Long before China had become the popular destination for tourists from the west that it is today, the author, a script-writer for Bob Hope in the 70s and 80s, spent a month in Peking and Shanghai taping a TV special there.  Cast and crew were welcome to shop in "Freedom Stores," retail outlets set up by the Communist government for visiting tourists, which in 1979, were few.  One day, slipping away from their assigned guide/interpreter, the author and two friends discovered a small, out-of-the-way antique shop that contained some surprising treasures.  Hear the author's account in his own words, excerpted from his book THE LAUGH MAKERS:  A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope's Incredible Gag Writers (c) 2009 by Robert L. Mills and published by Bear Manor Media.  www.bearmanormedia.bizland.com/id370.html

Soon available in an audio version read by the author from Bear Manor Media.