A Death in China Read online

  The most disturbing thing just happened. When I returned to my room, I discovered that someone had searched my belongings. Nothing was missing, but several things are out of order. My passport, which I had left under a pile of undershirts, had obviously been examined and replaced. I found it in another drawer. I complained to the room attendant, but he seemed uninterested. In all, it has been a stressful day.

  This morning, at the former Democracy Wall, I struck up a conversation with a young man whose father had once been prominent in the Communist Party. Perhaps because the man could see by my clothing that I was an overseas Chinese, a huh chiao, he spoke with surprising candor.

  He told me that his father had once enjoyed a promising career, that he had risen in the bureaucracy from a street cadre to being a Party officer of some standing. One night, while dining with several comrades at a restaurant here in Peking, the Party man recited a poem that he had written to celebrate the Cultural Revolution. It was an amateurish but lively verse that extolled Mao and glorified the progress of the Party. The last lines of his father's poem, the young man told me, said:

  And in the radiant future, all China's children Will sing in freedom and dance in universal happiness.

  Several weeks passed, the young man recounted, and then his father was suddenly arrested by the army. He was stripped of his Party membership and charged with counterrevolutionary behavior. At his trial, the prosecutors charged that the man's poetry encouraged laziness and immorality. Why? Because good, strong Party workers would never have the time, or desire, for song and dance. Such frivolous things, the prosecutors said, belong only in the theater.

  The man, whose name was Cheng Hua, was never given a chance to speak in his own defense. He was not even permitted to introduce the complete poem into evidence to demonstrate his loyalty and love for the government.

  Cheng was sentenced to eight years in a prison camp. His son told me he is not allowed any visitors, but letters are delivered once every two months. One of his father's closest friends is the man who turned him in, the young man told me. This story made me profoundly depressed.

  At lunchtime I met my niece, Kangmei. She is a beautiful girl of twenty-three, slender, with a luminous smile and a very quick mind. Unlike most Chinese women, she likes jeans and silky shirts-from Hong Kong, she told me. She was fascinated by my descriptions of the United States, so much so that I could scarcely get her to tell me anything about life in China. Of her father-my brother-she said little. "He is a man of power and achievement," Kangmei said-but, of course, this I already know.

  She described her studies at the Foreign Languages Institute and impressed me with her flawless English. In a few months, she will graduate and assume a prestigious job as a government translator. Kangmei said she is looking forward greatly to the travel opportunities, and to meeting more European and American visitors.

  Finally, near the end of our lunch, I asked my niece about the young man whom I had met at Democracy Wall. I told her his sad story.

  "Such events were not uncommon," she remarked. "The boy's father was very unwise to reveal his poem, even to friends. Within the Party, many cadres rise and prosper by informing on fellow workers. Everyone should be cautious."

  "But it seems so wrong," I replied.

  "Your outlook is different," Kangmei said. "We who live here understand. There is freedom only for the old men who exploit the Chinese people."

  As we talked more, I learned that my niece is a woman of firm opinions. She possesses a keen, questioning intellect-and I am heartened by it. We promised to meet again after I had seen Wang Bin. august 12.

  Today I walked down the Avenue of Eternal Tranquility, toward the western wall of the Forbidden City. I had a notion to visit the palaces, but first I stopped to buy a knitted hat from a vendor named Hong.

  I noticed that one of his legs had been removed at the hip. Because of his youthfulness-he appeared about thirty-such a handicap seemed unusual. I asked him if he had been in a bicycle accident, which is common in the city.

  Hong smiled and said no, he had lost the leg as a teenager. The year was 1966.

  His father was a prominent scientist. One of his colleagues, a Party member, was very jealous. He accused Hong's father of secretly passing scientific papers to pro-Western publications in Taiwan.

  The Red Guards came to the scientist's apartment. Hong, who was seventeen and full of fire, took a punch at one of the intruders. The youth was quickly knocked to the floor, and beaten so badly with the butt of a rifle that his leg bones were shattered. His father was put in detention for eighteen months, and was freed only after his accuser was arrested-for lying about the loyalty of another fellow worker.

