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Published: June 24th 2005
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We just came back from Beijing, Omar had a meeting on Monday and we decided to go on Friday and spend the weekend there.
WARNING: THIS IS THE LONGEST BLOG I HAVE EVER WRITTEN the good news is that there are lots of pictures. Beijing and Shanghai are SO different, Shanghai is an hybrid between China and a foreign countryh but Beijing being as modern as Shanghai (without the 1000 skycrappers) is really China. Wide avenues, lots of trees, lots of parks, hundreds of historic sites and of course, the people. While in Shanghai you see lots of beautiful young girls holding hands with old/fat foreigners, in Beijing, I saw lots of beutiful young girls selling calligraphy and paintings... Quite different!
I only had a few days so my priorities were:
-Visit (or I should say climb) the Great Wall
-Visit Tiannamen Square
-Visit the Forbidden City
-Visit the Mao Zedong Mausoleum (in my country we call him Mao Tse Tung... I guess It sounds the same)
-Visit an antique market So we were off to the Great Wall. Badaling is the most touristic part of the Wall so obviously we did not got there. We hired
a driver and went to a different section where we only found 4 people (Chinese people) so It was great.
The Wall is just amazing, although it has been restored (and rebuilt in some parts) you wonder how they had the persistence and commitment to build it. Most of books say that the construction started on 770 BC. Several dynasties built different parts to protect the country from foreign "nations" (this word in China now means "minority groups" -yeah... I guess they conform the majority of the people in the world!) but during the Qin dynasty in 214 BC the first Emperor connected the different sections. It took him 10 years. After that, many extensions were made and now the total length reaches more than 5,000 kilometres.
It is said that thousands of workers died during the construction of the wall and that their bodies where used as construction material...
You do not really visit the Wall, you climb it!! and IT IS SO EXAUSTING!!.
After the wall, we went to the Forbidden City. This place used to be the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties and is the world's largest palace complex (hard
to believe after visiting Versailles and the gardens) it covers 74 hectares. It has 9,999 rooms (10 is the number of heaven, and the Emperor was the closest thing to a God). Fourteen emperors of the Ming dynasty and ten emperors of the Qing dynasty had reigned here. Having been the imperial palace for some five centuries.
We hired a guide "Charlie", he told us that a million workers including one hundred thousand artisans participated in the construction, bringing the best materials from all over China.
Before 1947, entering this palace was forbidden. The punishment was dead. The Emperor living inside the city seldom left the place; he basically lived (with his wife and dozens of concubines/mistresses) and died inside those walls. Once dead, the mistresses could not leave the complex and were forced to either die with the Emperor (if they were of low rank) or live secluded in another corner of the palace.
Inside the palace, the Emperor was the only man with sexual activity. All the servers were eunuchs who died very young because of hard-labour and illnesses/infections related to their "condition". Omar had nightmares that night about the poor eunuchs...
After such
a long day, we were exhausted and went back to the hotel in pain.
Outside the Forbidden City, Tiannamen Square extends... The sight is just breathtaking. Omar and I stood looking from the balcony where Mao used to watch the army parades and it gave us chills. No bicicles are allowed in the area (but I guess tanks are OK).
Tiannamen means "Heaven Door" or "Door of heavenly peace" which is ironic, but nowadays the square is a nice place where kids and adults fly kites and go for a walk.
Presiding over the square, on Tiannamen, there is a huge painting of Mao; which leads me to the following site: The Mao Zedong Memorial (or mausoleum).
Who says that Mao is dead, is lying. A big portrait presides over Tiannamen, his body is preserved and presented to the visitors on a crystal coffin surrounded by flowers and at the entrance of the Mausoleum there is a HUGE statue of Mao looking at the square and at you! against a background of mountains, trees, pastures....
I made the longest line in my life (exept for a line I once made trying to vote for Fujimori
Tourists!!!
The touristic part of the Wall even has a Mc Donalds!!! in Lima). The line moved fast since you were not allowed to stop and look at Mao, you just had to keep moving.
At the beginning I thought that looking at Mao's corps would be an interesting experience but I have to say that being on that long line was THE experience.
Lots of Chinese people from different backgrounds, the wealthy, the poor, the REALLY poor, the old, the children, the educated, the peasants, ALL were making the same line; some were holding red flags, some were buying flowers, some were smiling and some were really sad. To my right side was a very old woman, she must have been 100 years old (at least) she looked badly beaten or like she had been in an accident, her face had such a sadness that is difficult to explain. Her son was holding her hand. I could tell he was a peasant, really poor and really dirty. The old woman did not speak a word in the hour we were in the line, she just asked for a red flag and waved it all the time.
To my left side, a poor couple (peasants, probably) with broken shoes
and really old clothes were taking her daughter to see Chairman Mao. The girl was maybe 3 years old, she was wearing probably her best clothes (like an old first communion dress).
Behind me, an abnoxiuos wealthy Chinese with his 2 daughters (that tells you how rich he must be to have TWO DAUGHTERS) dressed like Britney Spears were laughing and eating lollipops.
Closer to the entrance, you pass by a flower stall. Only the people that buy flowers, plastic flowers, I should note, since they are later recycled, can go to the center of the memorial and have the "honor" to present the flowers to the statue of Mao. The rest of us had to go around and just watch from the corner. Most of the people vowed several times to Mao's statue.
After that, you get to see the corps... Yes, he is dead. His face has makeup and he is wearing his green uniform. His big stomach is coverd by the comunist flag. 4 soldiers surround him and you can not get close, you can not stop an watch him for a minute, you can not take pictures, you can not take anything inside...
Not only that, but a sign reminds you to stay quiet and to take off your hat.
After that room, you enter into
"Mao's store" where you can buy anything from a big picture with a candle (like one of those pictures of Jesus) to a watch with Mao's face waving at you, medals (?) etc.
Some say that Mao never brushed his teeth instead he preferred to rinse his mouth with tea. His teeth developed a profound green film and later turned black and fell out.
I was in shock.
The antique market was great but the image of the people waiting to see Mao stayed with me for the rest of the day, the following day and the day after.
Back to Shanghai, it seems like I visited a different country (and in fact it is almost a different country: Different language, different culture, different food, different touristic attractions- that is shopping).
Yesterday after lunch with Gaby, my friend, a Chinese guy (maybe 14 years old) with a big plastic gun asked us in Chinese if we spoke Mandarin; I said "a little" so he said something that I could not
understand and after a moment, he looked at us, "shoot" us and said in perfect English: "Be careful, this is an AK-47"; then he walk away.
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alvaro gonzalez
non-member comment
mao is not dead
Hola soy de chile , lei tu reportaje y me parecio interessantisimo. Pude , por un momento apreciar parte de la cultura china atraves de vision. Bastante entretenido, aunque por lo que debes haber pasado para lograr esto, debe haber sido extenuante. Te felicito porque debe haber sido una gran experiencia y no muchos pueden decir esto. Me gustaria algun dia viajar a china y reconocer por mi mismo esos parajes que he visto por medio de estas fotos muy bien logradas. Saludos y felicitaciones.