Edgar Snow was always casual about anything while Helen Snow was cautious and thoughtful. When Edgar returned home from Northern Shaanxi to Peking with triumphant delight, he was having much fun teasing her. Helen sud¬denly recollected the importance of getting Edgar's films processed before anyone knew what they were. Im¬mediately she was in a rickshaw with the films on her way to Hartung's. She took, for reproduction, some rare old photograph, that had been given to Edgar by Mao Zedong himself in Bao'an. In those old photographs the red star was visible on every tattered cap of the Reds. Helen lived in fear that the films might be "lost" at Hartung's, and hoped that the people who processed them would not realize their significance.
As a matter of fact, these pictures had already almost been lost. On October 21, Edgar Snow was traveling to Xi'an from Northern Shaanxi in the secret Northeast Army truck. The bag containing all his film and notebook had been tossed off by mistake at Xianyang, twenty miles from Xi'an. Fortunately the truck went back for them. And fortunately again, when Helen picked up the developed photographs later at Hartung's, they were all beautifully done, no questions asked.
Helen knew very well that it was important to keep Edgar's trip secret until his films and articles could be on their way to the Untied States. Peking had been reading and confiscating mail since the student movement began though they had not dared to touch foreign mail. As soon as his trip became public knowledge, everything would be watched.
For six weeks after Edgar's return, Helen spared no effort to write up what he had brought back. She tried to know all the individuals by name and face against the photographs and wrote long biographical captions from his scattered notes. She took on all their work so he could start writing Red Star over China in his private building near the gatehouse at No.13 Kuei Jia Chang. She took care of his mail, met visitors and handed out free of charge his northwest interviews and some of his photographs as well. She also sent some of the free materials to Randall Gould, editor of the American owned Shanghai Evening Post. Among these was an article on Zhou Enlai, for instance, and a copy of a talk Edgar Snow gave at the Peking Union Church. Others Helen sent to J. B. Powell for the China Weekly Review. It was this material published in China that had the biggest effect, not only on Chinese but also on foreigners. These articles helped to pave the way for the United Front.
In those days before the Xi'an Incident, both Snows worked at top speed to rush those interviews out. Edgar Snow was very tired and also sick to some extent. Though he had to write and give lectures, most of all he had to work on his book. Helen thought that it was equally important and urgent to arouse the Chinese masses by communicating to them the message Edgar brought back from Northern Shaanxi. Basing her work on Edgar's notes, she compiled and typed up his interviews and put them into a book. Edgar gave his permission to do the book and checked it over as soon as she had finished it, or rather before as soon as part of it was ready. Wang Fushi and others took the book to be translated and published at their expense. This was Impressions of a Foreign Journalist on the Northwest which immediately became quite influential. In her letter to Wang Fushi a few years ago, Helen wrote: "It was like a lightning in China and aroused the masses of the people. We tried our best to rush it out and you got the translation done right away. This was a real Sino American cooperation."
While Edgar was writing his Red Star in the midst of all the excitement, and Democracy, a magazine they started, was just born. Helen decided to follow her husband's foot steps to make an independent trip. As a matter of fact, when Helen first read the materials Edgar had brought back, she realized she had to make a similar trip at any cost to get other biographical materials. In April Helen left Peking to go to Yan'an to collect information on all the leaders Edgar had missed, including Zhu De's army, the 2nd Front Army and the 4th Front Army. Helen spent four months in Yan'an where she made many appointments and asked thousands of questions. She interviewed at least 65 persons, had long or short talks with various people and wrote 34 profiles. By using the information collected during this trip, she wrote her Inside Red China, a companion volume of Red Star over China, and three other books.
Edgar made many valuable suggestions for Helen's trip to Yan'an. He asked her to “collect all the materials she could”, “collect as much personal data in interviews on it as possible”, and “get any photos you can.” He suggested Helen try to get Mao Zedong involved in a philosophic debate, record it, in dialogue form.⑤"
Edgar Snow had to "rewrite the last four chapters of the manuscript ⑥" to fit in with developments. Helen lost no time to send him the materials needed. On June 13 she sent him 14 boxes of films she took and asked him to "take care of them ⑦", when Wang Fushi was leaving Yan'an for Peking.
When readers of all countries read Red Star over China by Edgar Snow in the past 50 years, very few people, I’m afraid, knew that some chapters of this book were written by using the information supplied by Helen Snow and a dozen of photos used in it were taken by her. Therefore Red Star over China was the fruit of not only one but two trips by the Snows.