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 first-hand 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 1970's, many Westerners outside of China had to face a harsh reality.