Once the Chinese were friendly and liked Americans.

Now China is not a destination for foreigners who want to go to school or work there.

take an ante rouge of friends to visit China annually-
but, not in past 4 yrs.

The history, the sights, the people, the food.

I have been there twice and it was the most outstanding trip.

Beijing, Wall of China, Panda Center, Terra Cotta Warriors, Summer Palace,
Xian, Shanghai, Guangzhou, bullet trains, fabulous airports and transportation.

China is one of the world's most ancient civilizations, 5000 years old.
The history is incredible. They take it for granted.

I was in an antique shop in China, looking at pottery.
There was some pottery sitting in a corner, gathering dust, not on the shelves, no price
marking. I asked the clerk what they were. She said they are new stuff, no one wants them.
Only three to four hundred years old. I told her that was older than my country and would
be considered quite valuable.

The food was incredible, I gained 8 lbs in two weeks, and I am small.
Like 16 lbs for a normal size person.

Chinese people were very friendly, wanted to connect and practice their English.

Of course it is China, a ruthless dictatorship, so you have to mind your P's and Q's while there.

It is sad, it is no longer a place for Americans to visit.

there not once but twice !!

I’ve been to many corners of the world but not China.

Around 1999, it was pretty bad.
Desperate poverty and hunger every where.
Draconian and in your face policing and harassment of citizens.

People were very thin, poor, drawn, pale.
Withdrawn, no eye contact.

Red hat police every where, giving you a hard time over nonsense.

It was so scary.

Then ten years later, a miracle happened.
Food everywhere in China, and cheap.
People laughing, happy, talking, making eye contact.
More middle class, not poor.

No Chinese gestapo police.
More plain clothes cops, giving people more space.

So the second trip was the trip of a lifetime.

as tourists back in the early 90s- The wife had a gallbladder attack while there and was rushed into surgery- When she got home her doctor discovered she had had a kidney ‘stolen’ as well.

Chinese hospitals were very grim at the time and only marginally better now.

The poverty was stunning and the people did anything they could for food.
Corruption was rampant so yes. A nice healthy kidney was too irresistible.

But it is a much better country now in terms of the people and tourism.
I should say however, the propaganda now is bad, and Americans are not as well received
from what I am hearing.

Attacking American tourists would never have been tolerated 15 years ago.

has quite the imagination...ante rouge? I giggled. I know you meant entourage.

It refers to make up worn by older female relatives

Keep their populace angry enough to kill people.

Please please please

Hoping everyone is OK or can be soon

Cornell University's also in Ithaca, NY. I've been there a few times to do research in their library; my wife was post-doc at U. Rochester and we co-published as she was a post-doc and I was dissertating. Pretty town. But unpleasant--warm and humid, frigid to freeze-drying levels.

Cornell College is in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Far fewer hills, I'd wager, and no ropes along the sidewalks in the depths of late fall and early spring (as well as winter).

He was one of my favorite profs at UH before he went back to Cornell. Computer mediated communication and flock theory was his thing.

Good luck to all.

State Rep. Adam Zabner, of Iowa City, told CBS News that his brother, David Zabner, was hurt in the attack. He said the group was visiting a local temple when they were attacked by a man with a knife. Adam Zabner said his brother was stabbed in the arm and is recovering from the injury.

The other three victims have not yet been publicly identified.

https://www.kcci.com/article/cornell-college-instructors-attacked-stabbed-visiting-china-park/61061928

... just as incompetent U.S.A. leaders stir up xenophobia against China.

Then along comes some violent sociopath with a gun or a knife, head full of voices from the television or radio...