"My Name is King Lear," said a Red Guard in Soochow. "How do you do?" "I'm Macbeth," rejoined my Australian companion. "And this," he added, indicating me, "is Macduff. Pleased to meet you."

The surreal quality of the conversation appeared lost on the Red Guard. But he grinned enormously behind his glasses, a somewhat owlish figure in his quilted coat to keep out the morning frost, and offered to take us to the central part of the city.

King Lear was not, as it turned out, as disgruntled as his literary namesake. In fact he was a perfectly affable graduate of the English-speaking Institute in Shanghai. His extraordinary name was, apparently, the nearest translation to his Chinese one.

Mao's thoughts

We all shook hands. With King Lear was a group of Red Guards, all clutching the mandatory copy of Chairman's Mao's thoughts and sporting peaked caps. Their tunics were peppered with "swap" badges of Mao Tse Tung.

On the bus to the city centre, I asked King Lear what he was going to do now that his University days were over. He said, rather regretfully, that he was going to be a teacher. He explained that if he had his choice he would be a peasant or a factory worker. He realised, however, that he could serve his country more usefully as a teacher, and that he must put his own wants out of his mind.

"Chairman Mao teaches us," he explained, "to serve the people."

We reached the main square of Soochow and King Lear pointed out places of interest and translated the large posters that covered every available square foot of the walls and shop fronts; including the windows. Many of them were directed against members of the Soochow City Council and others accused members of the central committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Still more posters defended those attacked.

This graphic debate often used cartoons of prominent figures. Heads of the "Soviet revisionist leaders," and the more familiar face of President Johnson were easily recognised. The heads, proclaimed the posters, "should be crushed."

"Revisionists"

A beating of a single drum heralded a melancholy procession down the cobbled street towards us. As it drew nearer we could see several "revisionists" — people who had allegedly taken "the capitalist road"—standing with heads bowed on a truck jammed with Red Guards and other revolutionary groups. Large placards were hanging round the necks of these deviators from Marxism — or rather "Maoism."

It was the only time we saw anything in China that could be described as "violence"; however, this was enough to leave a sour taste in the mouth.

When we reached Peking the demonstrations against Russia were at their peak. A visit to the Soviet Embassy one evening proved to be well worth while. The gates of the Embassy were adorned with effigies of Breznyev and Kosygin, slogans and posters. A large crowd of all ages stood at the gates, with processions of students and others arriving in a continuous stream to offer their contributions to the proceedings. Many of them burnt effigies of the Russian leaders, and anti-Russian slogans led by a team of Red Guard "cheer leaders" were amplified by an enormous speaker aimed at the Embassy.

Effigies burnt

Some effigies were especially burnt to oblige the photographers in our party.

Eventually some other Europeans arrived—an Italian, a couple of Frenchmen, a handful of Albanians and, rather curiously, an American.

The whole show assumed a rather festive aspect.

The American took the microphone. "Russian Dogs!" he screamed. "I know you can speak English because your American Capitalist masters have taught you how!"

Quickly working himself into a frenzy, he ended rather splendidly by exclaiming that the Soviet revisionists would be "swept into the dustbin of history." Well put!

It was amusing to note that the Red Guards, in the course of the cultural revolution, had renamed the street in which the Embassy stood "Anti-revisionist" street. Pointed.

Political discussions with the Red Guards were frequent and protracted. The Red Guards and workers have been undergoing an intensified political science course over recent months and were, and no doubt still are, interested in politics almost to the exclusion of all else.

On many occasions members of the student party attempted to ask other questions—about love, marriage—even illegitimacy and homosexuality but these questions were dealt with quickly and rather impatiently as if such matters were too trivial to warrant discussion. The conversation was quickly Steered back to political channels. It was established, however, that a couple contemplating marriage would first see if their ideologies were identical. Apparently it was all-important to be politically compatible Marx and marriage, do not, it seems, go together like "a horse and carriage" in China.

Street scene in Cant.

Love of Party

We found the Chinese people warm, generous, extremely friendly and, above all, human. In the revolutionary, and tumultuous city of Shanghai, young couples strolled arm-in-arm and hand-in-hand along the river-bank to a serenade of "The East Is Red," the familiar strains of which could be heard from the [unclear: omnipres] loudspeakers. Even the [unclear: cl] chimes in Shanghai played [unclear: pr] verse of this revolutionary [unclear: fo] song—one line for every [unclear: ter] hour.

