FlorCruz said there were just two hospitals for expats at that time. There wasn't much to do socially except "go to theaters to watch yangbanxi, or model Peking opera, or modern dramas, go to movie houses and watch revolutionary-themed films".

Until the mid-1980s, foreigners in Beijing were confined to a radius of 20 km, from Tian'anmen Square. There were roadblocks to control their movement outside the city and signs warned, "Foreigners are forbidden to pass without permission", according to a Xinhua report on the era, reprinted in the China Daily three years ago.

The article painted a picture of James Harkness' life as a World Wildlife Fund representative in China, 1976. He is quoted as saying it was an "isolated, mysterious country" and added that it wasn't until the 1990s that the "feeling of confinement" passed. Beijing was fully opened to tourists in 1995 and "green cards" were introduced in 2004.

Tess Johnston arrived in 1981 to work at the American Consulate General in Shanghai. It was closed 30 years previously because of a Cold War freeze, but opening its doors was a sign that China was back on the world stage. Johnston said she fell in love with the country and after retiring from the US foreign service in 1996, she settled in Shanghai as a historian and author.

"China was on a more human scale then, people were the priority. There were very few foreigners, no traffic, and no cars. They were shabby, but intact and full of people. Everyone wore suits and the women wore no makeup. There was very little glitz or glamour," she said.

World stage

Johnston said one of her most vivid memories was of people in the summers living on the streets, not because they didn't have homes, but because there was no air conditioning.

"There was no chasm between the rich and the poor, everyone was in the same boat," she said.

"There were little factories everywhere, industrial and coal pollution, but no noise pollution. We bought our groceries from the Friendship Stores and the rest of the stuff was bought in sacks. Fruit was scarce, just apples, nothing imported."

At the time, foreigners were not supposed to pay for goods in cash, but had to use instead Foreign Exchange Certificates, a quasi-currency.

Johnston said there was little development outside of Shanghai's city limits. Now there are gated communities and businesses forming a dense urban spread. The hutong in Beijing and the shikumen in Shanghai have been cleared away and instead of horizontal development, buildings are going up.

"China has lost much of its uniqueness. It's all high rises these days. Then, you knew you were in China, not just in another country," she said.

As for social life, she said the expat community was more self-reliant then. Everyone knew each other and there was a clearly defined expat scene. "Now, it's much more mixed really. Today, the divide is economic. Then, segregation was along national lines."

Old hands

James McGregor was a reporter in Washington in 1985 when he decided to backpack around China and see what it had to offer. He recalled getting a tourist visa was a "rigmarole" and his first impressions of the country were formed after being woken up in Guangzhou by propaganda announcements, having traveled the previous day from Hong Kong.

"I remember going to the Jianguo Hotel because it was the only place with air conditioning. There wasn't much to do, so most of the time we ended up wandering the streets. There were lots of beat-up pool and ping-pong tables made of concrete," he said.

Like many other "old hands" the former Wall Street Journal Bureau chief in Beijing, who is now a businessman and author of One Billion Customers, said traveling by train was the best way to meet Chinese people. Journeys on the "iron horses" could take days and were in cramped but sociable conditions.

"I love Chinese trains, especially in the old days. Everyone was amazed to see foreigners traveling. I remember a trip from Chengdu to Beijing. People tried practicing their English and there was a Chinese opera troupe from Sichuan (Province). They started goofing around playing folk songs, then everyone joined in, including us."