The office where foreigners were habitually received was in a large cave. It was decorated with life-size portraits of Stalin, Mao, Chu Teh, Churchill, Roosevelt and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek placed over a grouping of small allied flags. The general atmosphere appeared to be one of friendly cooperation based on mutual aims and interests. When foreign visitors were present, the Chinese National flag was displayed conspicuously over the gates of the compound, as a token of good will, and to create the false impression that both parties were working in harmony. On all other occasions, and in all other places, it was considered extremely bad taste to mention Nationalist China, Great Britain or the United States, especially with references to any part they were taking in winning the war. Anyone living in Yenan at that time became aware of the complete absence of religious symbols. The ancient temples were occupied by Communist families. Religion, as in other Communist countries, had gone underground or disappeared. Even the tiny symbolic caves, so revered by the Chinese as places of worship, were never used openly. Instead, Americans often caught glimpses of Communist soldiers going through their ritual when they thought themselves unobserved by hostile eyes. Doubtless these little scenes reminded some of the better informed GI’s of similar ones enacted in Moscow, where the old peasant women braved the wrath of the NKVD and the Stalin Youth to worship at the few churches that were allowed to remain open. The Catholic missionaries, long distrusted by the Communists, had been forced into a life of almost complete religious inactivity. Their Compound, once a busy center, had become the home of the Lu Hsun Art Academy. The old convent had been converted into dormitories for students of both sexes. In the Chapel, Communists had torn down the painting of Jesus, which was the first object seen on entering, and had replaced it with a more than life-size portrait of Stalin. The Holy Vessels and Sacred Images lay in rubble on the floor. Only the organ was left. Here, the music students practiced American jazz and sang “The Internationale.” [Illustration: _Ancient Pagoda built hundreds of years ago, seen from outskirts of Yenan. Caves at right are similar to those used to house the Japanese Prisoners of War._] [Illustration: _“Ballentine Beer Patches” Worn by Marshall’s workers in Chungking._] [Illustration: _The movie actress wife of Mao Tse-tung appears pleased with the story she has just told General Marshall, while the latter seems to wonder if he got the point._] [Illustration: _Left to right: Ambassador Patrick J. Hurley, Chairman Mao Tse-tung, General Chang, (Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek’s propaganda chief), and General Chu Teh, shown after conference in Yenan._] [Illustration: _Mao has just proposed a welcoming toast to General Marshall, and politely listens while others do likewise. The banquet was held in Marshall’s honor._]