I enjoyed the articles on China in the April ’06 issue and especially the pictures of the Great Wall on pages 10 and 121. Before tourists could visit on their own, I was in China in 1976 with a group from Wayne State University’s Medical School. In addition to medical sites and other places of interest, we were taken to the Great Wall.

If you look closely at either picture, you’ll see that the handrail on each side of the walkway extends farther out than handrails anywhere usually do...

My wife and I toured the island of Hokkaido on a 7-day Japan Rail Pass in November ’04. We stayed at Toyoko-Inn hotels. These are businessmen-type hotels, all located within a few minutes of train stations. The rooms are very clean and comfortable but a little small. They cost less than $100 a night, and on Sundays the rates are one-half for seniors.

You can make reservations via Internet, without giving a credit card number, at www.toyoko-inn.com. After you send in your reservation a...

This is in response to the question about carrying copies of important documents and other key information on a flash memory drive (July ’06, pg. 88).

I think it’s a good idea but only if the flash drive can be password-protected. Otherwise, the potential costs of losing it or having it stolen are too great.

Also, I wonder if a U.S. embassy or consulate would be willing to put the flash drive into one of its computers, in light of the widespread concerns about computer viruses...