ELEVEN DAYS IN CHINA*

* Robert D. TinWin, an RCA Globcom satellite communications engineer, who was educated in Burma and China, and Howard and Helen Hawkins.

Friday, August 11, 1972

At 9:30 a.m. we boarded the train at the Kowloon-Cantor Railway, which runs from Hong Kong to the border between the Crown Colony and mainland China. The train took about an hour and a half, making several local stops . We rode alongside the huge double water pipes from which Hong Kong receives a large amount of its water supply from the People's Republic of China.

At Sum Chun we descended from the train, went through Hong Kong departure procedures and then thoughtfully walked across the bridge which crosses the actual border. It was 11:00 a.m. We noticed three Red Guard soldiers holding rifles--including one who had a bayonet affixed. ((The British Government keeps a number of Irish soldiers on their side of the border, but they are usually not in sight of the general public.) We noticed, as we walked, a good number of workers, both men and women, chipping away at some piles of rock and dirt near the station. They did not give the impression of working very hard at it.

As soon as we entered the building, our passports were collected, our health certificates checked (they seemed only interested in

the smallpox vaccination); and we were directed into various small rooms to fill out forms for the Chinese Government. The rather detailed forms required one to list all monies carried (including travelers checks), cameras, typewriters, watches, film, gold jewelry, etc. They questioned us regarding the item listed as "four watches"--which included two of mine and two just purchased in Hong Kong as gifts for the family. When they were shown the watches in question, they signified their approval. They also asked to see my engagement ring. After finishing with this inspection , We were handed the sheets on which we listed the money in our possession and were directed to a window where we changed dollars for yuan, at the rate of about $1 - 2Y.

We then went along the corridor to a large room with oversized furniture and copious amounts of free Chinese propaganda literature. Waiting in the room with us were about 10 others who were going into China at the same time. There was a group of Japanese men, four Canadians (including one woman), two Zambians, one other American man and one Burmese diplomatic courier, whom Bob Tin Win knew from a previous trip. Our passports were returned to us (about a half hour after they had been taken) and after another wait lunch was served in a dining room next door. The lunch consisted of three dishes of quite good Chinese food and to drink, one was offered--as was always to be the case--orange soda or beer. We went back to the waiting room, and at about 1:30 it was time to board the train. In the PRC they do not have 1st and 2nd class coaches, as on the Hong Kong side of the border; but they do have hard or soft seated coaches.

The train ride from the border to Kwangchow (which is the name the Chinese use for the city of Canton) took about one and a half hours. Through the screened windows we could see miles of rice fields. They were a beautiful green. It was the second crop of the season, and apparently it was going to be a good year. We also saw sugar cane, hemp, and occasionally bamboo and banana trees. Bicycles appeared occasionally on the roads; hardly a single motorized vehicle was seen until we were almost into Kwangchow. We passed occasional towns which looked very old; the buildings had walls that appeared to have been stained by dirt and the rains of many, many years. People working in the fields appeared occasionally, mostly wearing big hats to protect them from the sun. There were some water buffalo in the fields. Every bit of level ground seemed to be cultivated; also there was some terracing up lower slopes of the hills. The soil was occasionally extremely red in color.

I pulled up the screen to take some pictures as we went along. The conductor, a girl, brought everyone a heavy glass mug with a lid, so we could have tea to drink throughout the trip. She refilled the cup every so often with boiling water from an old-fashioned tea kettle.

At the station in Kwangchow we were met by Mr. Ho, the manager of the Canton office of Machimpex (China National Machinery

Import and Export Corporation), and two of the men on his staff, one of whom spoke English and translated for us. Our passports had to be turned in again, and, after waiting a considerable time, the passports were returned and our bags were put in the cars provided by our hosts. We were driven to an office to purchase airline tickets, at $41 each, one way, for the flight from Kwangchow to Peking, a distance of about 1250 miles. We then proceeded through rainy streets to the airport, where, while we waited for our departure time, we had tea, orange soda, and various cakes, accompanied by much conversation.

