& Ferenc pee ten CE ner RN REA TOE OREO SP NO UREA A OIE SOS DouG COLLINS ABOUT TEN years ago the Chinese discovered thal com- munism doesn't work. They still have it, of course, but it’s not quite so pure as it was. So today they say that what they have is ‘socialism’? — enterprise is permitted. A Short visit to the country makes no one an expert on the place. But it’s better than reports at second hand. You can see, for instance, how they’ve progressed from Red Guards to Blue River. By which I mean that in the Beij- ing Hotel, the official travel authority (there being no other) treated us to a sumptuous banquet at which the orchestra played Western hits. There is no way in which a for- cigner can assess public opinion. But it’s my guess that the country longs for more freedom. At the same time, it doesn’t want to go back to civil war and war lords and all that stuff. So it puts up with Deng. & Co., they being better than the mess that existed when the Gang of Four was in power. - The guides who were with us were surprisingly frank. ‘‘Ask us in which a limited form of private anything,’’ they said. “What happened during the revolution?”’ I asked, somewhat stupidly. “Which revolution?’’ the man replied. ‘‘There’s been more than one around here.”’ What he had in mind was the Cultural Revolution of 15 years ago, whicii was an unmitigated disaster. ‘“The whole country went mad,”’ he said. The story is well known, so I won't go into it again here. Everything even remotely con- nected with reform faced annihila- tion. Even ancient Chinese monu- ments were not exempt. Did you see the movie The Last Emperor? We visited the Forbid- den City, in which it was shot, it is a vast and fascinating place, and dotted around the premises are huge metal bowls in which, in Im- Boogie for research A UNIQUE opportunity to meet members of the medical profession and experience first hand their unusual senses of humor is being offered tonight. The Boogie For Research Dance takes place Friday evening at 8 p.m. at the Medical Daycare Cen- tre Gym at Lions Gate Hospital. Three different bands will per- form, including the North Shore Reknown Doctors Band. It will be a fun dance, interspersed with a lip-synching contest and other events. Proceeds from the dance will go to the Lions Gate Hospital Medical Research Foundation, which is raising funds for research projects by local doctors. Tickets, costing $8, will be available at the door. DR. STEPHEN GEOGHEGAN Announces his association with DR. EDWARD CLARK in the " Caulfeild Village Shopping Centre 531 1 Headland Dr., W. Van. 922-1305 GEHERAL DENTISTRY © ANTIQUE PINE over 200 Pieces perial times, sandalwood was burned. In the old days they were all covered with gold lacquer. Some still are. But from many of them the lacquer has been scratched off or otherwise disfigured. “That was the Red Guards,”’ stated our guide. ‘‘They tried to scratch the gold off with their bayonets. In fact they wanted to destroy the whole Forbidden City and they would have done so if Chou En Lai hadn't stopped them."’ At the Great Wall, peopiz have to pay to go to the lavatory, It’s one fen for the locals, but 10 fen for the likes of us!”’ Even at this distance in time, it is possible to see visible evidence of what went on in China before Mao’s men fell. As one man put it, “From top to bottom, everyone was paid 200 yuan a month, regardless of what his job was. The result was that no one worked. Or did as little as possible.”’ Class differences and privileges have also emerged. At the main railway station in Peking it was amusing to see that there was a “Soft Seat Waiting Room’ (and presumably a hard seat one too). It was sparsely populated, but anyone who can afford to do so can travel in luxury. Those who can’t get the sardine treatment. And you have never seen a crowd- Things can go wrong, even with a new homme. 9 - Friday, October 21, 1988 - North Shore News ed bus until you’ve been to China. Foreigners are discriminated against, too. Financially, that is. You don’t notice this on a package tour, but according to old China hands the Westcrner pays more than the natives for nearly everything. Being on such a tour | didn’t experience that -- except in one instance. At the Great Wall, people have to pay to go to the lavatory. It’s one fen for the locals, but 10 fen for the likes of us! The Wall itself is one of the seven wonders of the world, but it too is packed with people and you get used to using the old elbows. What it must be like in the great People’s Square in Beijing on speech days can only be imagined. Mao’s carcass is there, of course, because although he ‘‘made many mistakes,’’ as we were told, he still has a god-like status. The square is surrounded with buildings of massive proportions and is a dream of Hitlerian grandeur. But the locals enjoy it, and gape and gawp in amazement, as do the tourists. Go to China if you get the | chance. You may not always like the sanitation, but you can always hold your nose and make the, best of it. They are still puritan, too, for no Chinese can take a girl toa hotel unless the couple produce proof of marriage! For wide-eyed Westerners, Cathay is the most interesting country in the world. It was in Marco Polo's time and it still is@ 1. It guarantees your deposit . up to $5,000 if the builder WV alderman defends trip ALD. DAVE Finlay, who recently drew some fire from a West Van- couver resident because he attend- ed a heritage conference in P.E.L.this year, did not take his wife, as was stated in an Oct. 16 North Shore News article. Mrs. Finlay did not accompany her husband on the trip, even though West Vancouver District Council voted to permit her to do so. “This was also the first con- ference 1 have attended outside the Lower Mainland in nine years on council,” added Ald. Fialay. Each member of council has at- tended just one conference in the past two-year period, and in general, West Vancouver aldermen attend fewer confetences than their North Vancouver City and District counterparts. Finlay said the heritage con- ference was worthwhile attending because West Vancouverites are becoming | much more ‘“‘heritage conscious.’ “Council members should go to certain conferences,’’ Finlay said. “We have never abused this prac- tice in West Vancouver.”’ -——--_— put your waste on a diet RECYCLE - right buy. Choose the builder who provides you with the Can you afford to gamble? ... Buying without the benefit of New Home Warranty? When you buy a new home with the New Home Warranty you don’t have to worry about buying a house of cards. Having the New Home Warranty brings you security in four important areas. *The limit of liability of the New Home Warranty Program is the masinum cumulative sutn of $30,000 per unit. defaults. ; 2. if defects in workmanship or materials appear in the first year, they will be repaired*. 3. Any major structural defects will be repaired for a period of up to five years*. 4. The Prograni mediates any dispute between you and the builder. Buying a new home is the New Home Warranty. It makes your new home an-even better buy. In fact, it gives you the winning hand. NEW HOME . WARRANTY PROGRAM OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AND THE YUKON The bond berween you and your builder. 760 - 1441 Creekside Drive Vancouver, B.C. (604) 736-9231 or Toll Free 1-800-663-4244