The Great Wall of China Story

                                      The Great Wall of China Story

                                                             1987

                                            A trip into Communist China

                                                      Written 4/2011

                                                      Howard Yasgar

     On Dec 21, 1987, my wife Katherine and I were in Hong Kong.

     We had just finished a week long business trip to Taiwan and we had come to  Hong Kong to spend a few days there before returning to the U.S.

     While in Hong Kong, we had decided to stay in the Regent Hotel, Located in Kowloon, it

was a  first class hotel and  our room overlooked beautiful Kowloon bay.

     We had been to Hong Kong and Kowloon several times before, always trying different hotels.

     One reason Katherine had decided to try the Regent Hotel, because she had read about it, and the brochure said they would pick you up at the airport with a Rolls Royce Limousine.

     They did pick us up at the airport with a Rolls Royce Limousine, and  we had thought it was a free service.

     I later noticed a $60.00 extra charge on our hotel bill. Let me tell you, back in 1967, that was a pretty stiff price for such a short limo ride.

     After spending a day or so in Hong Kong, we had heard that it was now possible to travel to Mainland China as a tourist, even though China was still under Communist rule.

     We spoke to the Regent Hotel Concierge, and he confirmed that travel in China was possible but it needed to be arranged by an agent.

     That evening, the Concierge sent a travel agent to our room.

     He confirmed that a seven day guided tour of Beijing and Shanghai was available and the cost would be $1800.00 which included everything, Air Fare, Hotels, as well as meals.

     He also said that  we shouldn’t be concerned about the Communists, as they loved tourists.

     Well we signed up for the trip, and the next day we put our extra luggage in storage with the Regent Hotel.

      I was still not 100% comfortable about how strict the Communist Regime in China would be considering all the bad things our government always has said about the Communists, so I asked Katherine to leave  her jewelry in the safe at Regent hotel.

     We went to the airport where we got aboard a Russian Airplane for the flight to Beijing.

     This was our first flight ever in a Russian airplane, so we looked at everything closely to see

What Russian workmanship was like.

     We were sitting in the left front row of the plane and to the right of us was a drape separating the passenger area from the stewardesses area and the pilots cabin.

     Every time a stewardess passed through, she had to handle the drape.

     We could see the drape was real greasy with hand prints, you would have thought someone would have taken it down and washed it, it was disturbing to us to have to look at it.

    Next I noticed that one of the screws holding our seat together was made off center, and I

wondered if some of the airplanes engine parts might also be off center.

     Despite our concerns, the flight took off and landed in Beijing safely, so we assumed the engines had been built in Russia with better screws than the ones in the seats.

     Once we were in Beijing we were pleasantly surprised to find all the Chinese Communist Soldiers and Customs Agents at the airport very friendly, and we passed through Customs quickly and we were driven straight to the Beijing Hotel.

     We quickly noticed that there were just a few cars on the road, but there were hundreds and hundreds of people all on bicycles.

     When we arrived at the hotel, we were again surprised, we expected the Beijing Hotel to be old and decrepit, but we found it to be as good as any First Class U.S. Hotel.

     We were taken up to our room, and as we entered I could hear that the television was on.

      I thought I recognized the music, and I was right, it was a “Rambo” movie and he was shooting all the Communist soldiers in Vietnam.

      Our room had a nice view of the main avenue that was below us and a large park on the other side.

      In the park there were several hundred Chinese soldiers all practicing rifle drill.

      I thought, so much for the Communists being secret, they didn’t appear worried that we might be spies.

      The next morning, we met our young Guide, his name was Han Lee.

      Han Lee was about 20 years old and just as friendly as can be. He spoke excellent English, and was all personality.

      Han Lee rented a cab for us and he took us on a Beijing City Tour.

      Naturally I was very curious as to how the Communist system operated  so I asked Han Lee a lot of questions.

      At first he was hesitant to talk about it, but after spending the day with us and watching me remove a stone from the wall of the Forbidden City, ( It was for my mother in law’s rock collection), he then realized I was neither a Communist nor an American spy, and he became more talkative, and he eventually told us all about his personal situation and his problems with the Communist system.

      Han Lee said that after grade school, the Government had mandated that he go to the local

university, but there was a long waiting list, so he then became what they called, a student in limbo, he had to wait, but he was not allowed to work.

     After a few months of just hanging around, he became bored and his family got him an illegal job working with a relative.

     He said, his job was sweeping the floor in a store, and it paid near nothing.

     He soon became bored, and he left the floor sweeping job in disgust.

     It was boring just  waiting as a student in limbo.

     Then a friend told him about a new Canadian Company that was looking for English Speaking Tour Guides, but it was illegal for Han Lee to apply.

     He went and applied anyway, and because of his excellent English and his personality, the Company faked papers for him so he could work.

    But Han Lee said he was always afraid he was going to get caught and arrested.

    In 1987, being a Tour Guide was the best job anyone could have in Communist China. The salary was controlled by the government at only $8.00 per week.

    But European, Canadian and U.S. Tourists would leave the guides with big tips and that is

why the job was so good, tour guides became wealthy.

    He said that foreign money was  illegal to have in Communist China, but it could be used if Han Lee ever left China for another country.

     Another good thing about being a Guide in China, you met a lot of Foreigners, and  Han Lee said he had met a lady from New York who promised to help sponsor him to immigrate to the U.S.

     That evening we asked Han Lee if we could go to see the Great Wall of China.

