Travels in Beijing(I)
The first place we visited was the Forbidden City, which stood out among other structures with majestic aloofness. The front portion of the palace, with the giant oil portrait of Chairman Mao atop the entrance, exuded the core spirit of communism. We went from one hall to another, impressed by the grand architecture. Each hall represented a different realm, but basically it was characterized by an arched roof upon both ends perched figurines of different fortune animals ranging from bats to qilins, an emperor's seat, tall poles patterned with elaborate fretwork, and a courtyard garden with quaint landscaping. Every now and then, at the gates, roamed soldiers dressed in Qing uniforms, giving the palace an anachronistic touch.
The Forbidden City was truly a sight to behold, a must-visit if you come to Beijing. Heavy snow had fallen a day before our visit and the surroundings were speckled with whiteness. The sight of the snow-flecked trees and buildings had yielded a lot of photos, and the crisp cold air of the morning seeped through the thick fabric of our jackets and cardigans, making us hug ourselves. despite the cold, I felt great to be ambling through the palace museum with my mother and brother. The golden roofs and the magenta walls of the Forbidden City had imprinted themselves in my mind.
The next place we visited was the Great Wall of China in Mutianyu, another stretch of Great wall besides the famous one at Patalin. Mother decided not to climb the Great Wall because she had done it two years ago with my brother. My brother offered to be my tour guide for the trip. We saw a lot of fat stray cats on our way to riding a cable car to the Great Wall.
They were tame and were not afraid of strangers. Upon reaching the Great Wall, I was blown away by its grandeur. It stretched serpentine over slopes of mountains, punctuated by towers at the intersections. As I inched my way on the path, I could not help wondering how it would have been like had I been one of the soldiers fighting off the encroaching foreign forces in exactly the same spot thousands of years ago. While watching the enemy advance towards the Great Wall through the crenels (gaps) in the battlement, they must have had mixed feelings. However, because I was wearing leather shoes, whose grooves were not as deep as those of sports shoes, I had problem keeping my footing on the frost-encrusted path of the Great wall. I ended up retiring on a bench outside the entrance, getting vicarious joy by watching my brother and the other visitors exerting themselves on the climb.
When they disappeared from my sight, I texted my brother to check on his progress. My concentration was interrupted by a crying English baby cradled in the arms of her mother. A group of middle-aged women from Fujian came up to them and offered the mother some advice. I helped to interpret, pointing out that the baby was wearing too little but the mother insisted that her clothing was not a problem. "She has layers of clothes on her," she said.
When afternoon drew in, my brother joined me at the entrance, exclaiming that despite having climbed the Great Wall before, the sights still struck him greatly. "The climb provides views of different dimensions'" was his verdict. I felt so bad for wearing the wrong pair of shoes.
They were tame and were not afraid of strangers. Upon reaching the Great Wall, I was blown away by its grandeur. It stretched serpentine over slopes of mountains, punctuated by towers at the intersections. As I inched my way on the path, I could not help wondering how it would have been like had I been one of the soldiers fighting off the encroaching foreign forces in exactly the same spot thousands of years ago. While watching the enemy advance towards the Great Wall through the crenels (gaps) in the battlement, they must have had mixed feelings. However, because I was wearing leather shoes, whose grooves were not as deep as those of sports shoes, I had problem keeping my footing on the frost-encrusted path of the Great wall. I ended up retiring on a bench outside the entrance, getting vicarious joy by watching my brother and the other visitors exerting themselves on the climb.
When they disappeared from my sight, I texted my brother to check on his progress. My concentration was interrupted by a crying English baby cradled in the arms of her mother. A group of middle-aged women from Fujian came up to them and offered the mother some advice. I helped to interpret, pointing out that the baby was wearing too little but the mother insisted that her clothing was not a problem. "She has layers of clothes on her," she said.
When afternoon drew in, my brother joined me at the entrance, exclaiming that despite having climbed the Great Wall before, the sights still struck him greatly. "The climb provides views of different dimensions'" was his verdict. I felt so bad for wearing the wrong pair of shoes.
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