Peter Ustinov In China: Tibet To Hong Kong--Part 1

The urbane and tireless Peter Ustinov takes his trenchant and occasionally tongue-in-cheek commentary on the road once again as he visits the remote villages sprinkled north of Tibet. In Xi Pa, the villagers gawk (having never seen a white man before, let alone tons of video gear) as Ustinov strolls down the dirt roads. Here there is no gas or electricity, some of the people live in cave dwellings, and the average yearly wage is roughly equivalent to about sixty American dollars. Yet pockets of relative prosperity exist, and Ustinov visits a small arts festival, where future tree planters dance a sprightly mime of sowing seeds, and a young girl plays a top-notch version of a Hungarian dance on a Casio electronic keyboard. Ustinov also stops in busy Xi'an, where he describes the "Chinese traffic torture" (hundreds of bicycle bells ringing all at once), and stops in at the Pagoda of the Greater Wild Goose, where some 300 monks inhabit 1,897 rooms (it's a fairly large spread). The itinerary is pleasing to the eye, and Ustinov's alternately cheery and wry observations on the people and places make the trip a lot of fun. Highly recommended. (See LA MUSICA DE LOS VIEJOS for availability.)