Summary Report on trip to Beijing, China (21 May 1997 - 10 June 1997)

Accommodations

On the fifth floor at the China Radio Station's Foreign Experts Building, my neighbors were mainly foreigners who had, at some time or other, worked for the radio station. Across the hallway was an Italian-Japanese family and a Nigerian family. The furnishings were old but were more than enough for my purposes -- I had a refridgerator, a television, a room with two single beds, a bathroom and a living room to receive guests. Each day, a young woman would bring hot water for my thermos flask, and once a week, she would mop the floor as well.


Zeng Xiaozhuang with her husband, Pan Jiaren (vice-president of the Design Institute of the Ministry of Radio, Film and TV) and their daughter, Pan Jian.

A minor glitch occurred the day before I checked out. The agreed-upon price of 160 yuan per day had been raised to 200 yuan when I asked for the bill. On further questioning, the office worker insisted that 200 yuan was the official fee. I refused the pay the sum and called Mr. Pan, Ms. Zeng's husband as she was away in Xinjiang on a business trip. After half a day of phone calls tracking down Mr. Yu, the fee returned to the original contract sum.





EC © 4 August 1997. Modified Wed Sep 10 13:12:10 EDT 1997.