The third chapter of "Two Innocents in China"

Here we get our first taste of the blend of traditional Chinese ceremony and the new rules associated with Communism. Temples and shrines to the Buddhist gods have been converted into shrines for Mao and his cronies, a switch that doesn't seem to have made much of a difference in the lives of the average Chinese person. What's the difference between hanging a painting of Buddha on your wall and a painting of Mao? Both are fat, jovial men who are thought to have brought enlightenment to a troubled age.

Another clever metaphor arises in their discussions of the scourge of flies that carpet China and most of the hotter Asian countries. Apparently, the Chinese government, frustrated by the immense amounts of insects in the area, orchestrated a propaganda campaign that called the swatting of flies a "patriotic action." Across the land, the fly population dropped drastically, as people rushed to kill as many as they could.

Trudeau and Hebert conclude: "It made you think."