Dear Cha-Wel-Dor-Sue,

This trip was our second extensive trip to Mainland China, (1979 and 1984), as our last trip in 1983 was only a one day excursion via Macau to Sun Yat Sen's birthplace in southern China or in Guanghou province.

On our first trip, we, as tourists or foreigners, were few in number, were housed in the finest hotels, and had superb service and guidance. Today, the influx of tourists and the rapid development of the Chinese economy is in evidence everywhere. Whereas cars, taxis and buses were rarely seen on our initial visit to China and bicycles were everywhere, today, the streets are congested with all manner of vehicles and the bicycles, although still in great numbers, have been relegated to the lateral lanes on each side of the thoroughfares.

Our hotel in Beijing in 1979 was the famous Peking Hotel in the very heart of the city and literally next door to Tien en Amen Square with all its memorials and historical sites. Our hotel also abutted the famous shopping street Wang Fujing, which is known as "The Shopper's Paradise".

This year, we were housed in the Jing Feng Hotel, 45 minutes from downtown by speedy cab and literally built in the center of an agricultural commune. It was so far out and so far down on the hotel category list that it wasn't even mentioned in our Chinese guide book, and even our local and national guides hadn't ever been there It was, perhaps, the worst hotel that we stayed in during our entire trip to Mainland China. It may be of interest for you to know that today, there are two categories of hotels; 1) The Chinese hotels, except for its old and famous ones, are the least expensive and are usually situated on the outskirts of the city. They also lack many of the ordinary conveniences, 2) The joint-venture hotels which usually are modern in all respects and built jointly by the Chinese government and other foreign governments. For example, the new Great Wall Hotel is a beautiful hotel and built jointly by China and the United States. Or the China-Toronto Hotel, which is a joint venture between China and Canada. These latter hotels are more expensive and are deluxe in all respects. Any future visits on Pat and my part will be in joint-venture hotels if this is at all possible.

On our initial trip, we saw so much that was new and exciting that I will not repeat on this occasion any of the visits that we made on our first visit to China in 1979.

Perhaps a few of the highlights of China's history might be in order at this time. To begin with, China lays claim to being the oldest civilization in existence today and dates her dynasties back to some 4,000 years B.C., (Much like Egypt's) and has consisted of one dynasty after another, all of which were commanded by war lords and most being either a slave or feudal form of society. China's recent history is much better known and I might mention the Opium War from 1839 to 1842 with Great Britain, then the Taiping Rebellion which lasted from 1850 to 1864, in which the peasants rose up against the Manchu rulers, the Second British War (1856 to 1860), which opened up China's ports to exploitation by foreign governments, the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 in which China lost its ability to expel foreign influence, the overthrow of the Manchu Dynasty in 1911, the new Chinese Republic established under Sun Yat Sen in 1912, the May Fourth Movement or a rebellion against transferring German properties in China to Japan, the Nationalist Movement in 1927 under Chang Kai Shek, with its capitol at NanKing and finally, the Sino-Japanese War II in 1937 in which Japan captured Manchuria. The other significant historical event was the victory of the Chinese Reds under Mao Zedong in which Mao Zedong defeated Chang Kai Shek and established the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Our entry into China in 1979 was via the train from Kowloon to Canton and which involved carrying our bags across the border at Shenzhen. This time, we flew into Beijing (Peking) after an overnight stay at the Nikko Norito Hotel at the airport in Tokyo (Japanese Airlines).

On our initial visit in Beijing (five days), we saw every major attraction, i.e., the immense Tien en Amen Square with its adjacent Forbidden City (Emperor's Palace), its museums and Great Hall of the Congress, the Heavenly Temple, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall, and the Ming Tombs. On this occasion (three days), we did not revisit the Great Wall or the Tombs but spent a day on our own using the local bus and subway systems and frequently resorting to the taxi cab as it was very inexpensive. We did have the opportunity of seeing Mao in his Mausoleum and I might add that it is more beautiful in many respects but somewhat less impressive than Lenin's Tomb in Red Square in Moscow, and we also spent some time going through the Great Hall of the Congress which had been closed on our initial visit. In addition, we climbed Coal Hill and looked down on the entire expanse of the Emperor's Palace and Beihai Lake. One night in Beijing was spent seeing an exhibition of Chinese acrobatics or Circus, as they call it, and they were superb.

