that.

I suppose before I quit I should say something about our favorite subject, i.e. cross dressing. Naturally I saw no indication of it on my trip. Although China has produced some famous female imperson- ators. I think one of them was Mei Lin Feng if I remember correctly-I think that they would be the result of dramatic parts like the Kabuki in Japan. But the clothing of adult men and women is so much alike that there is nothing to change to. Practically everyone wore pants and coat or shirt. The two predominant colors are sort of a dark blue and olive green which can be mixed and matched for tops and bottoms but thats about all. the famous black quilted pajamas were not evid- ence though they may still be home wear. Children wear colors, and the adolescent girls still in school wear skirts and bright scarves but look down a crowded street will show only a few spots of color and when you get close enough to see who is wearing them it will not be the adult men and women of working age. Thus since there is no particular reason for men to envy women since the position of women is gener- ally below that of men and since they don't represent any- thing that is denied to men that the men might be inter- ested in regaining, there doesn't seem to me to be much reason for transvestism to exist. If the envy is on a sexual level which has existed in all culture since the beginning, there are doubtless those males who enjoy a female role in sexual inter- action and they would provide the homosexuals of the com- munity and I am sure they exist though I had no way of seeing or knowing. Some of them in turn might consider them- selves to me "females in male bodies" like western TSs but I don't imagine the Chinese medical authorities would be

very interested in such surgery. This is all not to say that efforts to catch up to the west continue and as they have more and more contact with tourists that they will not more and more adopt western ways of clothing and behaviour and when that occurs the training of boys to be "little men" and the girls to be "little women" as in the west will begin to provide the basis for the envy of position and privilege that presently, in my opinion, is the motivating force bhing TVism. We might then begin to hear of Chinese FPs.

GRR

So that is a thumb nail sketch of my Chinese impres- sions. I definitely do encourage any of you having the time and money to take a trip to China to do so. I think it would not only be interesting but an eye opener to you. Since this is being written in Feb. 1982, and I took my trip to China in Oct. 1980, I still have last years trip to report on. I went to India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. But that is too long for this issue so I'll try to have it ready of TVia number 107. Tell then, be good, be happy, and when possible be feminine. VIRGINIA

BUT DADDY, YOU PROMISED MOTHER YOU INQULD DO THE DISHES IF SHE'D LET YOU WEAR YOUR NEW DRESS"