Saturday, October 11, 2003
A DAY IN BEIJING
Click here to view photos of Ken & Judy's day in Beijing.
As you've read in past reports, we've been to Beijing twice, both business trips initiated by the school to have medical check ups and get the special Z working visas we need for our year here. But we had not ventured there on our own steam, to do the things WE wanted to do!
We had spent some time figuring out the best way to attack this major city of 16M people, realizing that we would be unable to read the Chinese character signs. We had decided to book a hotel and hire a guide and driver for a day. We also thought we would hire a taxi to drive us from Huairou to Beijing. All of this is expensive, but a safe way to make our initial foray. We had pored over the guide book and the city map, trying to absorb as much info as we could before we went. We thought we were ready!
How differently events unfolded. How glad we are that they did! Yesterday (Monday) was THE DAY! But not on our own, not in a taxi and not overnight -- in fact, not anything that we had carefully planned.
Our Chinese friends are most solicitous of our well being, and Richard graciously accompanied us, saying many times that it was his pleasure. Where did we want to go? Ken said an antique market, I said a shopping area. No problem (mei wen ti). Did we want to sight see? Well, if there was time. No problem. He would pick us up at 6:45 am, because catching the early bus meant there would be fewer people on board, and we would miss the Beijing rush hour (which is total gridlock, we've learned from previous experiences. This is definitely an area which the government is working on with the pressure of the 2008 Olympics pushing things ahead.)
We flagged down the yellow #916 bus at the corner, found seats and were on our way. There's a ticket lady on the bus who comes around once you're seated and takes your money. A very sensible arrangement, we think - gets rid of the bus station and the ticket wicket in one fell swoop -- 8Yper person one way. The bus filled up as we made our way to the city. There were several scheduled stops, the final one being Dongzhimen, a northern point on one of the two subway lines in the city. Here, we met Richard's friend, a policeman in Huairou who knew something about antiques and where to find them. So, we were a party of four -- two who were buying and two who insisted on carrying all things purchased.
The stations on the subway are huge caverns clad in stone tiles, supported by large columns at regular intervals - platform in the middle, tracks on each side - pretty standard subway arrangement from our experiences elsewhere. Announcements were in Chinese and English. The fare is 3Y per ride. Everything is well marked. A nice touch was the route map over the doorways on the inside of the subway car -- a flashing light comes on to show you which station you're at. We felt right at home - 2 lines, one a square around the downtown area, the other a straight line running east and west to the outer ring roads (there are 7 of these, with another under construction for the Olympics).
We left the subway and hailed a taxi for our ride to the Beijing Curio Market - cabs are always a good idea when you're not sure of the way! In Beijing, cabs come at different prices - 1.20Y per km, 1.60Y or 2.00Y, depending on the level of luxury you need. These prices are all clearly marked on the side windows. The driver sits inside a specially installed cage with plexiglass sides facing the front seat and back seat passengers. The cage is bolted to the car frame. The price to the Market was 17Y.
What a wonderful place this market is! We managed only the first 2 floors - there were 3 or 4 more which we didn't explore. Furniture, jade, pearls, brass, porcelain, enamel, silk, calligraphy, painting. Richard kept telling us that there were many fakes here and to be careful -- things we already knew, but we appreciated his concern. The price for anything is what you're willing to pay. Richard proved to be a very skilled negotiator in all of our purchases, a masterful haggler who saved us vast sums of money. At one booth, the seller was so put out that she angrily said she would never deal with Richard again. Richard took this as a great compliment. Ken told him that he could negotiate the clothes off a statue, a phrase which took considerable explaining! Ken now has in hand his own personal chop with his Chinese name - Tang Kai-en - in ancient Chinese characters. (see illustration) We also found some brass hardware for the doors at home, including two door knockers. We were much tempted to buy a dragon robe, but couldn't reach a reasonable price. Perhaps another time.
Another cab to Wangfujing, THE trendy shopping area in the downtown, only a block from Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Every upscale American and European trade name is represented here: Pierre Cardin, Yves St. Laurent, DKNY, Hermes etc. And there are lots of pseudo-American/European shops which obviously take advantage of the Chinese desire to be worldly and sophisticated. We liked "Red Coffee", a clothing store whose facade was stars arranged in the pattern of the American flag. Several huge department stores on both sides of a pedestrian only street which runs for several blocks north and south. It was jam-packed with people on holiday. Shoppers, tourists, gawkers, hawkers, people thrusting things into our hands and face. The most current item is George Bush's Deck of Cards, each one with the portrait of the Iraqis on the US hit list.