Both Pat and I have been fortunate to meet two of China's living heroes who were born abroad and had migrated to China as relatively young men and who have spent most of their lives there in support of the Revolution. Most of the other famous foreigners are deceased, such as Norman Bethune (Canadian surgeon), and the Americans, Agnes Smedley, Anita Louise Strong, and Edgar Snow. On our initial visit, we had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Dr. Ma Haide (George Hatem), an American born in Buffalo in 1910 of Lebanese parentage and who was educated at the University of North Carolina and subsequently in Medicine at Beirut, Lebanon, and Geneva, Switzerland. He came to China about 1936, met Edgar Snow, and together apparently crossed the Nationalist lines and joined Mao Zedong and Chou en Lai in their fight for the success of the Peasant Revolution. His expertise in infectious diseases enabled him to be appointed Head of the Institute for the Study of Infectious Diseases and today, he is an internationally recognized authority on leprosy. In addition, he is given personal credit for the eradication of venereal disease in China. In 1979, we spent an evening with George, met his wife Su Fei and his son and grandchildren. Since our initial visit together, which had been arranged through the intermediary arrangements of John Roots, George and I have corresponded on occasions, and my five years of subscribing to China Reconstructs and China Pictorial has kept me informed of George's doings and travels. Unfortunately, on this trip, George and his wife were away in Japan. When we left George in 1979, he presented me with a book of poems entitled "Snow Over the Pines" and a small booklet consisting of a series of photographs of Chinese children, both of which had been made by Rewi Alley. Since that time, I had wanted to meet this wonderful man who like Albert Schweitzer is a legend in the history of humanitarianism.

On this trip, I called Rewi Alley (and he invited Pat and me to tea at 4:30 in the afternoon at his home, a unit in the old Italian Embassy, located behind the China International Travel Service Building which faces the Peking Hotel on Chang An Street. I found this 87 year old man in surprisingly good health, wearing comfortable shorts, and we had a delightful meeting in his study and library. When it became evident to him that I was familiar with his background, had read many of his poems and his writings, he warmed up and our conversation ranged from U.S.-China relations to the problems posed by Kampuchia, Korea, and Taiwan. Despite his age, his mind is sharp, his memory vivid, and presently he is engaged in accumulating or gathering together material for his auto-biography. It should be a most interesting and fascinating one. Upon leaving, he presented me with several of his published works and gave Pat a porcelain water buffalo. They embraced, kissed, and Rewi accompanied us to the entrance of the park-like enclave.

I plan to send him some of the books about China which have been recently published in the United States and perhaps which he has not had access to as yet. In meeting George and Rewi, who are close friends, Pat and I have been privileged to meet two of the foreign born heroes of the Revolution who are known and loved throughout all of China, as each has traveled to virtually all of the provinces.

