Coming Home Crazy

For entertaining reading about China the book "Coming Home Crazy" is a good one. Written by Bill Holm who just recently died, Bill writes about the trials and tribulations of his travels in China during the 1980's. At that time China was just starting to waken to the rest of the world and Bill's experiences were very typical of that era. I also experienced many of the same things during the early 1990's. The book probably can be ordered from Amazon.com Bill points out many of the local issues like the hotel elevators did not stop at the 2nd. & 3rd. floors because it was only required to stop at the fourth floor or above. Hot water was sometimes only available during certain hours in the morning or evening. Lights were turned out after 11:00 at night in the hallways of many hotels. Night clerks often slept on the desks or on the floor and if you wanted to check out early you had to wake them.
Heat was not available until after Nov. 1st in the hotels with steam heat as were many of the department stores and clerks wore coats and mittens with the finger tips cut out. These were just some of the inconveniences and thank heavens this has all changed with the times. It's a great book for you to appreciate more the modern China now which most people are overwhelmed with their progress. Tours to China is my business so check out my web site at www.interlakechinatours.com