We tackled one department store, where Ken bought himself a new suit. Then we retreated to the middle of the street to think about lunch. Everyone is desperate for pizza, we find -- it's the newest rage. We scanned the storefronts around us, past the Macdonalds, Starbucks, KFC signs, and lo and behold, there was a Pizza Hut sign, so off we went to the third floor of a giant shopping mall, hot on the trail of pepperoni, cheese and green peppers. And came up against a long line-up of other people with the same idea. The staff were taking orders from those in line, hoping the time to prepare the order would match the time seats would be available inside. We retreated to the centre of the street once more.
Out came Richard's cell phone once again, calling someone else he knew who could give us some other food suggestions. Richard would be helpless without his cell, as would most Chinese -- among our friends, we've had as many as 3 on the go at the same time. We think they're born with a cell phone in hand, and they probably connect in utero! Everyone has a distinctive ring, and you can hear anything from Jingle Bells to Happy Birthday to the intro to a Mozart symphony. Keyan insisted that we get a cell phone too, because our apartment phone line is usually tied up with the computer. So we've joined the legions of people with small silver gizmos attached to one side of their faces.
Richard's "brother" (read cousin) suggested the most amazing long narrow lane of food stalls with all forms of food on a stick. We'd already had a slice of melon on a stick - very practical - and saw on all sides skewers of meat, seafood (the octopus tentacles were very exotic), snake, tofu and insect pupae. The vendors were very aggressive, yelling out what they had to offer and insisting that you come to their stall. We settled on a type of gyro, but a spicy pork, which came to us mixed with lettuce, onion and a hot sauce, all in a pita-like pocket, presented in a paper cone. 5Y each. Now, everyone had packages and bags - no mean feat to eat this concoction without putting something down. Did I tell you how crowded this lane was? There was no place to put anything. And very few places to stand. We ended up in front of a huge garbage container, not a particularly good place because everyone kept tossing sticks and empty containers past us. The food was delicious, despite the obstacles. Richard went on to have a bowl of noodles and octopus tentacles, which he ate with great relish. We opted for a container of savoury round doughnut-like balls, sprinkled with onions, which came with their own sticks for eating. They were very hot! All in all, a unique stand-up lunch, part of the custom of eating, Beijing-style.
By this time, our two young companions were ready for a change. Tiananmen Square was next on the list. We debated getting a taxi until we realized it was just down the street. Richard was wearing dress shoes and was showing signs of foot fatigue, but insisted on continuing. We turned from Wangfujing to Dongchangían Jie (East Changían St.) and walked, going past some of the most elegant 5 star hotels in the city. The Beijing Hotel and its next door neighbour, The Grand Hotel Beijing, are magnificent edifices in the Royal York tradition. These hotels, however, have been able to maintain their distance from the street, with huge colourful gardens and fountains separating them from the street noise. One has an elaborately painted Chinese ceremonial gate (pailou) through which purring BMWs glide to waiting doormen dressed in opulent livery. We noticed in our Beijing guide book the prices hit the wallet with a 5 star wallop - 2400 yuan for a double room, suites start at 3200Y just in case you're interested.
People were packed in Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace) Square - we didn't even attempt to get across the 8 lanes of traffic, but stayed on the north side of the street, where the big red gate ("men") leads to the Forbidden City compound which stretches for blocks to the north of the Square. There's a special underground walkway that gets you across the street to the Square, so it's not a matter of dodging traffic in your quest to return to "the heart of China" as the running commentary (Chinese and English) kept informing us over the loud speakers which are everywhere around this area. The Square will hold one million people and I think they were all there this afternoon. Ken's pictures of this area suggest a romantic misty atmosphere and you may think he's being arty with a soft focus. No such thing! You're looking at Beijing pollution, which was very thick this day. When I looked down the street in either direction, I could barely see the nearest traffic lights, only a city block away. Everything just fades into smog. The city claims all this air pollution will be no more by 2008.
Our companions, both in their early 20s, were bagged. We made them sit on a curb while we looked around and took some pictures. We bought 4 ice cream bars on sticks (of course) and watched the crowds go by - entire families from all over China, small flags for every child, even some Westerners looking distinctly out of place in their back packs, shorts and hiking boots. Westerners greet each other with great surprise, because we are so few and far between. Here we met Australians and Americans. In Chengde we met two American women teaching in Inner Mongolia - even Keyan thought this was a tough assignment!
