ANNUAL STUDY MISSION OF NEWSPAPER ASSN.
By Bob Van Leer

  (OSAKA, JAPAN, Oct. 6, 1991) - Betty and I started yesterday from Medford to join the annual Study Mission of the National Newspaper Association, this year in China. But our first overnight stop is here in Japan.

  We are actually still operating on Saturday, the same day we started from Medford. Crossing the Pacific, we crossed the international dateline where we lost a day. Suddenly, instead of it being Saturday, it was Sunday.

  In actual elapsed time we have now been on the road about 26 hours but it is only 11 p.m. Here. Now we have to get accustomed to local time and get over "jet lag".

CHINESE CROWD AROUND WESTERNERS
By Bob Van Leer

  (SHANGHAI, CHINA, Oct. 7, 1991) - We were strolling on the Bund on the Huangpu River waterfront at night and stopped to exchange a few words with a Chinese who spoke a little English.

  As we were stopped there more Chinese stopped and gathered around us, first a few.
Then we were encircled. The circle became four or five people deep with us in the center of it and not able to see in the darkness just how many were around us.

SHANGHAI HARBOR IS IMMENSE PLACE
By Bob Van Leer

  (SHANGHAI, CHINA, Oct. 8, 1991) - Our Chinese hosts, the All China Journalists' Association, wanted us to see some of the background of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that led to the takeover of all of China in 1949 by the communists which is referred to as the "liberation".

RENTS ONLY $1-3 PER MONTH
By Bob Van Leer

  (SHANGHAI, CHINA, Oct. 9, 1991) - Our guides wanted to show us some of China at work so we started the day with a tour of Shanghai Textile Factory No. 12, proceeded from there to Wen Hui Bao, a million circulation Chinese daily newspaper and finished the day with a trip in the evening to an acrobatic show.

CHINA WANTS WESTERN TECHNOLOGY
By Bob Van Leer

  (BEIJING, CHINA, Oct. 10, 1991) - The protesters at Tiananmen Square were just a small number of people trying to subvert the government, at least that's what we were told by Liu Huaqui, China's deputy foreign minister.

  His version is that the government had to act to ensure the rights of the overwhelming majority of the people.

TOURIST AGENCY SERVES MEMORABLE MEAL
By Bob Van Leer

  (BEIJING, CHINA, Oct. 11, 1991) - Today started with a visit to the U.S. Embassy, then a tour of a primary school, a visit to a newspaper, and a briefing on tourism in China and closed with the most memorable meal we have ever eaten.

  U.S. Ambassador Stapleton Roy and aids briefed us on the present China situation. Under the cumbersome rules our staff had agreed to, the presentation was for background only and no one could be quoted directly.

MING EMPERORS BURIED IN UNDERGROUND TOMBS
By Bob Van Leer

  (BEIJING, CHINA, Oct. 12, 1991) - This morning we drove 50 miles north of Beijing to climb the Great Wall, the fabled defensive wall of China, and later visited the tomb of one of the Ming emperors.

  The Great Wall is one of the wonders of the world. It is noted as the only man-made object visible from satellites in orbit.

  We had known of the Great Wall since school days and a trip to China would not be complete without a visit to it. The way to the Great wall is across the North China plain on which Beijing is built.

CLOSED TO ORDINARY PEOPLE BEFORE RED TAKEOVER
By Bob Van Leer

  (BEIJING, CHINA, Oct. 13, 1991) - The featured activities of today were a visit to the Forbidden City, the start of the Beijing Marathon and another fabulous banquet.
The Forbidden City is China's most imposing architectural masterpiece. It is located in the heart of Beijing just two blocks down Chang'an boulevard.

DINNER IS 20 KINDS OF DUMPLINGS
By Bob Van Leer

  (BEIJING, CHINA, Oct. 14, 1991) - The emperors of China really knew how to live. This morning we took a tour of the Summer Palace and then stopped in Tiananmen Square to get a first hand look at this famous (or infamous) square.

