Before the evening settles on a house in a forestry suburb of New York, I was sipping wine with 90-year-old Mr. Topping on the terrace overlooking their garden when his wife Audrey announcing to us that they had their seventh grandchild two days ago.

"I am now babysitting for my grandson," said Audrey happily. "My daughter lives just 15 minutes away. I spent the whole day yesterday taking care of the baby"

Talking about her daughter and the new baby, Audrey sounded just like any Chinese grandmothers. People would not believe that she had been one of the greatest international journalists covering China.

Taking advantage of her father Chester Ronning's close relationship with  communist leaders before 1949, Audrey enjoyed an unusual friendship with late Chinese premier Zhou Enlai, which dates as early as 1940s when her father served as Canadian ambassador to China and she attended Nanking University.

Her first assignment in China as a journalist was in 1966 at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, when Americans were forbidden by the US government to enter China. Her photo essay "Journey into Darkest Red China" became the cover story of the Times magazine. In 1971, shortly before President Nixon's historic visit, National Geographic published a 36-page cover story of her work, titled "Return to Changing China." In 1975, Audrey broke the news of the great archeological discovery of over 7,000 life-size terra-cotta warriors buried with China's First Emperor in Xi'an.

On a wall of the sitting room I saw portraits of Chinese premier Zhou Enlai on the covers of d Life, Newsweek, and Le Figaro, which were taken by Audrey in early 1970s. A framed picture of smiling Audrey standing next to Dalai Lama was placed on her piano. Audrey is a close friend of Dalai Lama and was a good friend of late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and other senior Chinese leaders.

Audrey and Topping have been working as comrades-in-arms on many of their China stories. One of the best known works they produced together was the book "Splendors of Tibet" when she was permitted to ignore the "Off limits to foreigners" and ''No Photo'' signs that guarded many places in Tibet in 1970s.

In 1979, 20 years after the People's Liberation Army put down the rebellion of Dalai Lama, the couple visited Tibet and Topping was then the managing editor of the New York Times.

Top wrote column articles from Lhasa for the New York Times. In his column, he told a story of having tea with a living Buddha, in which Top reported that Living Buddhas were once ensconced in mystic splendor in the temples of Tibet, enthroned and worshiped at a distance. Nowadays it is easy to have a cup of tea or a chat with some of those who stayed behind when the Dalai Lama fled. Top also reported a new hospital in Lhasa combining Western medical techniques with the art of Tibetan herbal medicine practiced for more than 1,000 years. 

Top told stories about Tibetans struggling for higher living standard. He wrote ,"Twenty years after taking full control of Tibet, the Peking Government is still struggling with mixed results to raise the living standards of the Tibetans to the frugal level at which most Chinese live. "

After the Tibetan trip, Audrey published a photo book "Splendors of Tibet". Thirty years after its publication, the book still stands as one of the fairest assessments in its attempt to find a middle way between the propagandas by both the Chinese government and the exiled Dalai Lama.

In a dimly lit hall of Lhasa Museum, Audren saw 106 life-size clay sculptures. These sculptures, called ''The Wrath of the Serfs''.

But "The splendors of Tibet" is Audrey's interpretation of Tibet. While writing about the Tibetans' relief at being freed from the abuses of the high Lamas and placing in the book a set of pictures of the clay sculptures representing the feudal oppression of the serfs before 1959, Audrey with her sharp eyes for details spared no criticism of China. She pointed out the errors of destroying temples and relics during the Cultural Revolution in 1960s. She also criticized Chinese government giving little voice to Tibetans in managing a new Tibet.

Audrey is always upbeat in her photographs, which convey her positive and optimistic view of life. "So many photo journalists concentrate on shock value. I concentrate on beauty and spirituality. When I'm traveling, I shoot and shoot. I try and stay away from the political aspect of societies and focus instead on the cultural aspect. I don't take beggars on the street, "Audrey said in an interview with an American journalist.

In a New York Times book review about "The Splendors of Tibet" in 1980, Jay Mathews wrote, "Tibet is no Shangri-La, but it provides a remarkable example of how high the human spirit can climb, and how low it can sink when cut off from the outside world. Locked into a high, almost unreachable plateau north of the Himalayas, the Tibetans developed their own brand of exotic, artistically rich Buddhism. They also created a religious dictatorship that rivaled any on earth for cruelty and ignorance."

Thirty years after the publication of "The Splendors of Tibet", Dalai Lama still maintains that Tibet was a pure spiritual kingdom before 1959. Western media, novels, movies have portrayed Old Tibet as a kingdom of Shangri-La. To know a true picture of Tibet, we need more journalists like Mr. and Mrs. Topping.