Our flight to Xian was a brief one (One hour and fifteen minutes) and whereas Xian was all light and sunshine on our first visit, this time, it rained constantly. Xian was the capitol of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) and on one of our nights, we witnessed a tremendous show in acting depicting the life of this era. The Tang costumes, its dancing with its mask and sword dances in particular, and its scenery, was all breath-taking, and the music so exotic and foreign to my ears that I was indeed in another long lost world. While in Xian, we revisited the Archaeological Site with its 6,000 terra-cotta warrior figures and horses, and the Hot Springs where the "Xian Incident" occurred (1936). You may recall that Chang Kai Shek was kidnapped by his own generals and was finally persuaded,after two to three weeks of negotiations involving both his wife and Chou en Lai, to give up his Civil War against Mao and his Communist followers and to join them in a common fight to drive out the Japanese invaders who at that time occupied much of China. Following the successful conquest of Japan, which followed immediately after our dropping the bombs at Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Chang Kai Shek resumed his Civil War against the Reds. Chang, with his Nationalist Army of eight million men and equipped with modern U.S. arms, was no match for Mao and his one million peasants whose cause seemed right for China's exploited peoples and who were largely from the country, or peasants. Finally, in 1979, Chang's forces were defeated at Shanghai and he fled with the remainder of his Army, (600,000 soldiers) to Taiwan. Many of his soldiers had previously deserted to Mao and in 1949, at Tien en Amen Square, Mao proclaimed victory by saying "We have stood up". Mao was a great teacher, a great inspirational leader, who had studied Marxist Leninism and felt it was the way to go for his people. Mao's followers were largely ill-fed and illiterate peasants who were not prepared at that time for any kind of capitalism and it appeared that socialism was the only practical solution as a form of government for his people. Whereas Stalin began his revolution in the cities, among the workers (proletariat), fighting both the Czarist regime and the bourgeois (small and large business capitalists), Mao found this approach impractical, particularly after the Communists were slaughtered in 1927 in the city of Shanghai. He appealed to the peasants in the countryside, where 80% of the people of China dwelled, and his Army gathered followers as they moved through the countryside. Chou en Lai, the most beloved man in China's recent history, was an intellectual, a mandarin, who had studied in Paris and who was the pragmatist, the diplomat, and truly China's renaissance man. The third member of the Triumvirate, namely Chu Teh, was a brilliant Army tactician, who had also studied abroad in Paris with Chou en Lai.

Today in China, it is agreed that Mao was China's great leader but that in retrospect, and particularly in his later years, he had made many mistakes, such as the "Great Leap Forward", "A Hundred Flowers Shall Bloomn, and finally, the ill-fated and unfortunate "Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)". The intent of the Cultural Revolution may have been good, to acquaint the intellectual community and the bureaucracy with the hardships of the peasants but it got out of hand and had to be finally curtailed with the assistance of the PLA or People's Liberation Army. Mao's statement that "in order to build a new society, one must first destroy the old" led to the development of the youthful Red Guard, brigades of well intentioned youths as well as radical hooligans that ravaged and pillaged many of China's ancient properties and shrines and historical sites. In addition, the learned or educated people were subjected to reeducation to correct their "revisionist or counter-revolutionary ideas". Many were persecuted, tortured and undoubtedly, many were killed. Some committed suicide. Rewi Alley says the American accounts of the horrors of the Cultural Revolution were vastly exaggerated but in all the books that I have read, particularly the 'Red Guard", written by a former Red Guard who had escaped to Hong Kong, provides a personal account of his crimes and if this was repeated over and over again, the sum total of destruction must have been very great. The great tragedy of the "Cultural Revolution" was that all institutes of learning were closed down, experienced and well-trained factory superintendents were sent into the country, and were replaced by inexperienced cadres or party workers whose only qualifications were that they were the most fervent "supporters of the cause" or in other words and in some respects, the biggest and most fervent bullies. It is also agreed that in Mao's later years, he was essentially senile, and in the hands of his wife, Chiang Chiang and her cohorts "Gang of Four". Lin Biao, the unconverted Marxist radical, was killed in a plane crash in Mongolia while trying to escape to Russia.

After leaving Xian, we next visited Loyang, and this involved an eight hour train ride driven by a steam locomotive. We made this visit to enable us to see one of the three great historical monuments in China, the famous Longmen Caves or Grottos, with its 100,000 Buddhas, ranging in size from 17 meters to 2 centimeters in height. It is too fantastic to describe but serves to reinforce my idea of the strength of Buddhism in the early days of its history, for I also saw much of Buddhism in Pagan, Burma, with its 5,000 temples and pagodas and in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and literally throughout all of Southeast Asia. The Buddhas are carved into the mountainside facing the Yu River. In the afternoon, we visited the White Horse Temple, the site of the first Buddhist temple in China, and later in the day, visited the "Old City" and saw a factory where several of the local arts and handicrafts were demonstrated.

