Liberal ideals...will they fly?

Those who know me do know that I'm not particularly the most conservative person you will meet on the street...
I do involve myself in the arts, but don't exactly participate in extracurriculars that I'd like to specifically link to my professional profile. I have neon red (or rainbow) hair, several tattoos and many more piercings. I condone freedom of expressions in any form, be it artistically, sexually, politically...

The realization that in traveling to another country, I will not be able to wear these ideals as openly on my sleeve will be quite difficult. However, I know that I cannot have such a negative opinion on communism and non-Western countries (the criticism I am often met with when I say "I'm picking up and going to China") until I've been there and lived it myself.

Already tasting the tip of the iceberg--the ban on Facebook (my entire social life), Twitter (what will I do without minute-to-minute updates of my mundane existence?) and Google (when did 'Google' become a verb?) and the censorship of news outlets and information sharing have left in my mouth a bad taste. Rather, my inability to understand the benefit of these ways has left a bad taste. At the same time, I feel I have no place to judge, not having tried it out.

I realize that stepping away from--in my limited understanding of the way the East perceives the West--the 'self-important, individualist' view, and trying to empathetically see the 'collectivist, greater good' view will be hard. However, I also know it is presumptuous of me to generalize so deeply without a fuller understanding of the other culture.

So now, I take my Western perspectives and run with them...and see how they fly in China.
...without giving up on the punk rock red hair factor..