Back we came on the subway to Dongzhimen Station where a #916 bus was waiting, and so back to Huairou, a trip similar in highways and scenery to travelling by bus between Toronto and Hamilton on the QEW (except for the bicycles and putt-putt 3 wheeled trucks). We left Richard staggering on sore feet to the nearest ATM for a Y-refill. Unpacking our purchases at home, I realized Ken had been the big spender. My only expenditures had been 4 ice cream bars and 4 bus tickets - very odd for me!
Best of all, of course, is that we now know how to get from here to there on our own - no taxi ride, no hotel, no guides!
Click here to view photos of Ken & Judy's day in Beijing.
As you've read in past reports, we've been to Beijing twice, both business trips initiated by the school to have medical check ups and get the special Z working visas we need for our year here. But we had not ventured there on our own steam, to do the things WE wanted to do!
We had spent some time figuring out the best way to attack this major city of 16M people, realizing that we would be unable to read the Chinese character signs. We had decided to book a hotel and hire a guide and driver for a day. We also thought we would hire a taxi to drive us from Huairou to Beijing. All of this is expensive, but a safe way to make our initial foray. We had pored over the guide book and the city map, trying to absorb as much info as we could before we went. We thought we were ready!
How differently events unfolded. How glad we are that they did! Yesterday (Monday) was THE DAY! But not on our own, not in a taxi and not overnight -- in fact, not anything that we had carefully planned.
Our Chinese friends are most solicitous of our well being, and Richard graciously accompanied us, saying many times that it was his pleasure. Where did we want to go? Ken said an antique market, I said a shopping area. No problem (mei wen ti). Did we want to sight see? Well, if there was time. No problem. He would pick us up at 6:45 am, because catching the early bus meant there would be fewer people on board, and we would miss the Beijing rush hour (which is total gridlock, we've learned from previous experiences. This is definitely an area which the government is working on with the pressure of the 2008 Olympics pushing things ahead.)
We flagged down the yellow #916 bus at the corner, found seats and were on our way. There's a ticket lady on the bus who comes around once you're seated and takes your money. A very sensible arrangement, we think - gets rid of the bus station and the ticket wicket in one fell swoop -- 8Yper person one way. The bus filled up as we made our way to the city. There were several scheduled stops, the final one being Dongzhimen, a northern point on one of the two subway lines in the city. Here, we met Richard's friend, a policeman in Huairou who knew something about antiques and where to find them. So, we were a party of four -- two who were buying and two who insisted on carrying all things purchased.
The stations on the subway are huge caverns clad in stone tiles, supported by large columns at regular intervals - platform in the middle, tracks on each side - pretty standard subway arrangement from our experiences elsewhere. Announcements were in Chinese and English. The fare is 3Y per ride. Everything is well marked. A nice touch was the route map over the doorways on the inside of the subway car -- a flashing light comes on to show you which station you're at. We felt right at home - 2 lines, one a square around the downtown area, the other a straight line running east and west to the outer ring roads (there are 7 of these, with another under construction for the Olympics).
We left the subway and hailed a taxi for our ride to the Beijing Curio Market - cabs are always a good idea when you're not sure of the way! In Beijing, cabs come at different prices - 1.20Y per km, 1.60Y or 2.00Y, depending on the level of luxury you need. These prices are all clearly marked on the side windows. The driver sits inside a specially installed cage with plexiglass sides facing the front seat and back seat passengers. The cage is bolted to the car frame. The price to the Market was 17Y.
What a wonderful place this market is! We managed only the first 2 floors - there were 3 or 4 more which we didn't explore. Furniture, jade, pearls, brass, porcelain, enamel, silk, calligraphy, painting. Richard kept telling us that there were many fakes here and to be careful -- things we already knew, but we appreciated his concern. The price for anything is what you're willing to pay. Richard proved to be a very skilled negotiator in all of our purchases, a masterful haggler who saved us vast sums of money. At one booth, the seller was so put out that she angrily said she would never deal with Richard again. Richard took this as a great compliment. Ken told him that he could negotiate the clothes off a statue, a phrase which took considerable explaining! Ken now has in hand his own personal chop with his Chinese name - Tang Kai-en - in ancient Chinese characters. (see illustration) We also found some brass hardware for the doors at home, including two door knockers. We were much tempted to buy a dragon robe, but couldn't reach a reasonable price. Perhaps another time.
Another cab to Wangfujing, THE trendy shopping area in the downtown, only a block from Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Every upscale American and European trade name is represented here: Pierre Cardin, Yves St. Laurent, DKNY, Hermes etc. And there are lots of pseudo-American/European shops which obviously take advantage of the Chinese desire to be worldly and sophisticated. We liked "Red Coffee", a clothing store whose facade was stars arranged in the pattern of the American flag. Several huge department stores on both sides of a pedestrian only street which runs for several blocks north and south. It was jam-packed with people on holiday. Shoppers, tourists, gawkers, hawkers, people thrusting things into our hands and face. The most current item is George Bush's Deck of Cards, each one with the portrait of the Iraqis on the US hit list.