The trip from Luoyang to Kaefeng was on a modern Diesel train and took approximately four hours. We occupied a "soft seat" compartment. Ahead of our parlor car was a series of "hard seat" cars, crowded with so many people that we estimated that there were at least 150 people in each car. Every seat, every spare inch of the floor, and even the passage area between the cars was occupied by people, most sitting but many standing for the entire trip. They brought their own food or purchased it through the open windows from vendors at each station. The plight of people in China can best be appreciated by riding in a "hard seat" train. We saw something of the same thing in India, where they were not only crowded in the cars but also rode on the top of the train.

The cuisine in China cannot be criticized from my point of view, as I enjoyed every meal that I had there. Pat, on the other hand, does not enjoy Chinese food as it is prepared and served in China. I found that they had a great variety of dishes and at each sitting, we had pork, chicken, fish, as well as an unusual and varied types of vegetables. Deep fried onions, stuffed steamed dumplings,"Dim Sum", and various cakes and fruits also provided additional diversification in our diets. Good and plentiful beer was on the table at all times and I lost count of the number of variety of beers that I drank, for each city that we visited seemed to have a brewery and to prepare its own variety of beer. To my mind, they were all excellent and all were of the mild variety with 3.5% of alcohol content by volume. A form of orange crush and occasionally Coca Cola were also available and Pat usually made herself a "shandy" of half orange crush and half beer. All of our breakfasts were American, with eggs, toast, jam and either coffee or tea. I never saw a glass of milk anywhere ! China appeared self-sufficient in foodstuffs and never have I seen such intensive and varied cultivation of the land as I have seen in China. In Java, every inch of the land was also utilized but there, it appears, it was largely rice that we saw. China has every vegetable imaginable and it would not be difficult for me to be a vegetarian in China.

The train trip to Kaefeng was comparatively short, consuming only three and one half hours. While on this trip, an abrupt application of the brakes threw many of our tourists out of their seats and toppled those standing in the corridor looking at the landscape. Many had bruises and contusions but no one was seriously injured. Fortunately, in our group was a trauma surgeon and after some initial care and evaluation on my part, I bowed out to his expertise. There were no genitourinary problems. Kaefeng was opened to foreign visitors in 1980 but few people have gone there and the city of 350,000 was perhaps the least interesting portion of our tour to date. This city reminded me of our initial visit to China in 1979 in that everyone was on bicycles and few cars and buses were to be seen. The streets were crowded and milling with people coming and going and appeared to be a poor and drab-appearing city. The constant rain did not improve the appearance of things. At one time, however, Kaefeng was one of the largest cities in the world and one of the most beautiful. It served as the capitol of the Sung Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.) and was on the Grand Canal which connected Beijing to Luoyang and Hangzhou. While we were in Kaefeng, we were driven to the Yellow river one of China's largest rivers, and appropriately named, as it is a sea of flowing yellow mud. It finally terminates in the Yellow Sea, also so named because of its color. The levies at Kaefeng are well-constructed and from this point down to the sea, a distance of over 1,000 miles, they protect the landscape from floods. Formerly, periodic floods completely inundated the city, burying it and its residents on many occasions and it has been estimated that the city had been flooded more than 150 times. The city was finally pillaged in 1127 and never recovered. At one time, a large Jewish population lived here and they were the travelers who traded cotton and silk with the Middle East along the Silk Road. Today, the Jewish race has been completely assimilated and nothing remains of their presence. We did visit "The Lane of the Teaching of the Scriptures" and the site of a former synagogue. Finally, we visited the Xiangguo Si Monastery, originally built in 555 A.D. and recently completely restored. It was not unlike the monastery we had seen in Luoyang (White Horse Temple).

In the afternoon, we visited the Dragon Pavilion, the site where the Emperor conducted civil examinations, the old Music Terrace, where the great Tang poets drank wine and composed poems, and the Iron Pagoda, thirteen stories high, built of brick, but covered with an iron rust colored tiles of many designs. It was the site of a former Buddhist monastery and was the only building to survive the many floods. The amount of silt deposited during centuries of time completely covered the city and only recently, an ancient bridge which crossed the Grand Canal was discovered when they were laying a new sewer line for the city.

