Friday, May 29, 2009
This is my last weekend on this trip. Can't believe I've been here three weekends.. Way too long for a person to be in another country. I am homesick already.
This week I have Bob and Jane with me. Bob and Jane are great people to work with - sharp, fun, witty and totally over the top. Eric and Kevin - my other two friends have gone back to the US. Kevin left with a bad case of bronchitis, Eric - well I think Eric got some ear-chewing from me. Haven't heard back from him, though I have talked to Kevin since. He's on antibiotics and in the loving arms of his family... he'll be alright!
Bob decided to go solo this Saturday, so Jane and I met for a leisurely breakfast. We decided to go to the Summer Palace. This was one place I'd been told was a must-see. I was holding it back for my next trip, but then, what was I supposed to do all day? I was waiting on some production runs to happen in the afternoon. Figured I could take the morning off.
So Jane and I headed out to the Palace. It lies to the West of the city of Beijing and covers over 290 hectares and surrounds the Kunming Lake. The word Palace is a misnomer. The whole thing is what in the US/Canada would have been called a state park. Acres of land, with walks, and palaces and theaters and pagodas. We took a taxi to the Summer palace. Now, if you want to go sightseeing in Beijing, plan on reaching there by 8:30 am. It’s a lot less crowded. As we came up to the palace, we saw hordes of people - tourists, like us - headed towards the gate. A full access ticket costs about 60 RMB or $9-and-change, because certain parts require special tickets to enter. We bought the full-access tickets and moving along through the hordes of clicking tourists, Jane and I entered the park. We'd bought a map at the ticket counter too. It was an artistic map that marked all the different palaces and temples and bridges, painted in the light, delicate brush strokes of Chinese artwork. All the names were poetic and a little 'fumbly' - they don’t flow fluently off the tongue. If you go to the numerous pictures of the summer palace on the web, you will see that the whole area is architected to blend in with the lush, rolling landscape. There are tree-covered hills, and long covered corridors, and pavilions and temples rising majestically over them all.
The first place we wanted to visit was the palace of Happiness and Longevity. As we entered the courtyard, Jane explained to me what those curious door stops meant - it was to stop the goblins from entering, because they couldn’t bend their knees! – I thought it was to stop anyone from rushing the emperor… hmmm…live and learn. The palace of Happiness and Longevity contains the Grand Theatre. The theatre is a central building surrounded by a courtyard, surrounding which were the “inner” apartments. The central building itself is three stories high. The theatre itself is dim and gloomy, even a little musty. Even with a high quality DSLR, I couldn’t get good pictures, until I turned on the flash, and had my back to the light. We wandered into the main apartments. A rich bed covered in a silk spread faced the stage. Behind it was a gorgeous yellow hand-painted silk screen. I took a picture of Jane as she entered, quite failing to see the “No Photo” sigh on the bed. This room was gorgeous, with intricately carved partitions, and mirrors. I took a picture, and then not quite satisfied with it, I deleted it. Big Mistake. As I aimed for the next shot, I heard a voice behind me go, “No photos” – blech.. Now I didn’t even have a half-satisfactory shot of it. The camera hung from my neck as we went around a highly carved wooden screen. Holding it at my waist, keeping the flash off, I clicked. And go one of the best pictures I could have. It was beautiful!
Check out the pictures from my trip to the Summer Palace at
http://picasaweb.google.co
Something struck me as we wandered around. There is a sameness to the architecture of these ancient palaces and forts and cities. They all tend to look the same after a while. While the intricate details hold meaning, it still ends up looking the same. We saw some fabulous pottery and some very tacky ones. But you know what? Despite the way these places are decorated - despite the use of lush fabrics like silk and satin; and the intricate detail of each artistic brush stroke or carving - there seems to be a distinct lack of sensuality to it all. There is almost an austerity and strictness to it, that is... cold! I don't know, maybe its just me. Its beautiful, but there is a frigidity, an iciness to this beauty. There is no sense of debauchery or over-indulgence that one would associate with royalty and nobility in most cultures. Compare it to the sculpture of Khajuraho and you will know what I mean.
