A 400-member tour group comprising former American "Flying
Tigers" veterans, their family members or their admirers arrived in
Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province?on Sunday to visit various
places in memory of their past.
The tour group was organized by the American Flying Association
which had organized such tours many times before in helping some
"Flying Tigers" veterans, who aided China during World War II,
their family members, supporters and organizational sponsors to
come to China to trace the previous routes where those veterans had
fought. The tours have promoted cultural exchanges between the
peoples of the two countries.
Four "Flying Tigers" veterans might have joined the group.
However, since some of them are now in their 90s and are not in
good health, only one came finally. Another veteran soldier sent
his son to China to fulfill his dream.
The tour group flew to China in two passenger planes and then
took a luxury vessel to arrive in Wuhan. They first visited the
Hubei Museum and then climbed to the top of the Yellow Crane Tower
in Wuhan, where the soldiers beat the Japanese flight crews in the
sky over the famous historical pavilion during World War II.
Sixty years have passed. For Haigler Eldon, an old "Flying
Tigers" member, he couldn't believe what he saw during the China
visit.
"
China has changed rapidly. It is so different from the old China in
my mind," Haigler Eldon said.
According to their itinerary, the tour group should first arrive
in Beijing and then fly to Wuhan to visit the Three Gorges. They
will later visit Shanghai, Xi'an and Guilin. The whole trip will
last for 18 days. The places they are going to visit were once the
battling fields for "Flying Tigers". In Guilin, the members of the
tour group will build a park in the previous "Flying Tigers"
Airport to commemorate those who lost their lives in China in the
anti-Japanese war.
(Chinanews March 21, 2007)
