A lifetime later, the show still goes on

The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations' board delegation on the streets of Beijing in 1973 When a junior US diplomat decided to take temporary leave from her diplomatic post in Hong Kong 47 years ago, it barely dawned on her that a year would turn into a lifetime. Jan Berris, whose hair was in two braids, walked briskly onto the stage of the auditorium to announce the next item on the program. It turned out that someone in the audience had thrown a projectile spewing tear gas toward the stage, and as the acrid gas filled the auditorium it had to be evacuated. "The event was co-hosted by the New York City Center and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, for which I was working," Berris says.