  The Summer Palace was just that, the summer residence of the emperor and his court. It is located in a 692 acre park, most of which is a large lake.

MUCH PLOWING DONE BY WATER BUFFALO
By Bob Van Leer

  (HENAN PROVINCE, CHINA, Oct. 16, 1991) - This is written on a train somewhere south of Zhengzhou, China, traveling through an intensively-cultivated farming area.
After a reasonably restful night on the train we woke and went through our morning rituals as best we could.

  Breakfast was fried rice, some kind of cured pork and mushroom soup washed down with tea. Toothpicks are slivers of bamboo.

GETTING OFF TRAIN WAS A MAD SCRAMBLE
By Bob Van Leer

  (HUNAN PROVINCE, CHINA, Oct. 17, 1991) - This morning we were wakened at about 6:30 by Chinese music on the loud-speaker. There is the usual haze in the air.

  Over the night the country changed almost exclusively to rice. All the fields are green now. Our train is the classic "milk run". We don't pass many stations without stopping.

HOSPITAL IS SHORT ON SANITATION
By Bob Van Leer

  (GUILIN, CHINA, Oct. 18, 1991) - Most of today was taken up by a four hour boat cruise down the Li River, Guilin's most popular tourist attraction.

  The day was overcast and misty and sailing down to the river with these strange, towering hils dropping vertically down to the river reminded us of the old TV program, "The Twilight Zone" where you are moving into another dimension.

ALL CHINESE SPELLINGS WERE CHANGED
By Bob Van Leer

  (GUANGZHOU, CHINA, Oct. 19, 1991) - Today started with more sightseeing and an unusual lunch at Guilin before boarding a plane to Guangzhou, the Chinese city formerly called Canton.

  China has adopted a Roman spelling system called Pin Yin which they believe is superior to the naming done by the Europeans. But it is frustrating.

  In college Betty and I learned the names of many places in China and memorized the names of all 25 of China's provinces and autonomous regions.

  The new spelling is just enough similar to the old to make remembering either spelling difficult.

HANDICAPPED ACCESS NOT HERE YET
By Bob Van Leer

  (GUANGZHOU, CHINA, Oct. 20, 1991) - Today was Sunday and a day of light activity, mostly sightseeing.

  Although China mostly isn't a Christian nation Sunday is observed as the day of rest and business and government offices are closed but most retail business is open. We started with a visit to the Sun Yatsen Memorial. Dr. Sun led the Oct. 10, 1911, revolution that led to the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, the last of the Chinese emperors.

AIR CONDITIONER FACTORY CLEANER THAN HOSPITAL
By Bob Van Leer

  (GUANGZHOU, CHINA, Oct. 21, 1991) - Our group started today with a visit t a place where the people of China work.

  We visited the largest air conditioner factory in China. The factory employs 1000 people and made 40,000 air conditioners last year but this is not many in a country of over a billion people. And many of the air conditioners were for export.

CHINA CLAIMS ALL OF SOUTH CHINA SEA
By Bob Van Leer

  (HAIKOU, CHINA, Oct. 22, 1991) - After a delayed flight we arrived in Haikou, Hainan Island, today in time for some visits and sightseeing around town and finished off the evening with our final banquet in China.

  The flight aboard a South China Air Boeing 737 was uneventful after a two and a half hour delay. The plane was only about a third full, mostly our party.

  The flight from Guangzhou was only 50 minutes.

RICE, SUGAR CANE, RUBBER GROWN
By Bob Van Leer

  (HAIKOU, CHINA, Oct. 23, 1991) - Today was a day of sightseeing and touring Hainan Island. Our bus took us about 70 kilometers southeast of Haikou to the Dongjiao Coconut Plantation which grows coconuts but is also in the very beginning stages of being developed as a resort.

  The drive showed us part of the island we hadn't seen. A lot of rice is grown, of course. We were told they get three crops a year here.

