China and the West

Eugene O'Neill in China.
Eugene O'Neill went together with Carlotta Monery, (who later became his third wife, July 22, 1929), first to Europe and then to the Far East, following Marco Polo's route of 1271. They arrive in Hong Kong Nov. 6 and reach Shanghai Nov. 9.
They kept their arrival in Shanghai as a secret, but a few days later, Nov. 22, 1928, Alfred Batson, reporter of the North China daily news wrote : "Arriving in Shanghai with his characteristic aversion to publicity, Eugene O'Neill has been recuperating in a local hotel from a severe indisposition contracted recently in Singapore by underestimating the force of the sun's rays while bating". After discussing Strange interlude as 'daring innovation' in playwriting, Batson talked about a few earlier play, briefly sketches O'Neill's career, and concluded : "The world trip was taken to establish new contacts and see more of life under varied conditions. While in Shanghai he is anxious to live quietly and to regain his health…"
He registered at the Astor House Hotel. One report held that he announced to his fellow drinkers that he was Eugene O'Neill the playwright and didn't care who knew it. He was sick and tired of traveling and was missing for about two weeks. When he was found, he was deathly ill from alcohol and a bad case of bronchitis. O'Neill was taken to a hospital of Shanghai for treatment and placed in the hands of Dr. Alexander Renner, an Austrian psychiatrist. On December 10, news of his illness was flashed around the world. The New York Times reported on Dec. 11 that he was 'improved'. By this time, he was undergoing treatment in his hotel room in the Astor House. A Chinese student visited him in the hospital and brought him a wooden statue of a Chinese goddess as a gift. O'Neill kept this figurine as a talisman for the rest of his life.
O'Neill described the trip to China as 'the dream of his life', and as 'infinitely valuable' to his future work. The China experience had 'done a lot for his soul'. Forty, he said, was the 'right age to begin to learn. I have regained my sanity again'.
He did not find the expected 'peace and quiet' in Shanghai, and the trip, he felt, left in his mind 'a million impressions' that were hard to digest. He was 'deadly ill of being a public personage' and being written about by 'the murderous reporters'.
He left the Astor House on December 12 and was traveling as 'the reverend William O'Brien' on the German steamer 'Koblenz'.