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Published: June 23rd 2005
Doo-ay Doo-ay
The firey 9 year old who took me under her wing.Hello,
no great tales to tell, nor huge observations to render. However, for those of you who might wonder where i've gone, the update.
i am currently in a smallish city, which is famous for something historical and touristy. but i am here as a starting point to another famous and touristy area famous as a temple mountain, with Chinese, Mongolian, and a couple of Tibetan temples.
Last year whilst travelling i met a Tibetan monk and his group . I had absolutely no knowledge of Tibet, its culture, tradition, current status. They sang for me, presented me with the offering of a white silk prayer scarf, and actually videod me with their video camera. Before going on to Tibetan areas, I would like to see them and say "tashi delek" (or at least point to it in my phrasebook).
I had some hours to kill in Beijing before my killer night train. Having been a tourist there last year, this time i sated my curiosity by just wandering the back streets for a while. Still early, the remaining time was killed in the train station square. While hunching against
the artist
her artwork was impressive, as were her decorations and overall attitude. a wall and peeling cucumbers, i saw a trio of three raggedly cheerful women sway brazenly across the square. I admired them: they were obviously a minority, obviously lowest of the low in the public opinion, but carried themselves with dignity and defiance. They couldn't and didn't fit societal norms, and didn't cower to their presumably lower status.
They spied me spying them and we exchanged smiles. They were mother (approximately in her 40s), daughter (late teens) and youngest daughter (exactly nine) and were clothed in ruffled skirts and many colourful layers of jackets and vests. Each wore a hat or head scarf, also highly decorated. And each had the most beautiful face and smile.
Soon after i joined them to look at their surprisingly extensive english notes (they had numerous books with tourist phrases which they were keen to practise with me, in the sweetest voices), a crowd of suddenly curious Chnse circled around us to gawk. I found it interesting that these marginal people were suddenly visible because of my presence. Interesting and annoying. Must practise anger management. It was annoying because they were still, quite obviously and condescendingly, a source of entertainment and nothing more.
artwork
a sample of her coloured pencil sketches. Most aggravating was the boldness with which the circle remained to gawk, not heeding the ladies' requests in Chnse, nor my body language (which did start out polite), nor time, nor any sort of self-reprimand. When i took out my camera to photograph the onlookers, however, they quickly shied away. But not for long.
The older daugther was an amazing artist, sketching in coloured pencil vivid mountain scenes and renderings of beautiful chnse women.
The youngest daughter was a fireball, carrying the plump pet rabbit protectively and marching with more bravado than a soldier. And also extremely sweet. Whilst the onlookers' eyes bore into us, she shielded me with her umbrella, and turned around to (what i understood as) curse at the crowd.
It was an interesting encounter, both for the loveliness of the ladies and the foreshadowing of what i may see as hierarchy relations in china.
ps. for more shots of these great ladies, visit http://www.GarlicheadVietnam.june2005.photoshare.co.nz
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woon..^^
non-member comment
hey.. nice to see your picture and article about your journey.. now you are close to tibet.. someday i would like to travel like you.. ^^ take care and hope to see your picture and writting.. by.