We tackled one department store, where Ken bought himself a new suit. Then we retreated to the middle of the street to think about lunch. Everyone is desperate for pizza, we find -- it's the newest rage. We scanned the storefronts around us, past the Macdonalds, Starbucks, KFC signs, and lo and behold, there was a Pizza Hut sign, so off we went to the third floor of a giant shopping mall, hot on the trail of pepperoni, cheese and green peppers. And came up against a long line-up of other people with the same idea. The staff were taking orders from those in line, hoping the time to prepare the order would match the time seats would be available inside. We retreated to the centre of the street once more.
Out came Richard's cell phone once again, calling someone else he knew who could give us some other food suggestions. Richard would be helpless without his cell, as would most Chinese -- among our friends, we've had as many as 3 on the go at the same time. We think they're born with a cell phone in hand, and they probably connect in utero! Everyone has a distinctive ring, and you can hear anything from Jingle Bells to Happy Birthday to the intro to a Mozart symphony. Keyan insisted that we get a cell phone too, because our apartment phone line is usually tied up with the computer. So we've joined the legions of people with small silver gizmos attached to one side of their faces.
Richard's "brother" (read cousin) suggested the most amazing long narrow lane of food stalls with all forms of food on a stick. We'd already had a slice of melon on a stick - very practical - and saw on all sides skewers of meat, seafood (the octopus tentacles were very exotic), snake, tofu and insect pupae. The vendors were very aggressive, yelling out what they had to offer and insisting that you come to their stall. We settled on a type of gyro, but a spicy pork, which came to us mixed with lettuce, onion and a hot sauce, all in a pita-like pocket, presented in a paper cone. 5Y each. Now, everyone had packages and bags - no mean feat to eat this concoction without putting something down. Did I tell you how crowded this lane was? There was no place to put anything. And very few places to stand. We ended up in front of a huge garbage container, not a particularly good place because everyone kept tossing sticks and empty containers past us. The food was delicious, despite the obstacles. Richard went on to have a bowl of noodles and octopus tentacles, which he ate with great relish. We opted for a container of savoury round doughnut-like balls, sprinkled with onions, which came with their own sticks for eating. They were very hot! All in all, a unique stand-up lunch, part of the custom of eating, Beijing-style.
By this time, our two young companions were ready for a change. Tiananmen Square was next on the list. We debated getting a taxi until we realized it was just down the street. Richard was wearing dress shoes and was showing signs of foot fatigue, but insisted on continuing. We turned from Wangfujing to Dongchangían Jie (East Changían St.) and walked, going past some of the most elegant 5 star hotels in the city. The Beijing Hotel and its next door neighbour, The Grand Hotel Beijing, are magnificent edifices in the Royal York tradition. These hotels, however, have been able to maintain their distance from the street, with huge colourful gardens and fountains separating them from the street noise. One has an elaborately painted Chinese ceremonial gate (pailou) through which purring BMWs glide to waiting doormen dressed in opulent livery. We noticed in our Beijing guide book the prices hit the wallet with a 5 star wallop - 2400 yuan for a double room, suites start at 3200Y just in case you're interested.
People were packed in Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace) Square - we didn't even attempt to get across the 8 lanes of traffic, but stayed on the north side of the street, where the big red gate ("men") leads to the Forbidden City compound which stretches for blocks to the north of the Square. There's a special underground walkway that gets you across the street to the Square, so it's not a matter of dodging traffic in your quest to return to "the heart of China" as the running commentary (Chinese and English) kept informing us over the loud speakers which are everywhere around this area. The Square will hold one million people and I think they were all there this afternoon. Ken's pictures of this area suggest a romantic misty atmosphere and you may think he's being arty with a soft focus. No such thing! You're looking at Beijing pollution, which was very thick this day. When I looked down the street in either direction, I could barely see the nearest traffic lights, only a city block away. Everything just fades into smog. The city claims all this air pollution will be no more by 2008.
Our companions, both in their early 20s, were bagged. We made them sit on a curb while we looked around and took some pictures. We bought 4 ice cream bars on sticks (of course) and watched the crowds go by - entire families from all over China, small flags for every child, even some Westerners looking distinctly out of place in their back packs, shorts and hiking boots. Westerners greet each other with great surprise, because we are so few and far between. Here we met Australians and Americans. In Chengde we met two American women teaching in Inner Mongolia - even Keyan thought this was a tough assignment!
