European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 19, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine tripping to by James r. Schiffman United press International he place is peking. An american woman in a Park bumps into an elderly chinese Man who is overjoyed at the Prospect of speaking English. The Man tells of How things have improved with the demise of the Radical gang of four. He could have been arrested for uttering English during the Cul Tural revolution. He said people Are very Happy now and have a lot of Freedom in materials they Are allowed to read said the american Michelle Vosper. Vesper has been to China seven times this year As a guide for american tourists. She talked about her experiences recently in new York the Home of her travel Agency and her base Between trips. He just volunteered All this information he was so Happy. He said members of his family had committed suicide during the cultural  the Man it turned out was a retired official who had worked in a foreign legation Vosper said. He read Shakespeare and was very educated. He spoke very Well  his Talent in English and outgoing nature with foreign ers is rare among chinese said Vosper who Speaks fluent chinese. Mostly she s greeted with a combination of curiosity and fear. What they re afraid of i Don t know but there is fear she said. Not so on the Island of Taiwan the other China where Vosper spent two years studying mandarin the National language of both China and Taiwan. In Taiwan the foreigner has a movie Star image. In China you Don t have that feeling at All. It s very exotic. You feel very  Taiwan there s an admiration for foreign women on a sexual basis said Vosper. She is 26, slim a curly haired blonde. In China i Don t feel that at All. You Don t feel you re attractive in any Way. You feel that you re in a  Are vast political and economic differences be tween the two places. Taiwan is the fortress bastion of the nationalist party Defeated by the communists in 1949 after More than 20 years of struggle. While the people s Republic of China developed its unique Brand of marxism Taiwan was Blos soming into an Industrial producer. Foreign firms and local entrepreneurs poured in investments and the Island established important Trade links to the West. All the while the nationalist government the Republic of China has insisted on claiming it represents All chinese and will return to the Mainland. Likewise China s propaganda machine emits blasts about liberating Taiwan. The difference Between the Winner and loser is evident in other ways Vosper said. When i was in Taiwan there was a tendency to study the West to the extent of forgetting their own culture. It s a kind of cosmetic surgery. In China they seem to think comparisons with America Are irrelevant except for  despite the differences Vosper sees a foundation of character a chinese essence among people in both places. They have the Basic Center but the environment is vastly different. The Basic Core is a reserved character a very economical character. I Don t mean that to sound bad but it s a person who s very concerned with the basics of life. Very practical extremely practical that s what it is. A sense of  Unity Vosper said Means being part of a whole whether it be a factory or revolutionary committee in Chinor the family. In a political sense Vosper said the Core translates Dpi Michelle Vosper who has been to China seven times this year As a guide is flanked by two local guides in front of the Temple of heaven in peking. Into a High respect for leadership a Quality that seems uncanny to westerners. For example people both on Taiwan and in China viewed the ouster of Richard Nixon As a heretical act. Of her perceptions Vosper said i still feel i m on the surface but then at the same time i feel it s not that complicated a thing because i see them just As chinese  Vosper brings groups of 25 american tourists to China for 10-Day stays. Thus far the visitors have been going to peking hang How and Shanghai seeing tourist sights the great Wall the summer Palace outside peking West Lake near hang How As Well As factories communes and workers residences. Chinese cities Bustle in the daytime but Are quiet at night Vosper said despite the steady flow of bicycles. They re sort of like guppies sliding in the  stores close Early and there is no sidewalk hawking of goods As in Taiwan she said. Rickshaw jammed streets Are no More in Hong Kong since Only 25 remain today. Tuesday september 19, 1978 going going almost gone United press International Bhe Rickshaw once As familiar a Hong Kong sight As the Bat winged Junks in Victoria Harbor is nearing extinction. Thousands of the two wheeled carts pulled by wizened but seemingly tireless men once were plentiful in the Colony s streets and alleyways. No More. The Rickshaw has gone the Way of the Sedan chair. Only 25 remain today in a Metropolis affluent enough to have 350 Rolls Royce limousines. Men such As Chung Hei 75, whose name in chinese Means Uncle Chung Are a vanishing Breed. No new Rick Shaw licenses Are being issued by the transport depart ment. And when the handful of remaining pullers retire or die their wooden vehicles will go to museums or scrap  Hei remembers the Good old Days right after Hong Kong s liberation from japanese occupation in world War  those Days he said there were several thousand of us. We never had to worry about  now he draws his infrequent customer from outside one of the luxury hotels catering to tourists or picks up a camera Slung Sailor in Wanchai the Suzy Wong red Light District of bars and nightclubs. The old Man has been pulling a Rickshaw for some 50 years and knows nothing else. He makes barely enough to get by he says he charges $1 for a 10-minute ride. But he and his Roommate have a television set. And he has his memories of another Era. I remember carrying a tourist who must have weighed 250 pounds and his Luggage for a three mile trip he said. I had to have my Rickshaw repaired of  the construction of freeways and overpasses even a vehicular Tunnel under the Harbor saw rickshaws dwindle in number from 467 in 1964 to Only 25 in just 10  disappearance certainly won t affect Hong Kong s multimillion Dollar tourist Industry. But one More piece of the Colony s heritage will be  the government now is talking about replacing Hong Kong s double Decker buses with a Monorail system in about three years. The stars and stripes Page 13