Here Back East

Letter from Beijing

Occasionally I pass along correspondence with my pen pals, most recently Paul from Wales and Simon from Ukraine. This week I received a note from my friend Paul, who is a world traveler. He just visited mainland China on business and reported to me his observations on the culture and current political climate:

Lenny,

It’s been a couple of really interesting weeks here in Beijing. Last Saturday, at the start of the Chinese winter season, I had an “official” lunch at one of the State Guest Houses behind the Forbidden City. I was the guest of the Minister of Internal Trade and joined by the Minister and eleven of his underlings. We were called into the dining room (where Mao used to hold court) at about 11:30. Shortly after we were seated the waiter came in with a metal tray filled with fried grasshoppers and fried scorpions. As the guest of honor, the tray was served to me first. Carefully using my chopsticks, I delicately took a scorpion, transferred it to my plate and then transferred it to my mouth. I think that you could have heard the crunch all the way to Palm Beach. Twelve of my fellow diners broke into smiles and then applause. The mythology—if you eat a scorpion at the beginning of winter you won’t catch a cold all winter long. Unfortunately, the mythology may not hold for Covid or its variants!

Meanwhile, it is getting more and more menacing outside. Not just the earthquake in Gansu, the extreme cold here in Beijing (earlier than ever recorded in history), and the skyrocketing inflationary impact on housing costs, but President Xi’s hold on the State Council and the ever-tightening noose on dissent and personal freedoms has everyone hovering in place. More to come. Hope that you and Patti are enjoying Palm Beach—sun, warmth, and freedom.

Your friend,

Paul