Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

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MY PLANS UNDONE
Almost everything I had planned came undone. My original
itinerary began thusly: My friends, those lovers of art, most of
them rich, intelligent, and spoiled, would spend a week in
China and arrive in Burma on Christmas Day.
It started as planned: On December 18th, after nearly two days of
travel and two stopovers, we arrived in Lijiang, China, the “Land Be­
yond the Clouds.” My group was met by the best tour guide of the
region, one I had used on a previous trip. Mr. Qin Zheng was an ath­
letic young man, who wore designer-label jeans, Nike sneakers, and
a “Harvard”-emblazoned pullover. My friends were surprised that
he looked so Western, and except for the Chinese accent, he could
have been one of them. He narrated the sights they could still appre­
ciate as twilight approached.
From the window of the deluxe air-conditioned tour bus, my