Seminar Provides Glimpses of Russia-China
Seminar group gathers in China with the Great Wall winding in the
background.
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By Susan Chase
Mingling with the great crowd,
last June, a group of twenty
seven Americans shuffled across
Moscow's Red Square. The large
brick area, a site of famous
demonstrations and parades, was
filled with tourists, who cast their
eyes upon the structures that
make up the square's four sides:
St. Basil's cathedral, Gum (the
world's largest department
store), a historical museum, and
the intimidating Kremlin wall.
Near one corner, the guard was
changing at Lenin's mausoleum,
a modest black building that was
usually the object of a long line of
people waiting to enter and view
Lenin's body. At the time,
however, no line existed. The
mausoleum was closed.
Twenty days later, the same
group of Americans stood on part
of the Great Wall, a few miles
from Peking. The amazing struc
ture, built by the Chinese more
than 1500 years ago for defensive
purposes, wriggles across a
beautiful mountainous land
scape. Although only a few of its
2000 miles were visible, the
tremendous wall of stone was im
pressive.
Red Square and the Great Wall
were just two stops during an
8-week trip of those Americans
participating in the
Guilford/UNC-G Russia-China
summer seminar. Led by Martha
Cooley and her husband, UNC-G
professor Jim Cooley, the group
was comprised of students and
alumni from the two schools.
Two weeks were spent travell
ing through Europe, yielding
visits to Amsterdam, Berlin, and
Guilfordian, September 7, 1983
Warsaw. The three weeks were
devoted to the Soviet Union, and
another three weeks to the Peo
ple's Republic of China.
While in Russia, the group stayed
in Leningrad and Moscow, before
venturing across the country on
the Trans-Siberian railroad. The
train ride took six days from
Moscow to Irkutsk, with one day
in the middle spent in
Novasibersk. The group then
spent a few days in Irkutsk on
Lake Baikal before heading
towards China. Back on a train
for a few days, the collection of
students and alumni went from
Irkutsk, through Mongolia to
Peking. After Peking, the
itinerary included stops in Xian,
Shanghai, Nanking, and Canton.
Finally, the group enjoyed a few
shopping days in Hong Kong
before the long flight back to New
York.
Although the eight weeks were
tiring, the travelers from
Greensboro experienced an ex
citing, unforgettable, and very
educational journey. Not only
were they learning some of the
history of Russia and China, but
they also were observing today's
life in the two largest communist
countries.
In Russia, the group visited
various art museums,
cathedrals, monasteries; the
Kremlin in Moscow; the ancient
cities of Vladimir and Suzdal;
and Leo Tolstoy's home near
Moscow, Yasmaya Polyana. To
day's communist control was
brought to reality by countless
billboards of Lenin, posters of
Party slogans, and the carefully
guided tours. The Soviets' in
dustrial inferiority to the United
States became obvious, as did the
lack of personal freedoms we
take for granted.
In China, the group was taken
to Buddha temples, tombs from
the Ming Dynasty, the Forbidden
city, the discovery site of Peking
man, Sun Yet-sen's mausoleum,
and the Peking zoo to see the
giant pandas. Factories were
also visited. The group was priv
vy to the production of cloisonne
articles and silk rugs as well as
the carving of jade and ivory. To
day's differences between China
and the U.S. were highlighted by
the Chinese agrarian society, the
use of bicycles instead of cars,
and the residential areas. Also,
the Chinese are still unaccustom
ed to foreigners and stare
unashamedly at them in the
streets
The Guilford/UNC-G group
members had opportunities to
speak with natives of both Russia
and China and learn something
about their lives. Even though
communication was rarely a pro
blem because the interested
natives could speak English, the
Americans often found the con
versations limited. The Russian
youths mostly wanted simply to
buy clothing, shoes, back packs,
and anything stylishly western,
and the Chinese merely wanted to
practice their English.
One of the major differences
between Russia and China was
the food. In Russia, the group ate
most meals in the hotels and
every day the meals included
cabbage, cucumbers, potatoes,
and bread. This got understan
dably monotonous so everyone
was glad to get to China. Mea'
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