WASHINGTON - The head of Confucius Institute Headquarters paid $90 for hairdos to learn a lesson on the communication gap between China and the West.

"I went to two hair dressers but both failed to do my hair the way I wanted it," Xu Lin told the audience at the opening ceremony of the National Chinese Language Conference last week.

"That's why I am here (promoting Chinese language and culture) because I strongly believe that in today's global village, we should learn more from each other and understand each other better."