Back we came on the subway to Dongzhimen Station where a #916 bus was waiting, and so back to Huairou, a trip similar in highways and scenery to travelling by bus between Toronto and Hamilton on the QEW (except for the bicycles and putt-putt 3 wheeled trucks). We left Richard staggering on sore feet to the nearest ATM for a Y-refill. Unpacking our purchases at home, I realized Ken had been the big spender. My only expenditures had been 4 ice cream bars and 4 bus tickets - very odd for me!
Best of all, of course, is that we now know how to get from here to there on our own - no taxi ride, no hotel, no guides!
Sunday, October 05, 2003
GOING TO CHENGDE
Click here to view photos of Ken & Judy's trip to Chengde.
This adventure starts with our meeting one of Keyan's former students, a delightful 21 year old young man who is currently completing his 4th year of studies in Economics at a university in Wuhan. He plans to get his MBA from Cambridge, and needs to pass the International English Language Test System (IELTS) exam with at least a 7.5 score to be allowed to come to the UK to study. He's home for the holiday, and called Keyan to see if she would help him improve his spoken English. She of course, mentioned us and said she would ask us if we would help. We were delighted. We met Keyan and her student, whom we've christened Richard, one night for dinner, and arranged to access the information for the test on line (there's tons of stuff on the site) and to meet him to plan strategies for passing the exam.
This is a big 7- day holiday period in China, beginning October 1 which is National Day and extending for a week. No school, everyone out buying goods and/or travelling. We expressed an interest in going to Chengde, which is the second most complete site of ancient buildings in China. The buildings include The Mountain Resort for Escaping the Heat, a summer palace built (1703 to 1792) by the Qing (Ching) dynasty rulers as an escape from the stifling heat of the Beijing summer. The area is very mountainous, the air is fresh and the breezes gentle and cool. Our wish occasioned many generous responses from several people. As often happens, the arrangements were intricate and events happened within events within events --this made it all the more fascinating. In North America, this is networking, but we have a long way to go to reach the refinement and finesse of Chinese networking.
Unfortunately our host, Richard's dad, a key education administrator, wasn't able to come with us, but he arranged for a car and driver for us and Keyan, and for a school bus for the other 17 people who came along, including Richard, of course. On the bus were cousins and their wives and children (2 little girls aged 9 and 8, and a baby girl 4 months old), a daughter of the principal whose school bus it was, some officials acting on the Chair's behalf, a woman who works in the Education Exam Centre in Huairou and her mother, and an army guy, for good measure. All were related in some way. We were a wonderful caravan, all under the impeccable good Chinese manners of our surrogate host, Richard, and our friend Keyan, who could not do enough to make sure we were comfortable and well looked after. We were booked in to the Mountain Villa Hotel, a venerable old building in the Russian style, situated in downtown Chengde, again courtesy of Richard's father. This hotel is licensed to host foreigners and other dignitaries (some hotels can't accept non-Chinese). The hotel is directly across the street from the Mountain Resort, which we certainly appreciated when we dragged ourselves back from several hours exploring the huge site.
It's a 4 hour drive to Chengde and we couldn't leave until we'd finished our classes on Tuesday afternoon. Most of the drive was made in the dark, but we could tell that we were going up mountains and down into valleys most of the way. The next morning, we could see that we were in a city surrounded by mountains. The city is nestled in a long narrow valley, where it spreads out along a picturesque river. What we saw confirmed what everyone had told us -- Chengde is a lovely, scenic place to visit.
We spent two days being tourists with our own tour group, 19 Chinese of assorted ages and 2 Canadians! What fun we had! We were always waiting for someone, or losing someone, or the tour guide lost us or we him, but everything unfolded with easy good cheer and lots of laughter. It turned out that everyone else stayed at an army base where Richard had a good friend, who saw that everything moved in an orderly manner, sort of like being on manoeuvres. At times it was as difficult as herding cats.
The Qing (Ching) emperors were Manchu, and very interested in enlarging and consolidating their empire. They saw religion as a way to accomplish this, and built many Buddhist temples in an effort to woo peoples to the west, especially Tibet, into joining them. There are 8 huge temple complexes built outside the walls which enclose the Mountain Resort, each built in imitation of an existing famous Buddhist complex. [This is called architectural diplomacy.] On our first morning, we visited the most famous of these, The Temple of Universal Peace, built in the style of Tibet's oldest Buddhist monastery. The most amazing building was a huge hall which housed a 22m (that's 66 feet for us old guys!) high statue of Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy. She is carved entirely of wood, has too many sets of arms to count, all gracefully fanned out around her, each hand holding a significant symbol. We were able to climb several flights of stairs -- the major feature of our two days in Chengde, since everything is built up the side of one hill or another -- for a closer look at parts of her, and were utterly amazed at the detail and skill of the sculptors who had created her. We burned incense to the Buddha and asked for good luck and happiness for our family -- and generally did all the tourist things, including dressing up as Emperor and Empress and swanning around an inner courtyard, much to the amusement of our Chinese friends.
