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Upon his return, Paul Perrot commented:

This visit to the source of one of the greatest and most lasting cultures, undoubtedly, was one of the richest experiences of my professional career.  The opportunity to view a country that shelters a quarter of the world's population, which has been so out of touch with the West for so long a period and has gone through such a tremendous economic and social upheaval, was extraordinarily enlightening.  The members of the Smithsonian delegation represented the finest human values of the Institution, and it was a great honor to introduce them to their counterparts in the People's Republic.  We found our hosts eager, determined and open-minded and in spite of the handicaps of isolation and the language barrier, well informed concerning developments abroad.

Some of the museums we visited are second to none in the quality of their objects, in the manner in which these are presented and, often, in the quality of the interpretation of collections to the cultivated and general public.  However, some museums clearly are in need of assistance, of better or more trained personnel and of greater access to financial resources.  The quality of the conservation work we saw, particularly in Shanghai, was outstanding, and, while the research carried on was not new by Western standards, many of the techniques employed were highly sophisticated and while not providing new breakthroughs in knowledge, were being pursued with vigor in order to establish proper foundations for more advanced work.

The research institutes in botany, many of whom suffered greviously during the cultural revolution, with their botanical collections plowed under, showed particular vigor, as did the various other institutes that members of the team visited.

It will take some months to follow up on all of the avenues that have opened for joint projects, but I am confident that the foundations have been established, that there is ample good will and that a common vocabulary has been recognized.

The Smithsonian has a unique opportunity to establish not a beachhead, but a lasting set of relationships and offer to the scholars of the People's Republic a base in the United States from which to further expand their knowledge and understanding.  To have been a part of such an enterprise at its earlier stage is a high honor.

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