Quite a few times while in the city of Peking we observed columns of marching people--students following a banner; soldiers clad in brown pants and white shirts running and chanting in unison; a "brigade" of workers in all blue shirt and pants; and even a. long line of little children shepherded by women.

Upon our return we purchased some peaches and cookies in one of the two shops on either side of the main lobby. The peaches were in the usual unripe state that all peaches seem to be in Peking. The shops sell cigarettes, candy, fruit and cookies on one side. On the other they sell socks, face cloths, razors, pens, etc. They seem to be patronized by visiting foreigners, but not those from western countries because the variety and quality of the items sold are uninteresting.

That evening we were the guests of Mr. Li for dinner at 7:00 at the noted Peking Duck Restaurant, which is a branch of the 300-year-old restaurant. The entire dinner was composed of dishes made of duck. "Everything but the feathers" our host said. We even had one dish made of duck's webs. Everything was most delicious; and the last dish (when one is too full to enjoy it) is the crisp brown Peking duck itself, pieces of which are eaten wrapped in thin tortilla-like bread with raw green onions and a bit of black sauce made of soybeans. Much of the conversation, as seems to be the case at dinner parties there, was about food. Mr. Li inquired as to Howard's opinion on the Concorde and the likelihood of U.S. airlines using it, as well as the problems caused by conservationists regarding use of supersonic planes. The Chinese have contracted to buy three Concordes.

Tuesday, August 15

We went to Mass again, for it was the feast of the Assumption, a holy day in the United States. We were the only ones there except for the priests and the two old Chinese women. On the way out I left a paper copy of the new rite of the Mass in the United States with the priest who was sitting in the back. He spoke no English but seemed to understand my feeble explanation in Latin that it was the "missa nova" and was most grateful.

At 10:30 we were picked up to visit a people's commune, called the "Evergreen People's Commune" about 10 miles out of the center of the city. It encompasses 10,000 acres, has 41,000 people living on it. They produce some corn, wheat, and large amounts of fruit and vegetables, as well as pigs. They have a strict production quota to meet for the government and are shipped in whatever other items they need for their own use which they do not produce. We were given a couple of little talks by residents whose houses we visited, telling us of the improvement in the life of the farmers since the Communist Party and Chairman Mao took power.  Aside from this small amount of propaganda, we heard nothing from any of the people with whom we associated that was propaganda-like. They avoided making any unpleasant statements or asking political questions.  We were also careful not to ask them any questions which might be undiplomatic.

One girl told us that in her family now three of them had watches and there was one bicycle. Her husband was a soldier. We were invited to visit two different two-room houses. One had five residents and the other seven. However, each was clean and neat. These relatively modern houses still employ the old-time kang or heated large bed, which is warmed from underneath with a coal fire and on which the whole family sit and sleep in the wintertime. Each family is said to be allowed some small plot of land on which to raise what they like. One old peasant had tobacco drying in his doorway which he had grown himself

The person in charge of the commune, called "Executive of the People's Committee," who showed us around was a very capable appearing woman of about 50. We also visited a school room with little girls dressed in red and white who danced and sang and smiled most joyously at us. Their song, we were told, was about Chairman Mao. We also saw an exhibition of gymnastics. There are 21 primary schools and 6 middle schools at present within the commune.

During the visit we also saw one of their clinics, the drawers of herbal old-time Chinese medicines, the modern antibiotics, including penicillin (so labeled in English), and then were conducted to a room in which an old woman was being treated with acupuncture for paralysis. She told us she was treated 15 to 30 minutes twice weekly and her condition has improved considerably. We were introduced to a "barefoot doctor" (wearing the usual sandals) of about 18. The man who apparently was the ''western-style" doctor was passed by in one of the clinic's rooms and we were not even presented to him (in contrast to the barefoot doctor on whom much attention was lavished). We were then driven out to the orchards where they presented us with a box of various beautiful fruits--peaches, plums and grapes.

That afternoon, while Howard and TinWin visited the Telecom­munications Administration to confer with Mr. Chang, the Peking Vice Director, I was taken by Mrs. Liu and Mr. Wang to see the Temple of Heaven, long considered one of the great wonders of Peking. It has been repainted in the most vivid colors. It was constructed 550 years ago and is 38 meters high, entirely made of wood without a single piece of steel or nail. It has always been considered an architectural as well as an historical marvel

That evening we had dinner with the Telecommunications Adminis­tration and Machimpex officials. It was another elaborate meal and Mr. Chang was very friendly and talkative throughout the evening. Chinese dinners rarely take more than two hours.

August 16

We left the hotel at 8:30 for the Great Wall. It is a drive of about 2 hours to the north of Peking, through most interesting countryside. The farming country through which we drove changed rapidly as we approached the vicinity of the Great Wall. It became very hilly--really small mountains. The day was partially misty, and the landscape there looked very much like classical Chinese art. There were very few houses of any kind; the soil was full of rocks. There were occasionally tiny plots of perhaps 5 by 10 feet where they were trying to grow a little corn or other vegetables. We passed crews cutting huge rocks into blocks suitable for road construction. Women were seen working in road construction and doing maintenance work, as well as in fields.

