80 OCTOBER 2024 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Flying into Beijing in 1983 after a year at the Foreign Service language school in Taipei required a transit in Hong Kong. It also meant resuming use of the diplomatic passports that were kept out of sight in Taiwan, in recognition of our nondiplomatic relationship there. We still have a copy of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in-flight magazine from that journey. After a year in Taiwan—surrounded by slogans about retaking the mainland and exhibits demonstrating poor living conditions there—we anxiously read the magazine for clues to what awaited us in the coming two years at Embassy Beijing. An article, “A Paean in the Blue Sky,” praising the passenger service explained that the stewardesses received hundreds of commendation letters about their “quality service” from passengers: “In a collective full of vigor … they worked tirelessly for the happiness, comfort, and safety of hundreds and thousands of passengers.” This even included holding a barf bag for a pasBeijing Beginnings BY BEATRICE CAMP REFLECTIONS senger. Somehow the article didn’t match our experience. This alien-to-us world continued to reveal itself, starting with the dark road into town. The PRC had a law against using headlights at night so as not to blind oncoming bicyclers. Traffic on the two-lane road from Capitol Airport that hot August night was impeded by elderly men crouched on the street playing cards under the weak streetlights. The men moved for our car to pass, then returned to their spot. Bicycles were still the main mode of transportation in Beijing. My husband and I brought from Taipei two powderpuff-blue 10-speeds made by a new Taiwan company called Giant. Our choice was fortunate in many ways: At that time, purchasing a bike in the PRC required a letter of authorization from the buyer’s work unit, in our case an official document from the U.S. embassy. As we commuted to the embassy from our temporary quarters in the Huadu Hotel, curious Beijingers gawked at our glamorous, super-modern rides. (In Beijing, all bicycles were black, one-speed, and heavy.) Although we were initially reluctant to reveal our bikes were from Taiwan, questioners were thrilled they were made in China. In contrast to our well-heated embassy, Chinese offices were near freezing in the winter, so we learned to dress warmly on official visits. Escorted to a meeting room and served copious tea, we would drink to keep warm. Once bladders reached capacity, it was time to leave. The officials coped by wearing pink silk long underwear, which peeked out colorfully below the cuffs of their blue Mao suits. Soon we all bought such underwear. But changes were afoot. During President Ronald Reagan’s 1984 visit, the White House decision to serve Western food at a banquet dinner flummoxed the Chinese guests, who found plated food confusing and unsatisfying. Plus, as one told me, when you eat it, “an hour later you are hungry again.” Beatrice Camp’s Foreign Service career took her to China, Thailand, Sweden, and Hungary, in addition to Washington, D.C., assignments at the U.S. Information Agency, the State Department, and the Smithsonian Institution. The front cover of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in-flight magazine, 1983. COURTESY OF BEA CAMP
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