And one more thing – while wandering around the Forbidden City both Eric and Kevin told me essentially the same thing – I would have gone mad if I had been living in that time and place. Those constrictions would have killed me. Jane and I both agreed, that if we had to live that life – yes, we would have gone mad for sure.
Wandering out, we followed the map to the Tempe of the Fragrance of the Buddha. We went through a doorway, and in front of us was the long corridor.
Okay, yes, it IS called the Long Corridor. An awning covered long walk to protect the people from the elements. Intricate wood carvings on the roofs, and two pagoda style gazebos marked this walk. To our left lay Lake Kunming. It was a leisurely stroll through the hot summer day. We decided to walk beside the corridor instead of inside it – just too many tourists with too many bullhorns! The lake was beautiful, and the tall trees afforded some welcome shade in the hot humid weather, as the day was horrendously smoggy. There were all kinds of boats on the lake. In the distance was the 17-arch bridge, and it connected the mainland to the South Island. I decided it was time to bring out the zoom lenses. So Jane and I sat down by the corridor, as so many people were doing, while I pulled the big lenses out. Switching lenses, I walked over to the parapet, and took a few snaps. A group of tourists were sitting on the corridor railings right above Jane. They were surprised to see a ‘foreigner’ with as big a camera as mine was. See, mostly it’s the Chinese and the Japanese that have these big-ass cameras (Eric… this one is for you). The tour guide asked Jane in broken English where we were from and so a small conversation started. We started to leave and someone said, ‘I love you!’ to Jane. It cracked us up. I took a photo of them for Jane and posterity.
We followed the crowds until we reached the entrance to the Temple of the Fragrance of the Buddha. It is said the Empress Cixi would offer prayers at this temple. Once again, we needed to present our tickets for access. Which would mean a lot fewer crowds. The Temple rises high into the hill-side and a veritable complex is around it. Stairs led up to the base of the temple – lots of stairs. I was worried that I would not make it. Jane of course, works out daily as a rule, so she is much better shape than I am. We started up the stairs. They are shorter than regular stairs and I found that I could easily walk up them. 2, 3, 4 stories high and we reached the base of the temple. There were still more stairs to climb, forming a pattern that is visible from afar – as we saw later. Taking a breather, we started up the next set of stairs. It was easier this time around. We climbed to the top, Jane encouraging me for the last few yards. Then before us was a vista that was Beijing to the left and mountains to the right. Gorgeous. We walked into the temple. Its octagonal shape invites you to walk around. Inside was a 12’ tall Buddha – called the Buddha with a 1000 arms. The head was almost like a Trimurti – except there were 12 heads, in four levels and 12 pairs of arms. Thought the hands do not hold any artifact – the Vishnu-like aspect of this Buddha was not lost on me. People walked in and prayed. It was almost like being in a Hindu temple! No pictures allowed here either, although we could take pics from the corridor outside. So we did.
Then we climbed back down taking the other set of stairs. Outside I was feeling de-hydrated, and we found some vendors selling water. A cold bottle of water, and we were on our way to our boat ride. We found one that went to South Island and back, and 15 minutes on the water cooled us down.
As we headed back out of the Summer Palace, we decided to go to Silk Market. I still needed to shop for gifts.
Silk Market was all I remembered it to be, the usual haggling for stuff, and asking for outrageously low prices was fun and soon loaded down with purchases, we stepped out for some food. We didn’t have margaritas this time. But we found a place that did some excellent burgers – an ‘Australian’ place! Then it was back to the hotel. I had needed a shower, and I was burned and tanned. Ah yes, we Indians DO tan – and I have the tan lines to prove it! Besides I had to pack. I had a plane to catch the next day. I was finally homeward bound.
The temple of the Fragrance of the Buddha from Kunming Lake
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