Beijing Diary: Part 9

Thursday 22 April.

The weather forecast for the day proved to be accurate and we awoke to overcast skies and then rain. Instead of going to the local store to buy pastries for breakfast, I decided to try the hotel’s and was pleasantly surprised. I’m not quite sure why we had not tried it before. There were various soft pastries and a version of croissants; toast, jam, coffee, sliced ham, and do-it-yourself fried eggs. Very wholesome! And filling!

I got Heather up in time to take advantage of it, as the rain came down even heavier. I was engaged in conversation by two elderly French ladies, one of whom was of Chinese extraction, about where to go on a rainy day in Beijing. In spite of my explaining that this was my first visit to China, they obviously thought I was an expert on all things in the capital, and proceeded to ask me where they should go to arrange for a large parcel to be sent by sea to France. They seemed quite put out when I indicated that I hadn’t a clue!

By the time Heather had had breakfast, the rain had eased and then stopped, but it was cooler so I was glad of the warmth from my LL Bean travel rainjacket. This time we were headed for the South Gate entrance to the Forbidden City and arrived there with no difficulty at all. Line 1, the first of the subway lines to be built, has distinctly older rolling stock with no electronic signs to help the foreign traveler. But announcements were still made in Chinese and in English. As we approached the entrance the usual soldiers were to be seen marching in pairs, but because of the rain, which had stopped, they were wearing green waterproof outfits that made them look like robots.

We paid our Y60 to enter and headed for the hall Gordon had told us of which contained a display of historical calligraphy and watercolours on scrolls. Signage was not great, and the hall is off the main axis of the courtyards, but we eventually found it and I was completely entranced. Paper scrolls dating back as far as the 7^th century were still fresh and in good condition. There were electronic displays, in English and Chinese, giving a brief biography of the artist and a sense of the historical and sometimes political context. From the Song Dynasty, to the Ming, and then the Qing dynasties one could detect the changes in style and approach. Some calligraphy was in the monastic style, some in cursive or “running” style. The electronic displays did not always correspond to what was actually on display, perhaps because of the cost of renewing the electronic material, but it did not deter from the experience. Definitely a place to come back to!

We sat for a while to rest our “gallery backs” while watching two videos about calligraphy. The sound commentary was in Chinese only, but we were happy to sit and enjoy the visual presentation.

When we emerged we spotted a museum bookstore and went in to explore. We were immediately welcomed by a young girl, in fact a woman 23 years old, called YouYou (pronounced yo-yo) who invited us into a back-room and set about making us a “little gift”, our names Heather and Tony, joined by the character for “love”, surmounted by the usual characters for good luck and long life. She then showed us examples of her work and of her “professor’s” and we were charmed into buying two of hers.

As we left the shop, she came running after us to give us her business card and Heather was able to get a couple of photos.

We returned to the main axis and proceeded through the succession of halls, each named with a variation on harmony or peace. Several of the translations provoked laughter, including one, describing, above an imperial throne, a plaque “written by the Emperor himself” which said “Doing nothing”.

We had not timed out lunch break very well, for when we went into a cafeteria (more like a coffee counter), they had stopped serving food and had only drinks available. So hot chocolate was the best food substitute we could find among the drinks offered. We did manage to find a few small gifts in the adjacent shop, though Hather’s alertness prevented us being ripped off by the cashier who managed to cock up the totalling to come up with Y235 instead of Y105. Since the visa charge had already gone through, we got a cash refund which actually helped our cash-in-hand situation.

After a fruitless attempt to locate the Hall of Arts and Crafts on the map, we were told that it was closed. Instead we contented ourselves with a stroll through to the Imperial Garden, by which time loudspeakers were announcing that the Palace would close at 5 pm and that we should plan the rest of our visit accordingly.

Though it was only a short visit (about four hours) we felt we had seen the best that was on offer. We could of course return and pay extra to see the House of Treasures, or the House of Clocks and Watches, but I’m not sure I would want to. The experience of the imperial grand scale of construction was enough for me.

By the time we got back to our district it was nearly 6 pm so we decided to treat ourselves to another meal at Little Saigon. After nearly six hours of being on our feet, it was very pleasant to sit and enjoy a kir cassis and then a well-prepared meal, ordered in French.