“Have you been to the Greek War?” The 19-year-old Chinese waitress in Frank’s Place was trying out her English and that was the question she’d hit me with. I had been in Beijing for several days and it was true that I’d missed some newspapers during that time but, still, was it possible that America had got involved in a war in Greece since I’d left my East Village Manhattan apartment? Or had she actually said, “Great War,” thinking I looked old enough to have served in the First World War?!” And then it hit me. She had asked, “Had I been to the Great Wall?” Because the saying goes, pu tao Ch’ang Ch’eng, fei hao han,” or, “He who hasn’t been to the Great Wall cannot be considered a hero.” I lit up a Chinese “Panda” cigarette and looked around Frank’s Place, a joint-venture restaurant/bar American style with checkered table cloths, a dart board, American license plate decor, specials on buffalo wings and frozen strawberry margaritas and reminders of the upcoming Memorial Day barbecue. Yes, Beijing had come a long way. I nursed my second Tsingtao beer and reflected on my trip to the Great Wall the day before…. Read full this story
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