In the afternoon we toured the Mountain Resort, which truly is a sanctuary, serene and cool. The architecture is simple post and beam construction in wood, with highly decorated eaves, roof tiles and ridge pole crests. Apart from the Resort buildings, there are several lakes, pagodas and other pavilions, and a village of Mongolian yurts (altho these look suspiciously like concrete, not the traditional felt construction!) A wall similar in design to the Great Wall, runs around the entire complex, enclosing a miniature world of mountains and valleys, forests and meadows, lakes and rivers - the emperors' vast kingdom made small. The grass is lush green and gardens of hostas nestle under sighing pines. In other areas, colourful arrangements of potted mums emphasize the lines of a walkway or surround a major entrance. We took a tour in an open-sided bus (40Y per person) around the site, a hair-raising trip akin to riding a roller coaster. We chugged up steep hills with the ground falling away alarmingly on either side, only to reach a hair pin turn at the top and come careening down, the distinct possibility of this being the end of our lives racing through our heads. However, the driver was quite skilled, and we spent a wonderful hour viewing the emperors' domains, stopping at the best views along the way.
That evening we had a raucous Chinese meal with so many people that we needed a room with two tables. Everyone was intent on having a good time celebrating China's National Day. There were endless toasts to Canada and to China, and to both countries, and to friendships and welcomes to their families, and again and again! The custom is to down the entire glass - fortunately we were all drinking beer, which lessened the general damage considerably. The food kept coming - various vegetable dishes, fish, chicken, pork several ways, meat filled pancakes, noodles, soup, rice - the tables were groaning! Two cases of large beer bottles (640 ml) emptied very quickly. By then, the women had started drinking tea, but the men continued to toast each other. Stand up, sit down, move from one table to the other, all the time protesting the extravagance of the toasts. We had the impression that we were speaking much better Chinese; our Chinese friends found an amazing assortment of English expressions. It was all great fun. We were treated just like family.
At 8:00 the next morning, we were off once again, this time to visit two temples. The day was complicated somewhat by a mechanical problem with the VW sedan assigned to us. It would not start without a push. So every time we were ready to move on, several volunteers crowded to the rear of the car, and when the driver gave the signal, they pushed mightily until the engine caught. Then we climbed in and were on our way again. The Potala Temple is a huge complex built in the style of a palace complex in the centre of Lhasa, meant to please Mongols who came to wish the emperor a happy 60th birthday. Diplomacy by architecture once again. More stairs, more wonderful views of the interior and the surrounding countryside. Here there were two costumed performances with dancing and music, meant to represent events which would have taken place 200 years before. At its centre, this temple has a triple-galleried courtyard of red columns which is magnificent, and was the site of one of the performances. At this temple there is a special area where lovers can buy a lock, have their names engraved on it, and then attach it to a chain fence which runs around a grotto. Nothing would dissuade our friends from buying a lock for us. In this the year of their 40th wedding anniversary, Ken and Judy have now declared their united love at the Potala Temple in Chengde, in both English and Chinese. (BTW, our Chinese names are Tang Kai-en and Tang Zhu-de.) Our final stop was the Temple of Happiness and Longevity, where we saw the beautiful and sinuous gilded dragons decorating all ridges of the roof of a central hall.
All of this made us very hungry for lunch. We must have climbed thousands of stairs over the 36 hours we toured Chengde. With additional guests, our party was too large for one table and one room, so we spilled over to two. Along with delicious dishes of every kind, we also had sweet potato chunks cooked in sugar syrup, and bananas cooked in the same way. They arrived hot and gooey - the trick was to lift some with chopsticks and immediately dip the morsels into cold water so that the sugar became brittle. Very tasty. Lunch ended abruptly when I locked myself into the restaurant bathroom. Everyone had a different way of getting me out, but finally a waiter wrenched the door knob out of its hole and I was freed - a 10 minute ordeal which I found hilarious, as did Ken who tried hard not to laugh out loud as he watched several unsuccessful attempts unfold until brute force won the day. The restaurant manager was full of apologies, but appreciated my good humour.