The Great Wall is an awesome sight. The starting point for tourists is in a bit of a valley, and the wall curves up the hills on either side. On a day of intermittent sunshine, the wall was quite hot, but the guard towers which occur about every half mile were extremely cool inside. The scenery to the north, from which direction would come the enemy, was that of rugged hills and mountains. The wall gets quite steep and even with rubber soled shoes climbing very much was difficult. We walked up in each direction (east and west) for a short distance.

After leaving the wall, we drove about 45 minutes to the Ming Tombs. Here are buried 13 of the Ming emperors. The first Ming emperor was buried in Nanking. After the elaborate gate that marks the entrance, we passed the splendid road of huge 15th Century stone animals and stone mandarins.

Part Five

Before visiting the main tomb we stopped for a "picnic" lunch in a pleasant guest house furnished with sofa and chairs as well as a dining table. The lunch consisted of cold meat, hard boiled eggs, pickles, bread and cookies.

Only the grave of one emperor has been discovered and excavated. Each tomb site is marked by an elaborate entrance gate or gates, but the actual burial sites themselves are covered by huge tumuli of earth, and the exact whereabouts of the grave itself is not known. Apparently, the government has· no present plans to do any wholesale excavation.

The tomb we entered is down five flights of stairs into the ground. The guides who work down there wear winter coats the year round. It was about 45 - 50°. The treasures which had been recovered along with the bodies of one of the middle kings of the Ming dynasty and two of his wives are shown in two exhibition halls, accompanied by graphic sculptures and paint­ings of the life of the peasants in those days. Included was a display of the beautiful gold and silver utensils used by the emperors to dine and a display opposite showing the meagre food (including bark!) which the people had to eat. We later drove to see the upper buildings of the tomb of yet another Ming emperor.

After returning to the city late that afternoon, there was a call from the Machimpex office, requesting us to be their guests to attend a movie at the International Club. Upon arrival we discovered that our hosts had arranged for us a special showing of a film of the well-known "Red Detachment of Women" ballet. There were about 25 Machimpex employees in attendance, and we sat in the front row with fans to cool us and glasses of yellow soda and little dishes of peanuts before us. The film was quite interesting; and one of the ladies there gave a running commentary on the action as the film progressed.

August 17

We were taken to the Forbidden City (or the Palace Museum as it is often referred to now). The most amazing thing is the extent of the Forbidden City. There are almost a thousand buildings, although many of the buildings are composed of single large rooms, four of which surround a courtyard. All the roofs are made of golden colored tile, which was the color allowed to be used only by the imperial family. Our guide conducted us through dozens of the buildings, arranging for an old man to wipe off windows through which we looked at the last Empress' living rooms (while all the citizens of Peking moved back for the visitors).

He also took us into a lovely room where the nobility rested after walking in the nearby imperial garden; and there we had tea while he recounted through our interpreter a good deal of the later history of the Manchu dynasty. We then were privileged

to visit the museums which are open only to those with an official guide. The amount of gold and jeweled objects was almost staggering; however, they mostly seemed to date from the last century or two. The Chinese Nationalists are said to have taken the priceless treasures of the ancient past with them to Taiwan. Peking has, however, an Art Museum, which is apparently not open to the public--as is the case with the Museum of the Revolution which we had asked to see but which is closed at the present time.

At 3:30 p.m. we went to the offices of Machimpex for the signing of the contracts for the construction of the two earth stations in Shanghai and Peking. There was some lengthy dis­cussion regarding the news release; there were time-consuming changes to be initialed; but the contracts were finally signed about 5:00p.m., and the main purpose of the trip was accomplished.

That evening, our last in Peking, we had invited our friends from Machimpex and the Telecommunications Administration to dinner to be given in a private, air-conditioned dining room on the top floor of the Peking Hotel. The dinner was most pleasant--for a change we were able to see that their plates were filled instead of ours being filled by our hosts, as is the Chinese custom.

August 18

We had breakfast with two men from RCA Ltd. of Canada, and while Howard and TinWin took them to the Machimpex office, I packed to leave. We left for the airport at 12:15 and shortly after we arrived there our hosts came to bid us farewell. They stayed until the plane took off the ground, which they usually do; and they must have been as glad as we were to see it take off--late again, by about a half hour.

We were served peach ice cream, orange soda and later slices of watermelon during the flight from Peking to Shanghai. Upon arrival at Shanghai, after about a 2-hour 45-minute flight, we were met by Mr. Pi of the Shanghai Machimpex office. He and his assistants outlined their program for us for the one day and two nights we'd be there. We were furnished our luggage and left for the hotel in two cars. The one in which we were riding had a flat, so we were transferred to the other car for the rest of the way.

