THE YEARS THAT WERE FAT

A knowing and loving record of the seven ""fat"" years, from 1933 to 1940, which George Kates spent in Peking, where he established a Chinese household, learned and spoke the difficult language (and calligraphy), and where he cultivated a knowledge of the city and people with curiosity and containment. And in his portrait of Peking, he recaptures the composure and tranquillity and beauty of the Orient, interprets here the unceasing life of the city past and present; the shops and street spectacles and ceremonies; the Forbidden City and the Imperial. Lakes and gardens; the hills and temples; the caste and character and conduct of the Princely Men and the Little Men; the calendar and the concept of time; the spoken word and the written word; etc. etc.... An applique of descriptive detail which is pictorial, at times lyrical, this reveals an intimate, precise knowledge of the city- and in turn- the country.