I often talked politics with people I met, and their answers sounded uninhibited enough. The Cultural Revolution, that hideous upheaval of the 1960s? A terrible mistake, a tragedy. The future of China? Nobody knew for sure what kind of country this was going to be. Communism versus Capitalism? There was good and bad in both. Would they like to go to America? Of course, but they would probably come home again. What a kind face Chou En Lai had! Yes, he had a lovely face, he was a good kind man, the father of his people. Did they like the face of Mao Tse-tung?
Ah, but there was a hush when I asked this question. They thought for a moment. Then - "We don't know," was the mumbled answer, and suddenly I realized that they had not been frank with me at all.
Jan Morris, Chinese Cities, 1983.
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