Days 8-12 basically consisted of work work work so I wont bore you with the details there… leading us to Saturday 11th, my 13th day on the other side of the world! Today I went to Beihai Park, an imperial garden northwest of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Containing a huge man-made lake with an island in the centre and landscaped gardens, the park contains some interesting Buddhist artifacts, an impressive dragon screen (to ward off evil spirits) and an assortment of older people doing Thai Chi and practicing calligraphy on the pavement!
All in all, a nice place for a leisurely stroll! More photos here.
No pictures but instead a curious bit of Chinese history:
“For a man to think forwards he must first look from where he came“, or so wrote the renowned philosopher Da Wei (literal translation: “Hungry Stomach”) in his letter to the forth Emperor of the Wang Dynasty (A.D. 1279-1368). In his letter Da Wei lays out a controversial new theory of cognitive thought, later to become the foundation of neo-classical culture in China. Whilst it was not unusual for the royal family to consult established members of intelligentsia this was almost exclusively a one-way process - they went to you, you never went to them.
Enraged by his indiscretion the Emperor Yan declared the work as “Foreign Devilry” and ordered her imperial guard to assassinate Da Wei. This select detachment of cavalry officers consisted of around 400 guards but of real note were the 4000 specially trained dogs which terrorized the local population during this period; hence the proverb “Killing the dog does not heal the bite“. Forewarned by Hmong-Mien sympathizers (an ethnic minority) of the impending ambush Da Wei fled Nanjing (the former capital of China) to what is now Beijing.
After pursing Da Wei for over 900km the dogs were said to become weary and many died of exhaustion. At this point the trail goes cold and Da Wei disappears into the fog of history. Later rumors report that he became a Buddhist monk whilst others suggest that he lost his mind and spent the rest of his days wandering the Mentougou Mountains incoherently muttering to himself. Whatever the truth of his demise escaping 4000 killer canines was quite a feat!
On our way back from the Great Wall we stopped of at the Ming Dynasty Tombs. After entering through the “Great Red Gate” (housing a giant stone turtle!) you are led down a tranquil avenue called the “Spirit Way” lined with large stone statues of animals and figures. It’s a really nice place to get away from the craziness of the city centre but I imagine it would be even better when the tress are in blossom!
The photo above shows a carving of a writhing dragon atop a stone column. These mythical beasts called hou were thought to report to the emperor. Even today there is a strange air about the place of power and mystery stopped in hundreds of years history!
As if visiting one World Heritage Site in a weekend wasn’t enough on Sunday myself and some colleagues headed for the Great Wall of China. No introduction needed here; if you don’t know what it is then it’s probably time to go back to school!
We went to the restored Badaling section of the wall which is not far from Beijing - here you can walk in either direction. Upon arrival we were mugged a rather lively mob of Chinese school girls who proceeded to insist on taking a million photos with us - I guess this is what it feels like to be a minor celebrity (or in this case just white!). After escaping them we proceeded along the wall which amazingly weaves it always along seemingly impossible ridges - how they every built it is a real marvel. In many places you are practically climbing up/down the stone walkways at some fair perilous inclines, one false step here and it’ll be the last you ever make!
Both young and old could be seen making the pillgrimage along the wall and it was refreshing not to be restricted by any rediculous health & safety laws which would most certainly make this impossible in the UK without ruining the experience.
I arrived back to my hotel tonight to a barrage of fireworks directly outside the main entrance. These weren’t orderly controlled fireworks but a bunch of the hotel staff randomly throwing them on the pavement outside… on a busy road… with lots of people walking past! These weren’t your run of the mill garden fireworks either, they were louder than anything I’ve heard before - my ears are still ringing two hours later (probably didn’t do them any good either)! I watched for a while standing outside strategically behind a group of bystanders and was frankly amazed that nobody lost an eye!
Here’s a short video I took (with mobile) of some of the standing fireworks, what you don’t see are the crazy huge bangers in long strings which came later! Hopefully there should be some more around the city as it gets closer to the Spring Festival next week.
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