pingyao was "the banking center of China at one time," but "when the banks moved out, the city stopped its growth," he said.

In outlying rural areas, the countryside is dirty and covered with coal dust, he said. On the highways, vehicles vie with farmers carrying loads of straw on carts or three-wheeled vehicles.

Back home, Edmundson said more and more Chinese students are coming to WVU to study. "This exchange that is going on is part of the solution," he commented. "Participation is part of the way to resolve differences, part of the way to change attitudes."