Mood in a Socialist Country

WE were tired, having spent the morning at an electrical insulation factory, and the afternoon at Sian University on the outskirts of the city that, for eleven centuries, was the capital of Imperial China. But our stay in all of China would last for only a month, so our guides wanted their ten U. S. student guests to see as much as possible. After dinner, we dragged ourselves into a sitting room laid out with white lace tablecloths and tea cups, and were duly introduced to the Shensi Province Song and Dance Ensemble.

Before I crossed the border at Lo Wu, my knowledge of Chinese art was more or less limited to the ivory elephants, Buddhas, and boddhisattvas New Yorkers see behind Madison Avenue plate glass storefronts. On picking up a copy of China Pictorial Magazine during the train ride from Lo Wu to Canton, I began to notice another form of Chinese art. Now, browsing through a Life-magazine-like Party organ, I was introduced to current trends in Chinese theater.

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Christopher Buckley

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WE were tired, having spent the morning at an electrical insulation factory, and the afternoon at Sian University on the outskirts of the city that, for eleven centuries, was the capital of Imperial China. But our stay in all of China would last for only a month, so our guides wanted their ten U. S. student guests to see as much as possible. After dinner, we dragged ourselves into a sitting room laid out with white lace tablecloths and tea cups, and were duly introduced to the Shensi Province Song and Dance Ensemble.

Before I crossed the border at Lo Wu, my knowledge of Chinese art was more or less limited to the ivory elephants, Buddhas, and boddhisattvas New Yorkers see behind Madison Avenue plate glass storefronts. On picking up a copy of China Pictorial Magazine during the train ride from Lo Wu to Canton, I began to notice another form of Chinese art. Now, browsing through a Life-magazine-like Party organ, I was introduced to current trends in Chinese theater.