With a final push of the car, we were on our way back to Huairou. We spent the afternoon driving through endless mountains, with a breathtaking view around every curve in the road. As darkness descended on Huairou, we arrived at our apartment, very pleased with ourselves for having walked endless stairs, feeling a good deal closer to the Buddha, having visited a number of his very impressive precincts and been made aware of how thoroughly Chinese this Indian mystic had become.
Click here to view photos of Ken & Judy's trip to Chengde.
This adventure starts with our meeting one of Keyan's former students, a delightful 21 year old young man who is currently completing his 4th year of studies in Economics at a university in Wuhan. He plans to get his MBA from Cambridge, and needs to pass the International English Language Test System (IELTS) exam with at least a 7.5 score to be allowed to come to the UK to study. He's home for the holiday, and called Keyan to see if she would help him improve his spoken English. She of course, mentioned us and said she would ask us if we would help. We were delighted. We met Keyan and her student, whom we've christened Richard, one night for dinner, and arranged to access the information for the test on line (there's tons of stuff on the site) and to meet him to plan strategies for passing the exam.
This is a big 7- day holiday period in China, beginning October 1 which is National Day and extending for a week. No school, everyone out buying goods and/or travelling. We expressed an interest in going to Chengde, which is the second most complete site of ancient buildings in China. The buildings include The Mountain Resort for Escaping the Heat, a summer palace built (1703 to 1792) by the Qing (Ching) dynasty rulers as an escape from the stifling heat of the Beijing summer. The area is very mountainous, the air is fresh and the breezes gentle and cool. Our wish occasioned many generous responses from several people. As often happens, the arrangements were intricate and events happened within events within events --this made it all the more fascinating. In North America, this is networking, but we have a long way to go to reach the refinement and finesse of Chinese networking.
Unfortunately our host, Richard's dad, a key education administrator, wasn't able to come with us, but he arranged for a car and driver for us and Keyan, and for a school bus for the other 17 people who came along, including Richard, of course. On the bus were cousins and their wives and children (2 little girls aged 9 and 8, and a baby girl 4 months old), a daughter of the principal whose school bus it was, some officials acting on the Chair's behalf, a woman who works in the Education Exam Centre in Huairou and her mother, and an army guy, for good measure. All were related in some way. We were a wonderful caravan, all under the impeccable good Chinese manners of our surrogate host, Richard, and our friend Keyan, who could not do enough to make sure we were comfortable and well looked after. We were booked in to the Mountain Villa Hotel, a venerable old building in the Russian style, situated in downtown Chengde, again courtesy of Richard's father. This hotel is licensed to host foreigners and other dignitaries (some hotels can't accept non-Chinese). The hotel is directly across the street from the Mountain Resort, which we certainly appreciated when we dragged ourselves back from several hours exploring the huge site.
It's a 4 hour drive to Chengde and we couldn't leave until we'd finished our classes on Tuesday afternoon. Most of the drive was made in the dark, but we could tell that we were going up mountains and down into valleys most of the way. The next morning, we could see that we were in a city surrounded by mountains. The city is nestled in a long narrow valley, where it spreads out along a picturesque river. What we saw confirmed what everyone had told us -- Chengde is a lovely, scenic place to visit.
We spent two days being tourists with our own tour group, 19 Chinese of assorted ages and 2 Canadians! What fun we had! We were always waiting for someone, or losing someone, or the tour guide lost us or we him, but everything unfolded with easy good cheer and lots of laughter. It turned out that everyone else stayed at an army base where Richard had a good friend, who saw that everything moved in an orderly manner, sort of like being on manoeuvres. At times it was as difficult as herding cats.
The Qing (Ching) emperors were Manchu, and very interested in enlarging and consolidating their empire. They saw religion as a way to accomplish this, and built many Buddhist temples in an effort to woo peoples to the west, especially Tibet, into joining them. There are 8 huge temple complexes built outside the walls which enclose the Mountain Resort, each built in imitation of an existing famous Buddhist complex. [This is called architectural diplomacy.] On our first morning, we visited the most famous of these, The Temple of Universal Peace, built in the style of Tibet's oldest Buddhist monastery. The most amazing building was a huge hall which housed a 22m (that's 66 feet for us old guys!) high statue of Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy. She is carved entirely of wood, has too many sets of arms to count, all gracefully fanned out around her, each hand holding a significant symbol. We were able to climb several flights of stairs -- the major feature of our two days in Chengde, since everything is built up the side of one hill or another -- for a closer look at parts of her, and were utterly amazed at the detail and skill of the sculptors who had created her. We burned incense to the Buddha and asked for good luck and happiness for our family -- and generally did all the tourist things, including dressing up as Emperor and Empress and swanning around an inner courtyard, much to the amusement of our Chinese friends.
