China’s Communist Elders Take Backroom Intrigue Beachside

Clutching a wooden cane and aided by an entourage of young people, the old man in a black silk shirt and matching shorts hobbled up the stairs to Kiessling, a decades-old Austrian restaurant not far from the teeming beaches of this seaside resort. He sat on the balcony and ordered ice cream. It was the best in town, he told his companions. At least it had been in his youth.