I was shocked at how little Americans know about China.?

Many of my friends toured the States this summer as exchange students and tourists. They got to know many nice Americans. They were all very kind-hearted. The only problem was they knew so little about such a big country, China. It shouldn't be anyone's fault. But on the other hand, they described China as a dictatorship country while they didn't even know which part of Asia China is in. God I was shocked and speechless......why not pay a visit to China in person rather than just listen to all the bad -but-not-always-real things CNN tells you?