The trip from Kaefeng to Nanjing (Nanking) was an overnight affair of eleven hours and we spent it in a parlor car - sleeper compartment (four persons) and we arrived in Nanking in the dark at 5:15 A.M., to be met by a bus and transported to the new joint-venture hotel, the Jingaling (China-Singapore). Due to an influx of 3,000 Japanese students for the Nationalist Day celebration, we were only housed there for one night and then had to be transferred to another smaller guest house. The Jingaling Hotel is the tallest hotel in China and has approximately 40 floors.

Our day in Nanking began with a visit to Sun Yat Sen's Mausoleum. It is an impressive memorial built on the southern slopes of the Zijin Mountains in the eastern city suburbs. The ground covers 20 acres and the Memorial Hall itself is approached by climbing 392 granite steps. Alas, neither time nor my cardiovascular system permitted us to reach the top, although some of our younger aged group did reach the summit. We were only given 30 minutes and it came immediately after dining and with a cold wind blowing in my face, my angina was a warning and a deterrent and I only got two-thirds of the way to the summit. Following this, we visited Madam Chang Kai Shek's Villa, which today is used to house visiting dignitaries. Lastly, we visited the Drum Tower, formerly the highest site in Nanking, from which important events were announced by the "banging of the drum".

On our second morning in Nanjing, the capitol of the Republic of China from 1911 to 1949, and which was Chang Kai Shek's capitol, the sun greeted us for the first time in more than a week. Our first trip in the morning was to Nankings Central University, one of China's most prestigious higher schools of education. After this interesting trip, we visited and crossed the famous Yangtse Bridge, completed by the Chinese themselves after the Russians picked up their blueprints and construction crews and returned to Russia in the year 1960. It is over a mile long and consists of two tiers and carries both rail and automobile traffic. It is built upon bed rock but through 70 feet of swirling silt-laden waters. Following this, we took a short water cruise on the third longest river in the world after the Nile and the Amazon. Our own Mississippi River is the fourth longest in the world.

Perhaps a further word about our visit to Nanjing University would be of interest to you, for after a briefing by the Dean, we wandered about, escorted by an English speaking Chinese student. This proved to be very interesting to many of our group as they were then able to ask questions directly of the students as to where they came from, what their aspirations were and what would happen to them upon leaving the University.

After leaving the University, we visited the Provincial Museum, a beautiful museum in which is housed displays depicting China's entire history from neolithic times to the modern era. The featured attraction, of course, was the Jade Burial Garment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, constructed from 2,600 pieces of green jade, joined by silver joints, and which completely covered the body

Lastly, we visited the renown Xuanwu Lake, in which elaborate preparations were being made for the October First Celebration, or National Liberation Day. At night, we had the usual "Farewell Banquet".

After leaving Nanking, we rode the train to Shanghai. On our initial visit to Shanghai in 1979, we had cruised on the Huangpu River to its juncture with the Yangtse and observed the vast amount of shipping activity along the sides of the river, for Shanghai is China's leading port. Since our initial visit to Shanghai was pretty complete, we were not too much interested in seeing it a second time. On our first visit, we stayed at the Ching Chiang Hotel situated in the French Quarter, whereas this time, we were put up at the Cypress Hotel in the western suburb, some 45 minutes from downtown. It is a beautiful hotel but unfortunately, it was so far away from the activities and interests of downtown Shanghai that no small part of each day was spent simply in transportation. Some of the highlights of our first stay was a visit to the "Long March Commune", which was fascinating and indeed a showplace for visitors, and a visit to a hospital where we observed the removal of a knee cartilage under acupuncture, and finally, a visit to the famous Yu Yuan Gardens in the heart of the city. These gardens consisted of a zig-zag walk over a small lake and takes you by teahouses, pavilions, monuments of old decorative stone, walks decorated with dragons made of colorful glazed tile and many small ponds of goldfish and colorful carp. It is the scene of peaceful tranquility in the heart of the city and is disturbed only by the throngs of visitors and local people who crowd it daily.

