ABSTRACT
Qufu's fortunes ebb and flow with the popularity of its most famous son. The place is half pilgrimage site, half theme park. Restaurants serve "Confucius duck" and "Confucius soup". In souvenir stands, they sell Confucius' writings in little red books just like the quotations of Chairman Mao Tse-tung, along with an assortment of busts and figurines of Confucius and the Communist leader. A hick town is one where there is no place to go where we shouldn't be. The interests of the average citizen are better and more fully cared for, his wants more fully met, in the great city of Europe than in that of America. Washington is a company town. Most of the interesting people in Washington either work for the government or write about it.
