The dragon's scales shimmer as it shifts in direction.


China is a large, flat country, save for the bumpy parts: those regions are covered in hills. But the essence of what China really was was not in the geography, nor was it in the people or their culture; the flavor of China was now entirely contained within small plastic tubes. Unbeknownst to Smellison, however, there was something new coming. Trapped in their metaphorical "plastic tubes," they could not smell the change on the wind. They could not know that the popularity of Tay-Ste-Ice had reached its' climax in China. The only way to go then was down, like going down one of China's many vaguely-triangular hills once you had reached the top. And down they went, and by down we mean that less Tay-Ste-Ice were sold.

...Mao's "Cultural Revolution" was changing the cultural landscape dramatically. All elements of the "old way" were eliminated, as vestiges of a culture not aligned heart-and-soul to communism were removed. Doctors were fired from their jobs, replaced by untrained nurses. Writers, poets, critics, painters, puppeteers, dancers: all were labelled "intellectuals" and thus, by Mao's decree, were to be arrested once found.

Tay-Ste-Ice, seen as a tool of the bourgousie and a throwback to the outdated generation, declined sharply in popularity, especially among those imprisoned and/or executed.

1: Beginnings - 2: Expansion - 3: Acceptance - 4: More Acceptance - 5: Revolution - 6: Defeat - Order Form/Contents