Saturday, 22 July

Fine, sun

I studied Russian in the morning.

At 4.00 in the afternoon the Consular of Iran A.G. Etessami gave a tea party in his villa in the countryside. The villa was very nice with big gardens and lots of greenery. It was lovely. I heard that it was originally owned by a certain Iranian professor andwhen  he left Moscow, the Iranian government bought it from him. Shaozhou said before the revolution there were two Overseas Chinese from Shanxi, specialising in the import of silk and tea from China, and the export of leather goods to China. They made huge profits and became millionaires. But they missed China and had no wish to stay in Russia forever, therefore they never bought property here. Therefore, although there are many overseas Chinese here, none of them have any property. This is the difference between the Chinese and people from other countries.

American Ambassador Harriman invited me for dinner and to bid farewell to Hamilton. We watched a movie after dinner.