The Sauk Centre Herald

Cliff Domke May Not Return To Fenyang

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speaks uneasily, too, of the fact that international complications between the U. S. and Japan are not entirely out of the picture, and in that event he points out that the presence of few Americans alligned with the Chinese would not help the situation.

Whether the move to Fenyang has been accomplished with or without Mr. Domke is not known by his parents here. No word has come through since this letter begun two months ago.

"I've just completed my first Christmas and New Year in China," his letter begins. At Christmas breakfast they breakfasted on sumptuous Chinese dishes, and he refers to having "real coffee, milk, and butter" as luxuries.

His description of the Christmas Day Church services follows:

"Church began about 12 o'clock. All morning nearby villagers came in by foot or on donkey back or bicycles. Tai Tais (Chinese for lady) came riding in on donkeys, these little long-eared animals-both have such unusually small feet-the bound feet of the Chinese ladies and the tiny hoofs of the animal that one could not help but notice the similarity. The ladies and some of the children had on their very best of colored clothes, greens, reds, purples, and the usual black that make up the majority of the cotton padded garments. Using the same setting that we had used the night before in our Christmas Eve party for the school kids, with many of the same numbers repeated the meeting lasted for more than an hour and a half. Watching the little kids as they got up proudly to speak their pieces or to sing their songs; old Tai Tais who screwing up their courage got stiffly to their bound feet and tottered up to the front where they rendered hymns in a rather Chinese rhythm not paying much attention to pitch or anything else except singing as lustily as they could.

Clifford fared well on Christmas dinner as the menu shows in his letter: 'We had roast goat, two chickens from the Chinese Fan Kuar together with two Chinese dishes which are simply delicious (tsaoer wan tses, and tung hsia jo) --two sweet dishes.' he writes. The first is of Chinese dates and the second from the meat of the goat; each are put in a kind of doughnut fritter and then dipped into boiling fat and served hot.

Another part of his letter was devoted to his vacation to the city of Sian, and to his mountain climbing up the Hwa Shan, near Tungkuan. Te fei (bandits) almost kept them from gaining permission to climb, but they "argued them down." Up the ascent there were temples where they stopped to drink tea or get a bite to eat, he said. The temples were of the Taoist cult where they have their images' to which they pray and burn incense. From the east peak, 3000 feet above the plain, they had a wonderful view. To the north stretched level flat country of the Wei and Yellow rivers; to the northeast we could see the mountains of Shansi; to the south and west stretched as far as the eye could reach the rugged tops and slopes of the mountain range, he said. The ascent was made in two days; the return to the plain in three hours.

Getting into civilization after months in the wilds of Shansi made Clifford eager about ordinary sights, his letter indicated. "I noticed a flash of electric lights and the row of white way," he wrote. "I almost rubbed my eyes. Then we turned into the gateway at the Sian Guest House and saw the modern foreign L-shaped hotel all lit up nestled back behind a circular pool and colored lights. It was too much. I couldn't believe it."

For one day they splurged, took the bridal suite equipped with modernistic furniture and real soft spring beds. "What a gift for two seedy tramps from the wilds of Shansi," his letter said.