These days, we know (from Google Earth) that many, many man-made things can be seen from space, but back in 1978, the word on the street was that the Great Wall of China was the only thing that the aliens could discern. For that reason, going to the Great Wall was quite exciting. It is also a very beautiful place. The rolling hills overlap, and on each iteration of the landscape, you see another stripe of Wall, off into infinity.

It was wicked hot in China that summer. I was able to get a special visa (most Americans were still not allowed to visit), thanks to my connections to Kuni Makita, who was working in the Japanese embassy in Beijing. He had been a foreign exchange "brother" in my family when I was 6 years old. I was living in Japan and took 3 weeks to tour the communist (pre-capitalist) nation. I had a translator and a tour guide with me constantly, taking me to various sights. I went to a commune where they raised ducks for food, an embroidery factory, the Great Wall, and many other fascinating places. I wonder about those guides I had. Did they stay in China, making more and more money as early English speakers in a country poised for globalisation? Did they immigrate to Hong Kong and then move to Vancouver?

Everywhere I went, a gaggle of Chinese children followed me. I was somewhat used to being "seen", as a foreigner living in Japan, but this paparazzi was unlike anything I had experienced in Japan. The children seemed afraid and fascinated at the same time. Adults, too, stared openly and seemed likely to come up and touch my hair or clothes. Here is a photo of the crowd watching me examine the caves at Datong.

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