On this visit, we revisited the Bund, or formerly the British sector along the river, the Yu Yuan Gardens, but also visited "The Children's Palace", where children from six to fourteen years of age can pursue and develop their talents after school from 3 to 5 P.M. We also visited the Arts and Crafts Fair, housed in a massive old structure built by the Russians in 1955. In the evening, we passed up a song and dance exhibition to watch television and to see some of the elaborate preparations being made for the October First or Nationalist Day celebration. Everyone and everywhere in China, people will be joining in the festivities and it will be a glorified Fourth of July type of celebration. China has indeed come a long way in 35 years for this was its 35th Anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (1949-1984).

Unfortunately, the tremendous influx of tourists and the Nationalist Holiday necessitated our spending an extra day in Shanghai and a day less in Kweilin, (Guilin).

CHITS (China International Travel Service) does reserve the right to alter itineraries at their discretion and all flights to Kweilin had been booked. On any trip to China, one is subject to not only the mercy of the elements but also to the logistics of CHITS Management of the tremendous influx of tourists from all over the world and transporting and housing them in each of its "Open Cities".

The extra day in Shanghai enabled us to visit the National Museum, revisit their famous Yu Yuan Gardens, and see the vast Arts and Crafts Trade Show. This show was held in, as I have mentioned, the massive Russian built structure which is topped with a towering spire with a crowning red star. Virtually everything produced in China was on display for retail or wholesale purchase. It is of interest that in such fairs, and in the foreign visitor hotels, and finally in the Friendship stores, only "Chinese certificate money" is acceptable. Chinese money, of equal value, cannot be used in visitor accommodations, whereas both types of money can be used in any of the local Chinese shops. Pat and I left the group to revisit Shanghai Store #l and returned by taxi to our hotel. The cab trip occupied a fast drive of one-half hour but cost us only $4 and the cab driver absolutely refused any gratuity. It is against Chinese law and they are a very moralistic people. In the evening, we were hosted by the Shanghai head of CHITS and enjoyed a very beautiful banquet. There were many toasts to Sino-American friendship and continued good SinoAmerican relations.

In the morning, we were off to Kweilin and we were most hopeful that the sun would shine, for it is a wonderful display of one of nature's most unusual geological formations and one of the primary reasons for our revisiting China.

Our flight to Kweilin was on a Tri-Jet (British) and took two hours and fifteen minutes and after a brief ride about the city, we arrived at our hotel, the Lijian Hotel. It is a 14 story, 360 room hotel that is conveniently located in the heart of the city and within walking distance of the main shopping areas. After dinner and at night, we watched on TV the celebration of Nationalist Liberation Day, October First, where most of the scenes shown were taken in Tien en Amen Square. Unfortunately, "Circumstances Beyond Our Control" cut out almost half of the program. What we did see, however, was tremendous and seemed to far surpass the Rose Bowl Parade and Mardi Gras in Brazil combined. Never in my experience have I seen such human fervor and enthusiasm. There were fireworks constantly for hours and hours, dancing of the minority groups, local rock and roll and street dancing, and constant activity everywhere. It was most impressive. I have the feeling that Russia should see this, as well as everyone in the United States. We were indeed fortunate to be in China during their 35th Anniversary. I was bewildered at times when I saw large portraits of Stalin and Lenin in Tien en Amen Square, along with those of Marx and Engel. They are not normally there throughout the year but were brought back for this very special occasion. What amazed me was constantly to be looking at a huge portrait of Stalin;when we traveled throughout Russia and never saw his portrait anywhere. Finally, I saw Mao's portrait at the entrance to the Imperial Palace and finally, we saw Chou en Lai's portrait at the base of the Monument of the Heroes. But, it seemed as though they were not celebrating China's heroes but rather Marx and Engel and Stalin and Lenin. It seemed incongruous to an observer watching it on television.

