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25 October – 6 November
1990
A very comfortable
voyage in a hard sleeper carriage. We are in company with Suzan (English) and Steve (Canadian). They arrived in Shanghai by
boat from Hong Kong, visited Huangshan where they lost taking a wrong road at a crossing point. It was very foggy they say.
Trembling along of coldness and fright they came out a village. It took them two days to reach Shanghai. We listen carefully
their adventures; so they do hearing ours. Time pasts so fast we don’t believe we are at the end of the 1.462 km journey.
Ten days are left to visit Peking and its surroundings.
No problem to take the bus to Ciao Yuan Hotel the one we stayed at 37 days ago arriving from Belgrade. A free room in the
new building is a present!
On the top of our list “to visit” is the Imperial Palace called Forbidden City because it was off-limits
for 500 years. Passing the Supreme Harmony Gate I feel something like entering in a
taboo world. Hardly sixty years ago the admission price was the instant death. We are in an immense courtyard where
raise great halls which were used for imperial ceremonies. Looking around I think I know the place…a music recurs to my mind…it’s the theme of “The
Last Emperor”! I remove at the time when the Tsars reigned protected from the common people...
We move between imposing halls, marvelous marble bridges,
bronze incense burners, the large bronze turtle symbol of longevity and yet many strange relics of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Here like in Suzhou denominations are particularly enigmatic and sound admirably.
Some of them: Hall of Supreme Harmony -
Hall of Preserving Harmony - Palace
of Heavenly Purity - Palace of Earthly
Tranquility - Palace of Peaceful
Old Age - Palace of Eternal Spring……..
Lama Temple
Though we saw numerous temples till now we have to
visit the Lama Temple, the most renowned Tibetan Buddhist temple in China built in 1694. We explore its beautiful gardens,
stunning frescoes, tapestries, and carpentry. I feel so well among the Mongol monks, hearing the sound of little bells and
gongs. The smoke emanating from the yak-butter lamps transports me for a while to Tibet.
Here we meet again Suzan and Steve, moved just like we are. Our latest experiences related, we go on continuing our
pilgrimage.
On
the Street and Cooking
Peking is not only a city-temple, a city-palace, not at all. We even prefer to wander up and down the streets among
the common people. We note there are neither beggars, neither tramps, neither drunkards, nor rubbish however here live a ten
million of inhabitants and daily 250.000 Chinese tourists visit the town.
Small run kitchens on the street attract me particularly. I have to taste all their specialties. The corn-wafers with
sesame seeds are delicious; candied fruit perched on sticks too, fritters…and other Chinese knick-knacks. We usually
have dinner at a snack where lines of people are waiting to buy tickets. Sometimes hesitating what to order they take us to
the kitchen where simply we have to point out the dishes we want.
Taste the Peking duck is a particular story. They serve it up in specialized restaurants.
We stay in a row and pay 50 Yuan (about 10$) for both of us. Dinner begins when no more free place. We sit in the company
of ten Chinese tourists around one of the numerous turning-tables. Nothing to order, it will be the same for everybody. It
begins with cold appetizers: cold liver with very small boiled corn, fine sliced roasted duck meat, crispy skin wrapped in
thin pancakes; follow hot appetizers: black mushrooms, bamboo’s shoots in plum sauce, salad made of cucumber peel, two
hot sauces and then a half (or whole) warm duck roasted over a fruitwood fire. It’s really delicious. A duck soup is served at the end “to wash the food down”!
The Mongolian hotpot is also one of our favorites.
In a brass pot on the table we cook strips of lamb meat and vegetables just like the fondue fashion. We have the opportunity
to experience it in a young company what’s very amusing.
The Great Wall
The last days are coming. It’s time to visit “Wan Li Chang
Chen” which we know as “The Great Wall”. Great indeed since it’s 10.000 li (5000 km) long. A bus takes
us to Badaling, 70 km northwest of Peking, crossing a campaign cultivated with vegetables, cereals, rice…no industries.
Excitation begins when at the horizon appears something like a stone lace between the mounts Badaling.
Here we are, walking along that famous construction
I have seen so many times on pictures and TV having no idea I’ll be there some day! It’s a lovely sunny day to
admire the work which started at the second century BC when reigned Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi whose army we visited in Xian.
Impressing is the surrounding seeing the wall stretching like a dragon among the mountains which extend far away; some peaks
reach 1000 m. Proud we are leaving the symbol of Zhongguo (China) what means “The Center of the World”, the last
but one trophy of our adventure.
Summer Palace
We choose the Summer Palace (Yi He yuan) for a “good
bye China”. The palace is situated in an immense park, 20 km from the center. The Emperors used it since 1153 as a summer
residence, an escape from the ferocious heat. Empress Cixi (Tsen hi) who reigned from 1881 to 1908 named it “Garden
of Harmony”.
First of all we go toward Kunming Lake with its 17-arch
bridge. Along the lake we enter the Long Corridor (700m) decorated with mythical scenes. Here are landscapes of Hangzhou,
its lake and hills where my mind returns for a while. At the end of the gallery a path leads to a temple at the top of a hill.
From here we have a splendid view of the garden in green and early autumn colors around the lake with two beautiful white
stone bridges. How nice look the glazed tiles of a temple twinkling on the sun.
Back to the lake we taste a fish, fished in the lake, in an ancient theatre turned into a restaurant. Exploring further
we discover a place with some pretty pavilions around a pond. They say the Empress came here to rest in calms and harmonies
of the garden. So we do, meditating on the unforgettable moments in this country.
Invisibly bonds keep us on the lake. The sun is setting
down. Smiling children leaning on my shoulder look curiously at the words I am writing on my notebook. I feel melancholy thinking
of the return.
The plane takes off…..soon we are high in the
air…..China is yet far behind us but visions…..Chengdu, Leshan, Yangtze, Huangshan, smiling faces…. mingle
with melodious airs and I think perhaps…I dreamed!
Comment
jeanette@sbb.co.yu
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