     He said yes, there was a small town a few miles out of Beijing that offered the best access

to the Great Wall, and it had several souvenir stores and a big restaurant especially for Tourists.

     Han Lee said we could rent a Cab to get there, but that was only if it wasn’t snowing.

     He said that if it snowed the Government had a law that would not allow any cars to travel on the highway.

     So early the next morning we rented a Cab for about $1.00, and left for the great Wall of China.

     All the roads in the city were clogged with thousands of people, all going to work, and they were all on bicycles.

     The only vehicles we saw on the road were antique looking Liberation Trucks that were loaded with laborers on their way to work.

     A Liberation Truck was quite a sight for us to see, because it is an exact copy of an antique 1947 International Harvester truck, its made in China from plans, that the Chinese Communists stole from the International Truck  factory, when they confiscated it.

     So to us, it looked like everyone was riding in an Antique.

     We were only a few miles out of Beijing when all of a sudden it started to snow, and suddenly, an armed soldier stepped out into the road and made our taxi cab pull over into an empty gravel parking lot.

     I have know idea why, but the soldier started acting very belligerent towards our cab driver and demanded to see all his papers.

     I asked Han Lee what was happening but he motioned for me not to say anything.

     So we all just sat in the back of the cab freezing and watching, as the nervous cab driver kept unfolding more and more papers.

     I noticed that there was a path leading up a nearby hill and it looked like there was the Great Wall on the top .

     We got out of the cab and acted  like we were stretching our legs, and we all slowly walked towards the path going up the hill.

     Once we were at the top of the hill, I looked back down and I could still see the Soldier still looking at all the cab drivers papers, and he was not paying the least attention to us.

     Once we were behind the stone wall, we just kept walking and soon we were out of sight of the soldier.

     Han Lee said the country was loaded with similar rock walls, but they were not the Great Wall Of China, so I pried a few rocks out of the wall  for Katherine’s mothers rock collection.

     We walked along the path, as it seemed to run parallel to the highway.

     After a mile or so the path headed down to the Highway, so we then started walking along the highway,

    The snow had stopped but it was bitter cold, and Katherine had no hat so Han Lee took off his hat and gave it to her.

    Katherine was also wearing  leather shoes and they kept making her slip on ice patches.

    We must have walked for several miles without even seeing one car on the highway.

    I kept asking Han Lee how much farther and he said we were very close. Soon I started to think Han Lee really didn’t know where we were.

     In the distance, I could see a train chugging along and we could read the writing on it’s side, it said Mongolia.

     Soon we were very tired and it was freezing cold. So jokingly I asked Han Lee if he was taking us to Mongolia, but I don’t think he got my humor.

     Out of nowhere, suddenly there was a Volkswagen Van coming from behind us.

     Han Lee flagged it down and we could see inside, it was full with six big Mongolian looking Chinese Laborers.

     After a brief animated conversation in Chinese, Han Lee motioned for us to get inside the        Van.

     The Laborers all pushed together tighter and we managed to fit in the back seat of the van.

     Han Lee, quietly said  to me, it would cost us $2.00 U.S. for the ride.

     None of the workers appeared too happy about us getting in.

     Katherine, later confided with me that she would have paid any price for the ride, and I agreed.

     When we finally arrived at the small town next to the Great Wall, we were surprised to find

it full of  Japanese tourists, and there was about six of their big chartered buses there, all with their engines running, and heaters on.

    We followed all the Japanese tourists to the entrance to the Great Wall.

    Then we walked up and down it, taking in the amazing sight that it was.

    Katherine was still slipping and sliding in her leather shoes, so after our walking along the wall all of us were nearly frozen so we went into the Government Tourist restaurant for a late lunch.

    Both Katherine and I thought the food was very good, but for some reason Han Lee chose to raise his voice making an issue about the food.

    We never really knew what Han Lee was complaining about. But all the Japanese Tourists were staring at him, and us as well.

     Han Lee later said that he felt the food was below standard, and he had told them so.

     Katherine and I both left the restaurant a little embarrassed.

     We then walked into a very large government run souvenir store, we did it while Han Lee went to the parking area to see about getting us a ride on a bus back to Beijing.

     In the store we purchased a Panda Pillow, and then we happened to hear a very frustrated Italian couple that was trying to buy something.

     As we got closer to them I realized that the couple spoke only Italian and the sales Clerk spoke Chinese and English. So I interceded, speaking to the Italians in Spanish, and the clerk in English.

     Outside the Store, Han Lee said that he recognized another tour guide he knew, he said, she was a girl that he had gone to school with.

     However, Han Lee said, he was afraid she would report him to the Government for illegally working as a tour guide.

     So Han Lee said that he told the girl that we were his personal friends from America, visiting him in China.

     She agreed to let us on her warm tour bus, which was  loaded with Japanese.

     So with lots of dirty looks from all the Japanese on the bus, we walked to the back seats.

     Han Lee stayed up front talking to the girl, and eventually we arrived at the parking area where the Soldier had pulled our cab over.

     The Soldier was gone, but our cab and the driver was still there freezing, he had waited there all day for our return.

     The next day we prepared to leave for Shanghai, but not before we said goodbye to Han Lee,

and gave him $100.00 U.S., tip, and that made him a very rich man in China.

     Back in Kowloon the Regent Hotel had our room waiting, and that evening a bottle of champagne arrived at our room with chocolates and there was a welcome back note.

     Several months after our return from China, Katherine received a call from a lady in New

York asking if we had heard from Han Lee.

     Katherine said we had not, and that was the last we ever heard.