Earlier in the day, apparently there had been a massive display of China's military might and this was all paraded in full view in the huge and immense Tien en Amen Square. Later, in small reviews that we witnessed on television, we saw all sorts of military vehicles with artillery of all sorts, missiles, both large and small, and some probably new even to the United States and Russia were in evidence. The presence of the waves of soldiers impressed me and these included corps from the Army, Navy, Air Force and many of women in the military service. It certainly rivaled any October First celebration that I have ever seen that was held in Moscow on their important Nationalist Day.

Kweilin surpassed our fondest expectations and its topography is unique in the world. We were fortunate to have a brilliant and sunny day and spent three and one half hours on the Liaking River, enjoying lunch en route. Apparently, three hundred million years ago, this area was a vast lake with a heavy sediment of marine limestone. Gradually, due to the movement of the earth's crust, this area was raised up and then gradually through rain water and wind erosion, the softer parts of the upthrust or limestone was dissolved away, leaving many odd-shaped pinnacles or towers of limestone. Some even resembled animals and were so named. Our trip to Kweilin was cut short a day and we did not visit the unusual caverns with their multicolored stalagmites and stalactites.

Our last city to visit in China was Canton, or more commonly referred to today as Ghangzhou. The changes here are indescribable. New magnificent hotels, broad boulevards, and free enterprises at every turn in the road. Perhaps it is here that the Western influence is most evident ! We revisited Sun Yat Sen's Memorial, toured the city, drove along the Pearl River, and visited both a porcelain and a jade carving factory. At night, we banqueted or honored our national tour leader, who had been superb, and who will return in the morning to her home town of Tianjian. Her salary, incidentally, was 56 Yuan a month with 20 Yuan for summer service. There is no bonus in the slow season of winter. Since a dollar was rated at 255 Yuan at the time we were in China, this comes out as a salary of only $22.50 per month.

We left Canton by express train and reached Kwaloon in three hours. This time, there was no stopping at the border and no need to carry our bags across the bridge. In Hong Kong, Pat and I will feel at home, as we have been here six times in our travels while criss-crossing Southeast Asia and both of us love the city.

After spending a day and a half in Hong Kong, and we stayed at a relatively new hotel called the Prince Hotel, it is obvious to us that despite the uncertainty of the future, or the return of sovereignty that is to occur in 1997 to the People's Republic of China, that people were in a much better frame of mind than they had been last year. Shortly before we entered Hong Kong, an agreement had been reached by the British Government and the Chinese Government that provided for a peaceful transition of the Island of Hong Kong and the new territories from the present administration to the National Government at Peking. They were endeavoring to accomplish this with a minimum of dislocation of personnel, and Hong Kong will be administered as a separate geographical entity under the direct supervision of the Central Government of China. Shanghai and Canton are also similarly administered.

Our trip to Taipei in Taiwan took only one hour and fifteen minutes and we were now in the "Republic of China" as compared to being on the Mainland or in the "People's Republic of China". We were now in a capitalistic or free enterprise society, as opposed to the Socialism or Communism of the Mainland. The Republic of China consists of only 18 million people as opposed to Mainland China with its one billion people ! While our hearts are with the free enterprise system as opposed to Marxist Leninism or Socialism, I must say that we were more impressed with Red China than we were with White Taiwan. However, we only saw the capitol Taipei and Hulian and the Torako Gorge, and, as I understand it, the industrial vitality of the country is in the southern end of the island.

We were housed in the Grand Hotel, modeled after the typical Chinese Emperor's Palace and we enjoyed the luxury and the ambience of a Chinese Emperor's residence. No complaints of any kind could possibly be made and it is justifiably one of the finest hotels in the Orient and indeed a showplace among hotels !