  Hong told me that he bears no ill will toward the Red Guards. I find that difficult to believe.

  Later this afternoon, I had a marvelous surprise by the lake at the Summer Palace. I ran into an old friend, Thomas Stratton. He once was a student of mine at St. Edward's, and now teaches art history at a college in New England. Tom is visiting China with a group of art historians and he is understandably eager to break away from the entourage as soon as possible.

  I promised him a personal tour of Peking, as soon as I return from Xian. There's some wonderful Qing hung porcelain on display in a state gallery near the Heping. I think we'll stop there first.

  Tomorrow is the biggest day of my trip. In the morning, I fly to Xian where I am to meet my brother at eleven sharp. After lunch, we will tour the archaeological site of the tomb of the Emperor Qin.

  I'm thrilled about visiting this historical dig, but I'm even more excited about seeing Wang Bin again. He is only a year younger, but history and political fortunes have cast us centuries apart. Even without knowing him, I fear that we will be the inverse of each other. Perhaps not. Perhaps the journey backward to our Chinese childhood is not so great. It is easy to remember little Bin's face as a boy. But it has been fifty years since we were together in my father's home. And, in that time, I have not seen so much as a photograph. His invitation was so unexpected that I didn't know how to respond.

  I think it will be a powerful reunion.

  Tom Stratton closed his friend's journal and walked thoughtfully back to his hotel.

  The words faithfully belonged to David, and reading them freshened Stratton's grief. It was so typical of his old friend, he thought, to be moved more by the people of Peking than its art or scenery. David Wang had not returned for the temples and tombs of China, but for the people like Cheng and Hong. Each day had brought new faces, new chances to learn: What is it really like? What have I missed? Should I have come back sooner?

  But David Wang was a circumspect man; not all of what he saw and heard would be recorded in his notebook-of this Stratton was sure. The professor had probably altered the names of the Chinese to protect them from reprisals. He had also carefully refrained from political commentary that could backfire against his brother, the deputy minister.

  But the journal ended too abruptly.

  It contained no mention of David Wang's trip to Xian, or of his reunion with his brother. Stratton was baffled, for the professor unfailingly wrote in the notebook each night before going to bed. Why-full of such emotion, and dazzled by exotic sights-would David have forsaken this habit while on this most important trip?

  Opening the journal again in his room, Stratton flipped to the last written pages. Something caught his eye. He retrieved a metal fingernail file from his luggage and slipped it between the pages, pressing toward the spine of the notebook. The binding easily gave way, and the pages separated in loose stacks.

  Stratton ran a finger across the inside borders of the paper. It felt sticky. He held one page to his nose. The glue was pungent, and new. Someone had pried Wang's journal apart, and then glued it back together so it would appear undisturbed. No ragged stubs revealed where the missing pages had been.

  It was a professional job, Tom Stratton thought. Almost perfect.

  "Every time I see you, you're rid
ing solo," Jim McCarthy said with a cannon laugh. "Your tour group really must be wall-to-wall losers, huh?"

  Stratton accepted McCarthy's offer of a bottle of Peking-brewed Coca-Cola.

  "Almost like home," the newsman said. "Now where did you want me to take you?"

  Stratton said, "The Foreign Languages Institute."

  "And what," McCarthy said, "do you plan to do there? Stare at the walls? Pose for pictures with a few soldiers outside the gate? It's a restricted area, baby.

  No Yanks allowed. It's definitely not on the tour, yours or anybody else's."

  Stratton told McCarthy about David Wang.

  "Death by duck, right? That's what Powell said, I bet."

  "Yes," Stratton replied. "How did you know?"

  "Because the bastard ripped the lead off one of my stories to steal that phrase.

  Fucking cretins at State, no imagination. Suppose I should be flattered."

  "So there really is such a thing?"

  "Sure." McCarthy pried open the Coke on a desk drawer handle and guzzled half.

