A visit to China still sets the adrenalin flowing in retired service people. This will change as more of us go to China and see jeans-clad, gum-chewing Chinese with no inscrutability. The bi-weekly direct air service is still not as popular as going around via Bangkok. Our four-member delegation is met at Beijing airport by old friends and acquaintances from the Chinese think-tanks, but our minder is a patient, English-speaking ex-PLA general whose liaison function masks his high position in the newly set up Chinese Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Indians visiting Beijing for the first time fall into two categories—those who are amazed at the progress the Chinese have made and those who will clutch at some straw to justify Indian backwardness. The bad news is that sending Indian politicians abroad at state expense doesn’t seem to do any good apparently, so the bright young diplomats say, because seeing China’s dazzling prosperity only increases their truculence about ‘our ancient culture’. In late September, the poplars, willows and locust trees all have their leaves, while the flower beds with mixed salvia and yellow chrysanthemums are striking, if a little tasteless. We are put up at a clean four-star, Chinese-run hotel on Qian Men street just south of Tiananmen. The hotel is full of foreigners from Europe. Neither the decor nor the staff come anywhere near a good Indian five star, but then the tariff is less than an ITDC three-star hotel in India and explains why China attracted 20 million tourists in 2000. The price includes breakfast, which apart from all the bacon and eggs etc, has a selection of Chinese dishes not normally seen at lunches and dinners.