Our plane, an old Ilyushin four-engine turboprop took off about 20 minutes late, although there was absolutely no traffic at the field while we were there. Palm leaf fans were pro­vided everyone, and inasmuch as the plane had no air conditioning attached while on the ground, they were used enthusiastically until we were airborne. An announcement notified us that according to government regulations no binoculars, cameras or recording devices were to be used while we were in flight. We could see very little, as the seats we had were over a wing, and the weather was rather cloudy. A cold meal was served after about an hour (it was then about 6:00 p.m.) accompanied by tea. Forks were provided for westerners. A large tray of green-skinned but quite ripe bananas was passed around for dessert.

We arrived in Peking in 3 hours and 45 minutes, after a smooth flight. It was 9:00p.m. and quite dark. Chinese airfields have little instrument landing equipment, and they simply do not fly when the weather is bad. The airport at Peking, dominated by a huge picture of Chairman Mao, is quite modern. We were met directly upon descending from the plane by Mr. Hsu of Machimpex, Mr. Han, who was to interpret for us most of the time during the coming week, Mrs. Liu, who also spoke English and accompanied me during the week, and one or two other Machimpex officials.

Our passports were taken away again. This turned out to be the case upon every departure and arrival in our travels in China. We were ushered into a large side room in the airport building and again were offered orange soda and conversation was carried on through the interpreters regarding our trip, the weather (which was 96°), until finally the passports and bags arrived. This was the longest wait we had yet had--and again, there seemed to be no other traffic at the airport since the arrival of our plane.

An appointment was arranged during the conversation for Howard and TinWin to meet Mr. Li Chang Chin, the Deputy Director General of Machimpex, at 10:00 a.m. the next morning, Saturday. This was somewhat of a surprise, because they had thought that the first business meeting might not be until Monday morning. During breakfast the next morning a telephone call was received requesting that I also come to the initial meeting at Mr. Li's office, which was also unexpected.

We were driven to the city of Peking in the one type of car which seems to be manufactured today in China. It is like an old Mercedes-Benz and made in Shanghai. The road into town was lined with trees, and every so often groups of people could be seen sitting under the street lights, apparently playing some game. The drivers blew their horns at each group, also before, during and after passing other vehicles, bicycles, carts, etc. In short, they blew the horns con­stantly, which we discovered to be a way of life in China. The amount of horn blowing produced by the minuscule number of cars in the Chinese cities is amazing.

We arrived at our hotel, passing two soldiers who were always stationed at the door, and were flattered to discover that it was the famous old Peking Hotel, rooms in which are now reserved for guests of the Chinese government. A traveler in China today cannot request a certain hotel--it is assigned to him. We had been given a suite of two rooms on the sixth floor. The rooms were large with high ceilings but quite old furni­ture. The bathrooms (there were 2) were large but rather dingy. Regardless of the hour, the temperature didn't show any sign of going down, so we brought the table fan in from the living room to circulate the air in the bedroom. The heat made it a rather uncomfortable night, and the constant horn blowing didn't help.

Our section of the hotel, which was built about fifty years ago, has not had any modernizing done in that time, except for the elevators, which were bright and new. There is an excess of help on the floors and in the dining room. The room boys speak a word or two of English (some a bit more) and manage to understand words like "laundry--today?" or "ice--2 glasses?" They appear to do the pressing, and perhaps the laundry, right on the floor. They are very friendly and are, of course, never tipped, as this is the absolute rule all over the PRC. Boiled water is provided in carafes in the rooms, and, if desired, large thermos bottles of boiling water will be pro­vided for tea in your room. Stealing is practically unknown, and apparently severely punished, and from time to time we left the doors open to our rooms on leaving (to catch a precious bit of air which seemed only to come from the other direction). Of course, we never left our passports or money in the room when going out. We kept our passports with us at all times--when the Chinese Government didn't happen to require them! Our hosts had a short-wave radio delivered to our room. However, we weren't very successful in obtaining the Voice of America broadcasts on it. We could get instead a woman's voice broadcasting in English from Peking Radio.