In early 1980s, the Chang'an Avenue was still a street mainly for cyclists in Beijing.           

Roused in the morning by loudspeakers broadcasting propaganda. Banned from traveling outside international zones. Drinking Five-Star liquor at one of the few international hotels because it was the only place with air conditioning. Life has changed dramatically for expats in China since the "cultural revolution" (1966-76).

Today, foreigners come in their tens of thousands and live where they choose and travel where they like. Broadband connections keep them in touch with friends and family around the world. They download their favorite programs or music and buy the latest DVD movie.

Expats who knew the country then and now say China is no longer unique. It has an international uniformity. The infrastructure, stores and brands are much the same as anywhere else in the world. They look back, sometimes with rose-tinted spectacles, on the way China used to be.

CNN bureau chief Jaime FlorCruz was one of 15 students and youth leaders from the Philippines invited here for a three-week study tour in 1971, by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. The 20-year-old's first impression of Beijing was of it being "steeped in revolutionary fervor".

"Mao (Zedong) statues and billboards with Mao's quotations stood tall in strategic places. His Little Red Book and other propaganda materials were available in various languages, in many places for free. The Chinese we met all wore Mao jackets and caps, mostly in colors of blue and green," he said.

"We occasionally spotted detachments of Red Guards and civilian militia marching otherwise, Beijing's streets seemed calm and clean. Mostly we saw cyclists - tens of thousands of them - going to and from work."

FlorCruz, an exile from the Ferdinand Marcos-led Philippines, experienced the trials and tribulations of life in China the following year when he was sent to the countryside. He briefly became a farmer in Hunan Province and a fisherman in Shandong Province. He returned to Beijing a few years later to study Chinese history and later became a reporter for Newsweek and Time.

There were few foreigners allowed into China during this period, especially from Western countries. FlorCruz said those that did make it were "segregated" and assigned housing according to their status. Students stayed in dormitories, foreign experts were billeted in apartments at the Friendship Hotel, while diplomats were ensconced in diplomatic compounds. Foreigners did not have the right to choose accommodation until 2003.

Not allowed

"Chinese took risks to befriend foreigners. They could get into trouble from their work unit, their bosses, or the police for simply being too cozy with foreigners. They faced the prospect of being accused of leaking secret information or spying. Until the mid-1970s, liaisons and marriage between Chinese and foreigners were taboo. The friendships I made then have stood the test of time."

FlorCruz said there were just two hospitals for expats at that time. There wasn't much to do socially except "go to theaters to watch yangbanxi, or model Peking opera, or modern dramas, go to movie houses and watch revolutionary-themed films".

Until the mid-1980s, foreigners in Beijing were confined to a radius of 20 km, from Tian'anmen Square. There were roadblocks to control their movement outside the city and signs warned, "Foreigners are forbidden to pass without permission", according to a Xinhua report on the era, reprinted in the China Daily three years ago.

The article painted a picture of James Harkness' life as a World Wildlife Fund representative in China, 1976. He is quoted as saying it was an "isolated, mysterious country" and added that it wasn't until the 1990s that the "feeling of confinement" passed. Beijing was fully opened to tourists in 1995 and "green cards" were introduced in 2004.

Tess Johnston arrived in 1981 to work at the American Consulate General in Shanghai. It was closed 30 years previously because of a Cold War freeze, but opening its doors was a sign that China was back on the world stage. Johnston said she fell in love with the country and after retiring from the US foreign service in 1996, she settled in Shanghai as a historian and author.

"China was on a more human scale then, people were the priority. There were very few foreigners, no traffic, and no cars. They were shabby, but intact and full of people. Everyone wore suits and the women wore no makeup. There was very little glitz or glamour," she said.

World stage

Johnston said one of her most vivid memories was of people in the summers living on the streets, not because they didn't have homes, but because there was no air conditioning.

"There was no chasm between the rich and the poor, everyone was in the same boat," she said.

"There were little factories everywhere, industrial and coal pollution, but no noise pollution. We bought our groceries from the Friendship Stores and the rest of the stuff was bought in sacks. Fruit was scarce, just apples, nothing imported."

At the time, foreigners were not supposed to pay for goods in cash, but had to use instead Foreign Exchange Certificates, a quasi-currency.

Johnston said there was little development outside of Shanghai's city limits. Now there are gated communities and businesses forming a dense urban spread. The hutong in Beijing and the shikumen in Shanghai have been cleared away and instead of horizontal development, buildings are going up.

"China has lost much of its uniqueness. It's all high rises these days. Then, you knew you were in China, not just in another country," she said.

As for social life, she said the expat community was more self-reliant then. Everyone knew each other and there was a clearly defined expat scene. "Now, it's much more mixed really. Today, the divide is economic. Then, segregation was along national lines."

Old hands

James McGregor was a reporter in Washington in 1985 when he decided to backpack around China and see what it had to offer. He recalled getting a tourist visa was a "rigmarole" and his first impressions of the country were formed after being woken up in Guangzhou by propaganda announcements, having traveled the previous day from Hong Kong.

"I remember going to the Jianguo Hotel because it was the only place with air conditioning. There wasn't much to do, so most of the time we ended up wandering the streets. There were lots of beat-up pool and ping-pong tables made of concrete," he said.

Like many other "old hands" the former Wall Street Journal Bureau chief in Beijing, who is now a businessman and author of One Billion Customers, said traveling by train was the best way to meet Chinese people. Journeys on the "iron horses" could take days and were in cramped but sociable conditions.

"I love Chinese trains, especially in the old days. Everyone was amazed to see foreigners traveling. I remember a trip from Chengdu to Beijing. People tried practicing their English and there was a Chinese opera troupe from Sichuan (Province). They started goofing around playing folk songs, then everyone joined in, including us."

McGregor said China's makeover in the past 30 years has transformed its cities into simulacrums of Western conurbations, with all their conveniences, and more.

"I returned to China in the 1990s as a journalist, interested in representing the world of business, so I saw a different aspect. Everyone wanted to show me the economic zones and stuff. I remember the vice-mayor of Shanghai outlining his plans for Pudong and I thought they might do something in 30 years or so. It took a third of the time and I wish I had bought in then."

From an expat point of view, McGregor said, the major difference between 30 years ago and today is that foreigners used to be a novelty. The figures tell the story. In 1979, there were 5.7 million visitors to China, according to the China National Tourism Administration. Last year there were 124 million inbound travelers, ranking fourth in the world.

Chinese people used to be curious about the outside world, now they know all about it. Then they had time to talk, now they are busy making money, McGregor said.

"In the old days people had more time. You will understand what I mean if you go to a small village in the countryside. Where you get off the beaten track. There, it is still the same old China."

(China Daily December 6, 2007)