In Taipei, we visited the Memorial of the Martyrs, and perhaps it was more impressive than the "Monument of the Heroes" in Tien en Amen Square. At any rate, both are impressive and pay tribute to those who died in their respective causes. We next visited the Chang Kai Shek Memorial (partly completed) and watched rehearsals for the ~Double Ten" National Holiday celebration, October 10, 1911, or the tenth day of the tenth month. Later, we visited the Palace Museum and no words can describe the number and variety of Chinese works of art which are housed there and which, as I understand it, Chang Kai Shek brought with him when he and his Army of 600,000 men fled from the Mainland. This Museum of Chinese Art far surpasses anything we have ever seen of a similar nature and no doubt is one of the great reasons why Mainland China, wants to recapture Taiwan. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that someday, Taiwan will be reunited with Mainland China but hopefully, it will come through evolution and not any form of warfare.

Later in the day, on our own, by a taxi, we visited the Memorial to Sun Yat Sen and also made a brief visit to the Temple dedicated to Confucius, who is now rehabilitated and in good grace throughout the Chinese World. It is impressive, with his many teachings etched in stone.At night, we had a Mongol barbecue, where we selected the ingredients and spices and then watched as they were cooked on a flat hot steel stove. This form of cooking with appropriate Taiwan beer pleased me no end.At night also, we had a Mongol barbecue, where we selected the ingredients and spices and then watched as they were cooked on a flat hot steel stove. This form of cooking with appropriate Taiwan beer pleased me no end.

The following night, Pat and I had dinner with a man trained in Rochester, Minnesota, who was the Head of the Department of Cardiology at the Chang Ung Hospital, a new structure of some 1,700 beds. We enjoyed a typical "Taiwanese dinner" and upon leaving, he presented me with a beautiful silk tie with the insignia of his hospital printed upon it.

Our day-long excursion to the Torako Gorge was a beautiful trip and entailed a 25 minute flight to and from Hulian. The Gorge is a mini Grand Canyon and the drive or roadway passes through 39 tunnels carved out of the sheer sides of the granite and marble mountains. At night, we visited the Lushon Temple, a Taoist Shrine, and observed the Buddhists at prayer and worship. They light joss sticks of incense and place them in bronze vessels and usually stand or kneel with hands opposing each other and indulge in some form of prayer. Taoism is a form or sect of Buddhism.

On our way home by plane, I finished reading a book which Rewi Alley had recommended and which was entitled "A Small Town Called Hibiscus", whose author, Gu Hua, won the Chinese Literature Prize in 1982. It presents a microcosm of the effects of the Cultural Revolution upon the people in a small town called Hibiscus and is beautifully written It tells of the effects of the Cultural Revolution upon the little people and how it affected their lives and character. It is probably as close to the truth as any account yet written of the devastating effects of the Cultural Revolution.

Rewi Alley' s book "Travels In China 1966-1971" describes the effects of the Cultural Revolution as he witnessed it in many of the provinces in China but as I read it, I could not help but feel that he was describing in a supportive sort of way what he construed as the positive effects of the Revolution and I read very little of the disastrous and tragic effects of the Cultural Revolution. He writes so beautifully that I do hope he will write another book describing the current changes that are going on in China at this time, when "revision, counter-revolutionary activity, and the capitalist road" are back in good grace.

Our flight home was on Japan-Asia Airlines to Tokyo and then on Japanese Airlines to San Francisco. I was so busy reading that time elapsed rather quickly and it was not a difficult trip returning across the Pacific.

Inasmuch as we could not make an immediate connection to the East, we spent the night again in San Francisco and returned the following morning to Hartford.

Finally, as I have said so frequently before, there are no experiences that are so enriching as travel, provided one keeps one's eyes and ears open and one's mind receptive to new experiences. Bringing your prejudices and your provincialisms to other lands adds nothing to your appreciation of the world at large and actually detracts from your appreciation of the "Other Side of the World". While I shall always be proud to be an American, I am more convinced than ever that being a" Planetary Citizen" is equally important, especially for the future of mankind and that means for the future of my children and grandchildren. Some day, hopefully, they and their children will have the privilege and enjoy the pleasures of visiting far off lands as Pat and I have been so fortunate to do in our lives together.

With Love,

DAD