At The Height Of Maoism China Was As Closed Off As Presentday North Korea But Even At That Time Some Western Foreigners Lived In The Country And In The Summer Of 1966 They Witnessed Firsthand The Upheaval Of The Cultural Revolution In This Time Young Leftist Activists In Western Europe Idolized Mao As A Harbinger Of A Utopian Society As China Eased Out Of Its Age Of Isolation In The Early 1970s Many Westerners Outside Of China Had To Face A Harsh Reality