The hotel, now called the Hoping, meaning "peace," but formerly known as the Cathay, had been built by the British in the 1920s. It was most luxurious and clean and best of all was air-con­ditioned (during the day, at least - for it was turned off about 9:00p.m.). Our three-room, two-bath suite, including a dining room with fireplace (!) rented for $14 a day. The two rooms and two baths we had in Peking rented for $11 per day. Our windows looked out over the Wha River, which is a branch of the Yangtse, and was a fascinating spectacle with all kinds of boats constantly coming and going--from ocean-going tankers and freighters to an occasional old junk. Across the river at nighttime is a five-symbol sign proclaiming "Long Live Chairman Mao."

We met at the hotel the RCA Globcom technician who is stationed at the Shanghai Earth Station, and we all had a pleasant dinner together on the top floor of the hotel. The next morning, Howard and TinWin went to visit Shanghai's famous Industrial Exhibition Hall; I stayed at the hotel because I was running a small fever with a cold. Our hosts kindly offered to obtain a doctor for me; but I told them I really didn't need one, having brought along some antibiotics. Early that morning, when I thought my cold was better, I determined to have my hair done--I had been avoiding the issue for 9 days and it had to be faced. The hotel employee at the desk directed me up a stairway which led to a "barber shop." I opened the door and with few words and many gestures asked if this was the place where ladies' hair was shampooed and set. Being reassured it was, I found myself seated in a regular barber chair next to a man having a haircut. They soaped my head from a bottle of shampoo, scrubbed it without mercy and then proceeded to wash it in the usual manner at a sink. The setting and drying were quite satisfactory, and I don't know whether I was more pleased at the results or the price - 50.  Men can have a shampoo and haircut, I understand, for 26.

That afternoon the men went to the Children's Palace, which is a place where young people of Shanghai come to get all types of training in dancing, gymnastics, etc. They also had dinner with Mr. Pi and his interpreter; and said that it was one of the best meals that they had during the entire trip.

August 20

On Sunday morning, as we prepared to leave the hotel to visit the earth station and go to the airport (which are quite close to each other), the curious crowds in the street gathered in a huge semi-circle watching us get into the cars. Shanghai is very like a western city. It is quite clean, and neither there nor any place else in China did we see anyone begging or miserably clothed. There seem to be endless crowds of people around the city on Sunday morning. We did notice a few more colored shirts on the women than in Peking; but there are even less cars on the streets than in Peking.

We arrived at the site of the Shanghai Earth Station constructed by RCA Globcom before the visit of President Nixon. There is a soldier on guard at the entrance. While Howard and TinWin and the other men toured the station, I remained inside drinking tea and having a most lively conversation with the Chinese tech­nicians, one of whom came in to act as an interpreter for me.

Upon arrival at the airport, we discovered that instead of flying on an old Ilyushin, we were scheduled to depart on one of the new four-engine jet Ilyushin-62s, which the Chinese had purchased recently from the Soviet Union and were beginning to put into service. The first-class compartment, into which we were ushered, is in the middle of the plane, and the whole interior is new and brightly decorated. We took off rapidly, and the fact that it was a jet cut about an hour off our flying time from Shanghai to Kwangchow.

It was raining when we landed, and inasmuch as we were an hour ahead of our scheduled arrival time, we were there before our welcoming committee from Machimpex, Kwangchow, which caused them considerable embarrassment. They took us to our hotel, the Tung Fang, which, although it looks modern on the outside, is somewhat dark as to halls, dull as to bedrooms, and dirty as to bathrooms.

We went to dinner that evening with Mr. Ho and his associates, after Howard and TinWin had gone to see a park and a city museum, as well as a Friendship Store, in the afternoon. The dinner was held in a charming south China style restaurant decorated with bamboo called the North Garden; and the food was comprised entirely of dishes we had never had before. It was a delightful occasion for our last night in China. While driving through the city that night, and again the next morning, we noticed the large numbers of arcades in front of the buildings. Apparently, they are used extensively because it rains so much in the city, and when it isn't raining the sun is extremely hot. Canton is a much older and more impoverished-looking city than either Shanghai or Peking. This is due to the fact that that part of South China has been subjected to devastating famines in the past; and it is the part of the country from which most of the overseas Chinese have emigrated.

August 21

The next morning quite early we were picked up by Mr. Ho and his associates. They took us to the station where they waited, chatting politely, until our train actually left. The car in which we found ourselves was surprisingly air-conditioned, and our last hour and a half riding through China was spent watching the large number of people working in the rice fields, using the same methods of cultivation that they have for centuries, plowing with water buffaloes and pulling weeds from the crops on their hands and knees.

We crossed the border at 12:00 noon, Hong Kong time, and the procedure seemed to go much more quickly going out than going in, although we had to show the "four watches" again and had to turn in every bit of Chinese money left in our possession. They the gave us back our passports, and we dashed through rain showers to the customs officials of the Crown Colony of Hong Kong to end a memorable eleven days in China.