In the afternoon we toured the Mountain Resort, which truly is a sanctuary, serene and cool. The architecture is simple post and beam construction in wood, with highly decorated eaves, roof tiles and ridge pole crests. Apart from the Resort buildings, there are several lakes, pagodas and other pavilions, and a village of Mongolian yurts (altho these look suspiciously like concrete, not the traditional felt construction!) A wall similar in design to the Great Wall, runs around the entire complex, enclosing a miniature world of mountains and valleys, forests and meadows, lakes and rivers - the emperors' vast kingdom made small. The grass is lush green and gardens of hostas nestle under sighing pines. In other areas, colourful arrangements of potted mums emphasize the lines of a walkway or surround a major entrance. We took a tour in an open-sided bus (40Y per person) around the site, a hair-raising trip akin to riding a roller coaster. We chugged up steep hills with the ground falling away alarmingly on either side, only to reach a hair pin turn at the top and come careening down, the distinct possibility of this being the end of our lives racing through our heads. However, the driver was quite skilled, and we spent a wonderful hour viewing the emperors' domains, stopping at the best views along the way.
That evening we had a raucous Chinese meal with so many people that we needed a room with two tables. Everyone was intent on having a good time celebrating China's National Day. There were endless toasts to Canada and to China, and to both countries, and to friendships and welcomes to their families, and again and again! The custom is to down the entire glass - fortunately we were all drinking beer, which lessened the general damage considerably. The food kept coming - various vegetable dishes, fish, chicken, pork several ways, meat filled pancakes, noodles, soup, rice - the tables were groaning! Two cases of large beer bottles (640 ml) emptied very quickly. By then, the women had started drinking tea, but the men continued to toast each other. Stand up, sit down, move from one table to the other, all the time protesting the extravagance of the toasts. We had the impression that we were speaking much better Chinese; our Chinese friends found an amazing assortment of English expressions. It was all great fun. We were treated just like family.
At 8:00 the next morning, we were off once again, this time to visit two temples. The day was complicated somewhat by a mechanical problem with the VW sedan assigned to us. It would not start without a push. So every time we were ready to move on, several volunteers crowded to the rear of the car, and when the driver gave the signal, they pushed mightily until the engine caught. Then we climbed in and were on our way again. The Potala Temple is a huge complex built in the style of a palace complex in the centre of Lhasa, meant to please Mongols who came to wish the emperor a happy 60th birthday. Diplomacy by architecture once again. More stairs, more wonderful views of the interior and the surrounding countryside. Here there were two costumed performances with dancing and music, meant to represent events which would have taken place 200 years before. At its centre, this temple has a triple-galleried courtyard of red columns which is magnificent, and was the site of one of the performances. At this temple there is a special area where lovers can buy a lock, have their names engraved on it, and then attach it to a chain fence which runs around a grotto. Nothing would dissuade our friends from buying a lock for us. In this the year of their 40th wedding anniversary, Ken and Judy have now declared their united love at the Potala Temple in Chengde, in both English and Chinese. (BTW, our Chinese names are Tang Kai-en and Tang Zhu-de.) Our final stop was the Temple of Happiness and Longevity, where we saw the beautiful and sinuous gilded dragons decorating all ridges of the roof of a central hall.
All of this made us very hungry for lunch. We must have climbed thousands of stairs over the 36 hours we toured Chengde. With additional guests, our party was too large for one table and one room, so we spilled over to two. Along with delicious dishes of every kind, we also had sweet potato chunks cooked in sugar syrup, and bananas cooked in the same way. They arrived hot and gooey - the trick was to lift some with chopsticks and immediately dip the morsels into cold water so that the sugar became brittle. Very tasty. Lunch ended abruptly when I locked myself into the restaurant bathroom. Everyone had a different way of getting me out, but finally a waiter wrenched the door knob out of its hole and I was freed - a 10 minute ordeal which I found hilarious, as did Ken who tried hard not to laugh out loud as he watched several unsuccessful attempts unfold until brute force won the day. The restaurant manager was full of apologies, but appreciated my good humour.
With a final push of the car, we were on our way back to Huairou. We spent the afternoon driving through endless mountains, with a breathtaking view around every curve in the road. As darkness descended on Huairou, we arrived at our apartment, very pleased with ourselves for having walked endless stairs, feeling a good deal closer to the Buddha, having visited a number of his very impressive precincts and been made aware of how thoroughly Chinese this Indian mystic had become.
All text and photography © copyright Harkaway, 2003 - 2004