  "Just your basic tourist burnout, really. The Peking roast duck dinner gives it a nice twist, though. I wrote the story two years ago and the stats have held up. Quite a few elderly Americans die every year in the great China adventure, but it's not a trend that gets much publicity. I remember one old geezer who arrived lugging a heavy suitcase and went home inside it."

  "Huh?"

  "His wife had him cremated and continued the tour-said he would have wanted it that way."

  Stratton blanched.

  "Hey, Stratton, I don't mean to sound like a total prick about it. I'm sorry about your friend, really I am. But what's it got to do with the Foreign Languages school?"

  "David's niece is a student there."

  McCarthy whistled. "It's a tough school to get into."

  "Her father is Wang Bin, a deputy minister. David's younger brother."

  "Right, I remember now."

  "The girl saw David shortly before he left for Xian to meet Bin. I want to talk to her, just to make sure everything was all right." Stratton decided not to mention the journal or the passport.

  McCarthy said, "I'm not exactly a low-profile character in this town. More like the Jolly Red Giant. With me at your side, you don't stand a fucking prayer of getting in.

  "But I tell you what. Go with my driver. He'll take you to the gate and haggle on your behalf. He speaks some English and he's worked miracles for me, but don't get your hopes up. You might have to settle for leaving a note-and then it could be another four weeks before you get an answer. I'm not kidding. Watching this government in action is like watching a bad ballet performed in molasses."

  Stratton sat in the backseat trying to look important while McCarthy's driver argued with a guard at the Foreign Languages Institute. After several minutes, the driver, Xiu, shuffled to the car with a furrowed brow.

  "It is not possible, Mr. Stratton."

  "Why not?"

  "He says it is a study hour. The students are in their dormitories and cannot be disturbed."

  Stratton sighed. "Tell him I am a friend of the family. I have come to offer my condolences at the death of her uncle. I will be most insulted if I am not permitted just a few minutes."

  Xiu nodded somberly and tracked once more toward the gatehouse. He came back smiling. "A few minutes, Mr. Stratton. Can you wait?"

  Soon, a young woman appeared. The guard motioned toward the car and spoke rapidly. Then he waved stiffly at Stratton.

  David Wang had not embellished his journal; his niece, Kangmei, was indeed a beautiful woman. Her jet-black hair, daringly long by Peking standards, fell past her shoulders. Her eyes were bright, and her features were elegant, almost regal.

  "I was a good friend of your uncle," he began.

  "Yes. Stratton," she said. Her eyes worked on him.

  "David was a good man, a great scholar," Stratton said. "I felt I needed to-"

  The guard shifted his feet and peered up into Stratton's face.

  "You wish to talk?" Kangmei asked.

  "If it's possible."

  "It is."

  "At my hotel?"

  "Not a good choice, Mr. Stratton." Her English was excellent and self-assured.

  "Meet me in an hour at the Tiananmen Gate. Don't tell anyone. Have the driver take you back to the hotel, then walk."

  Stratton eyed the guard anxiously.

  Kangmei almost smiled. "Don't worry, they don't speak a word of English." Then she was off, her hair bouncing lightly. It was a Western walk. A wonderful walk.

  Stratton was ten minutes early. Kangmei arrived precisely on time, the trait of a good Chinese. She parked her bicycle in a guarded sidewalk lot and locked it.

  "Just like Boston," Stratton said.

  "Excuse me?"

  "Thieves, I mean."

  Kangmei shrugged. "Bicycles are expensive. Come with me, Mr. Stratton. We are going on a tour of the Forbidden City."

  "But I had hoped to talk-"

  Again her eyes stopped him. "Please," she said, "we will talk."

  At an imperial red kiosk, Stratton paid for his ticket with ten fen. Kangmei spoke to the cashier in Chinese and was allowed to enter without paying.

  "I told her I'm your guide," she explained, escorting Stratton through the broad entrance tunnel. "I saw my Uncle David two days before he left for Xian. We had a very nice talk. He was very thoughtful."

  "He mentioned you in his journal," Stratton said as they walked. "He was very impressed."

