Sailing through China
by Theroux, Paul
pub. by Houghton Mifflin Co, Boston 1984 -   -  black and white line drawings by Patrick Procktor   -       isbn 0-395-34836-6   -   64 pages
Travel down the Yangtze on 2 large tour boats of the Linblad tour group in the company of a number of other passengers most of whom are millionaires. One of the 2 boats used was the Kun Lun constructed to give tours to visiting dignitaries by the third wife of Chairman Mao. Its accomodations were greatly simplified during the Cultural Revolution, but restored by Linblad later in an agreement with the Chinese government.
Comments on what China was like post Cultural Revolution and during the time of the prosecution of the infamous Gang of Four abound. A great part of the book is taken up with comments on his fellow tourists and their millionaire attitudes.
I wish there was a map.
A read which is now has historical merit.
~2013-02-01~

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