At the height of Maoism, China was as closed off as present-day North Korea. But even at that time, some Western foreigners lived in the country and, in the summer of 1966, they witnessed firsthand the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution. In this time, young leftist activists In Western Europe idolized Mao as a harbinger of a utopian society. As China eased out of its age of isolation in the early 1970s, many Westerners outside of China had to face a harsh reality.

At the height of Maoism, China was as closed off as present-day North Korea. But even at that time, some Western foreigners lived in the country and, in the summer of 1966, they witnessed firsthand the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution. In this time, young leftist activists In Western Europe idolized Mao as a harbinger of a utopian society. As China eased out of its age of isolation in the early 1970s, many Westerners outside of China had to face a harsh reality.