  "Oh." She paused as a crowd of Chinese tourists passed them, chattering. When it was quiet, she asked, "Was he important in the United States?"

  "Yes, in his field. And popular. He had many friends."

  They approached a group of Americans, Kodaks clicking. They were led by a Chinese guide with her hair pulled back in a prim bun.

  Kangmei said, in a louder voice, "This is the Meridian Gate, the entrance to the grounds of the Inner Palaces. It is the biggest gate in all the Forbidden City, built in the year 1420 and restored again in the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. Every year, the reigning emperor would ascend to the top of this structure and announce a new calendar for the people of China… "

  Stratton applauded. Kangmei blushed. "Please don't make fun," she whispered.

  "You must behave like a tourist and I like a guide. For me to be with you under any circumstances would be very serious."

  The competing tour group moved away. Kangmei walked Stratton across a paved courtyard to a marble bridge over a clear, slow-moving stream.

  "The Je Shui He," she trilled.

  "Did you and your uncle talk about politics?" Stratton asked.

  "A little. He seemed to understand that China cannot be analyzed in a week, or understood. I don't think that's why he came, Mr. Stratton. Some of his questions could never be answered. They are not relevant anymore. Not to my generation." A family of alabaster ducks splashed noisily in the stream.

  "They were good questions, just the same," Stratton said.

  "Yes," Kangmei said softly. "Very good. It was odd, seeing my uncle. He looked very much like my father; there is an alertness about both of them. Uncle David was more direct, of course. My father cannot afford to be so candid. Not with all the rumors of a new political campaign. We live with that concern, and it makes people like my father more cunning than David. No one can be sure what the future holds, so we must constantly be watchful. This, Mr. Stratton, is the Hall of Supreme Harmony."

  A group of Chinese schoolchildren swarmed around them. A plump teacher in a blue Mao tunic recited a history lesson and the children listened attentively.

  "The statues on the terrace are made of bronze," Kangmei said in her drone-guide voice. "On one side are storks and, on the other, giant tortoises. A sundial on the eastern side of the terrace represents righteousness and truth; on the west side is a grain measure, which symbolizes justice… "

  "Did you memorize all this stuff?" Stratton said under his
breath.

  "We learn English at the Institute," Kangmei explained when the school tour was gone. "Those who perform well may someday become translators. The very best will receive diplomatic assignments. And travel." She ran a girlish hand through her hair, and Stratton noticed for the first time the glint of red nail polish, expertly applied. "So the answer is yes, I memorized this 'stuff,' " she said acidly.

  They climbed the stairs and entered the hall. The columns were extravagantly carved with gilded dragons. In the middle stood the emperor's throne, surrounded by incense burners.

  "How did David feel about seeing your father?" Stratton asked.

  "The first time we spoke, he was very excited."

  Stratton took her elbow. "The first time? You saw David more than once?"

  "Yes," Kangmei replied. "Once before Xian, and the night of his return."

  "The night of his heart attack?"

  "The night he died, yes," she said.

  "And how did he seem?" Stratton pressed.

  "Upset. I guess the reunion was a disappointment. He and my father argued. There were bitter words. The tour of Xian was cut short by a day and the two of them returned to Peking."

  "What did they argue about?"

  "I'm not certain." They were alone in the Hall. It was too dark for pictures so the Americans had moved on, a fidgeting, pink-faced horde.

  Kangmei said, "Do you listen to music at home?"

  "A little," Stratton answered, off balance again.

  "The Rolling Stones. Do you listen to the Rolling Stones? A friend of mine, another student at the Languages Institute, got an album smuggled to her from Hong Kong. It's a Rolling Stones album; during xiu-xi, our daily nap breaks, we sometimes sneak down to the music room and play it on the phonograph. The name of the album is 'Goat's Head Soup.' Does that have special meaning in America?"

  Stratton laughed. "No, not at all. Do you like the music?"

  "Very much. It's good dancing music. My friend and I dance together when we play the record. We have to.be careful, though. We could be expelled over something like that." Kangmei's voice dropped. "I would love to have more records."