Seeing China

My husband and I were in China at the time Vice President Bush was visiting, and experienced similar treatment. In three weeks we stayed in three hotels that were exceptionally nice. One we were to have been in for two nights but were only allowed our room for seven hours. The other hotels ranged from poor to ghastly.

One night we slept four to a room without a bath and we spent an unscheduled 27 hours on a train. In two of the hotels the sheets and towels had been used by at least one set of guests prior to us. But then, the bathtub was too filthy to set foot in, so it didn’t matter about the towels.

We were rushed and herded from place to place with no explanation. If you were in the back seats of the bus the guides had disappeared by the time you got off. One woman was left for two hours in the country because none of the guides counted, one couple missed lunch at the Great Wall because they couldn’t keep up with the guide’s rapid pace. Our “National Guide” from China International Travel Service paid very little attention to anyone’s comfort. He did beg for room space in Peking and slept in guests’ rooms, saying CIT didn’t furnish him a room.

GRACE CAMERON

Long Beach