HONG KONG BRITISH BUT ONLY UNTIL 1997
By Bob Van Leer

   (HONG KONG, Oct. 24, 1991) - Today was our farewell to the People's Republic of China after nearly a three week tour.

  We expressed our appreciation to our hosts, the All-China Journalists Association, without whom this tour could not have happened.

  Three members of the association accompanied us throughout the whole tour, Mr. Li Xiande, a member of the secretariat of the association; Mr. Liu Yong Sheng, deputy chief of the Europe-American division, our principal organizer; and Mr. Zhang Xuejun, otherwise known as Henry, of the Europe-American division of the association.

HONG KONG NEAR TIME FOR TURNOVER
By Bob Van Leer

  (HONG KONG, Oct. 25, 1991) - Today was a day of relaxation and sightseeing.

  This was the first day on the tour we haven't had a morning meeting time. Betty and I and Joanne Buckley, NNA tour leader, took the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island and then took a bus to the south side of the island to Stanley Market.

  Stanley Market is a contrast to the Kowloon shopping area which is small stores side by side with frequent arcades.

LOS ANGELES AIR LOOKS BETTER
By Bob Van Leer

  (GOLD BEACH, Nov. 2, 1991) - Saturday, Oct. 26, was the last day of our China tour and time to return home. We lost a day crossing the International Dateline on the way over so we gain the day back on the return. Because of this and time zone changes our schedule called for us to arrive in Los Angeles 15 minutes before we left Hong Kong.

By Bob Van Leer

  Patients appeared to be doing well but Nanxishan Hospital would have trouble passing a Medicare inspection in the United States. Members of the NNA China Study Mission toured the hospital in Guilin, China, Oct. 18, 1991 as part of fact-finding on the tour.

  For a decade I've been on the board of a health district that operates a small hospital in Gold Beach and was particularly interested in touring the hospital. The biggest problem noticed was maintenance. Peeling paint and cracked plaster was noted throughout the hospital.

By Bob Van Leer

  Chinese primary schools have larger classes, shorter vacations and are partially self-supporting. These were the lessons learned by the members of the NNA China Study Mission during a visit to the Hong Miao Primary School in Beijing, China, Oct. 11. Li Yu-Long, deputy schoolmaster, briefed the group and took them on a tour of the school. He said the school has 1200 students in 24 classes and a staff of 106. Of these, 66 teach and 32 work in the school factory.

COMMUNICATIONS PROBLEMS INTERESTING
By Betty Van Leer

  "Hello-hello! Postcards? Hello-hello!" This refrain of "hello-hello", sometimes accompanied by another word in English, often not, greeted our group traveling in China at practically every tourist attraction.

  Most adult Chinese people we encountered knew little English (and we knew no Chinese), but they had learned to get our attention by saying "hello". Even the few beggars we met knew this. One woman who was begging was accompanied by a little girl, about 4, who piped, "Hello," from a height slightly above our knees.

TOURISTS CAN GO TO FRIENDSHIP STORES
By Betty Van Leer

  The shoppers in our group had a grand time in China. We are always tightly scheduled with meetings, visits to newspapers, factories, etc. on these trips, so you learn to shop fast. We don't get to out-of-the-way places, and most of our shopping was in the Friendship Stores, hotel gift shops, or from vendors who operate stalls near tourist attractions.

  The Friendship Stores have set prices, no bargaining. Practically everywhere else bargaining is not only acceptable, it's expected. Since few of the Chinese spoke English, bargaining became an adventure.

By Bob Van Leer

  Betty and I returned Saturday night from a three-week tour of China. This is a country that can't be summed up in a few words or a few articles. Beginning in this issue is a series of articles I wrote on the scene, mostly on a day-by-day basis. Travelers to China need a sponsor and ours was the All-China Journalist Association. Our trip was under the sponsorship of the National Newspaper Association (NNA). The associations sound similar but there is a vast difference. The Chinese association is part of the government and all journalist are government employees. The NNA, however, is a voluntary association and in no way connected with our government.