For most Loyola students, traveling abroad is a life-changing experience, but for Omar Ali, ’03, international travel has become a way of life. His experiences while studying abroad for a year through Loyola’s Beijing program inspired in him a passion for Chinese culture that has led him to return to Beijing more than 15 times. Today, he travels to Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other cities throughout China to film documentaries on the region’s culture.

“The main thing I learned in college was not to be afraid to take chances and follow dreams, no matter how financially impractical they seem,” says Ali. “Loyola gave me the opportunity to personalize my education and worked with me to make sure that I got where I wanted to go.”

Ali says he chose the Beijing program because he wanted an adventure and a challenge. When he arrived in Beijing, he could not speak the language and had limited knowledge of the culture. “Soon I was speaking Chinese, writing Chinese and eating like the locals,” he explains. “The experience was life changing. It was like being reborn.”

Ali with his Kung Fu Master

After graduation, Ali worked for two years as a recruiter for the Beijing program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. The position allowed him to travel back and forth from China and to stay in touch with the culture. He helped American students prepare for their trips and traveled with them to China to guide them on their international academic adventures.

“Every time I returned to the U.S., I always felt a huge sense of reverse culture shock,” says Ali. “China had become such a huge part of my life, but I found it virtually impossible to communicate my experiences to my friends and family. I think the films started from a very personal desire to reconnect with the people that I cared about, but who could not necessarily understand my China experience.”

The three films are a joint venture between Ali and his brothers Khalid and Tariq. The film, Have You Eaten? examines Chinese cuisine and food culture. The second film, yet to be named, is about folk music, pop culture and rock and roll in China. The third film is about the art of Kung Fu and its role in modern China.

The Ali brothers expect to complete the films in time for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and hope to air the documentaries on television, although they have not ruled out entering film festivals or approaching the educational film market. “Our films are very unique in that we achieve a very intimate connection with our subjects,” explains Ali. “We are trying to give people a picture of China and Chinese people that they have never seen before.”