ABSTRACT

After eighteen years of absence I arrived back in my homeland, Jianchuan County. In 1944 it had taken four days on foot from my home village to Xiaguan, and then another four days by charcoal truck to Kunming. By 1962 the time had been shortened to two days and five hours on a public bus. Toward the end of my homeward journey I was greatly surprised to see that the new, highway-like road extended right to our county's capital town, Jinghuazheng. Somehow I never expected to see these modern changes in my out-of-the-way Jianchuan.