"The affection of [unclear: moth] and father is little [unclear: compa] to the love of the Party." [unclear: er] goes the title of another [unclear: we] known song.

One is not conscious of [unclear: th] family unit in China. [unclear: Ba] ally a selfish and i[unclear: nwa] looking concept, family life [unclear: fo] we know it has no [unclear: gnat] in the New China. The [unclear: ch] ren, however, are loved [unclear: a] lovable—adequately clothed [unclear: i] bulky, padded jackets [unclear: (bo] sexes alike) and clearly [unclear: fed] and happy. The [unclear: m] and poverty of many of [unclear: U] inhabitants of Hong [unclear: K] made an unhappy [unclear: com] for that classic [unclear: capi] society.

North [unclear: Vietnames]

A lew hundred miles [unclear: s] of Nanking our train [unclear: group] to a halt alongside [unclear: another] train going in the [unclear: ot] direction. The carriages [unclear: w] packed with what we [unclear: c] covered were North [unclear: Vie] ese students. They had [unclear: b] studying in Peking and [unclear: w] on their way home to [unclear: Ha] For our entertainment [unclear: t] sang a number of [unclear: anti-Un] States songs in the [unclear: ra] beautiful Vietnamese [unclear: st] What sort of new year [unclear: we] they be going home [unclear: to] wondered. It seemed [unclear: ra] odd and somehow tragic [unclear: t] I should be exchanging [unclear: sa] signatures and shaking [unclear: ha] with these friendly and [unclear: g] ning students somewhere the middle of China.

Spartan existe

The Chinese do not [unclear: b] such a spartan [unclear: existence] we were led to believe [unclear: be] we went. Beer was [unclear: t] and cheap, and [unclear: served] with meals. Wines of [unclear: eff] types were also common in some cases rather [unclear: st ally] the white rice wine. [unclear: e] occasion in Peking we invited to the Peking for a banquet with the [unclear: uards] of that city. The and wine flowed freely [unclear: any] toasts were drunk, [unclear: er] a lengthy film [unclear: con] corn crops was shown the of our number—who [unclear: mblbed] rather too freely his unsteady way to [unclear: veniences.] At the [unclear: con] of the film and lities—about an hour he could not be found [unclear: a]search party [unclear: subse] located him, [unclear: slumber] eavily in the "Gents."

Mitiating

Peking, Marshal [unclear: Chen]reign Minister and [unclear: Vice] made some illuminat-[unclear: mments] on the [unclear: inter] scene. He was not [unclear: salve] in stature, but he [unclear: up] for this by his ready and obvious shrewdness, ensuing discussion [unclear: d] topics of international [unclear: omestic] concern; such as [unclear: ia's] position in regard to United Nations and [unclear: la's] relationship with the [unclear: ted] States. Cheng-Yi [unclear: ited] out that America has 2000 military bases be her own shores, many of [unclear: ch] encircled China; that [unclear: rica] had thousands of on foreign soil, and the Seventh Fleet was [unclear: om] far from China's [unclear: thern] shores.

[unclear: No] troops

[unclear: hina,] he said, has no [unclear: es] and not a single troop [unclear: side] her borders. She has [unclear: troops] in North Vietnam, explained, because China not been asked for them. [unclear: na] is, however, supplying [unclear: th] Vietnam with weapons [unclear: other] aid. Of this he was proud, and was at pains [unclear: point] out that Russia was [unclear: pulling] her weight in this [unclear: ard.] While it is obvious [unclear: it] the United Stales has a [unclear: anoic] fear of Communist China, so the Chinese are quite convinced that an invasion of China by America is almost inevitable. Certainly all the anti-United States songs and dances we saw were clearly defensive rather than offensive.

The Chinese are proud, generous, fiercely Nationalistic and extremely likeable. They have a great sense of humour and are prepared even to have a quiet laugh at themselves. They know little about New Zealand—and are not particularly interested.

It is a tragedy that the Government of New Zealand has decided to follow the

United States in an absurd effort to ignore this industrious and intelligent race at a time when our agricultural and practical assistance would be invaluable to that country. The younger generation in New Zealand is being brought up in an atmosphere of fear and hatred of one of our greatest neighbours.

The Chinese are undoubtedly inward-looking, Nationalistic, and blind to seemingly obvious truths; so certainly are we. Only the light of understanding, co-operation and intelligent co-existence can brighten this area of darkness.

Red Guard display of weapons confiscated in recent months (Peking).