Lean’s neverland

The Great Wall. Yes, this is our destination of the day.

a quickr pickr post

There are two things that you have to know before you go to the Great Wall. First, you have to go there in the very early morning, otherwise, you will stuck on the way to here and the way back. Because, the Great Wall not only attract people who from other countries, but also attract people who from other part of China. There will be endless people go to visit there in the whole year. A guide said that there will be 50,000 or 60,000 people visit the Great Wall everyday in the peak time of tourist season. Second, there are many different parts of Great Wall near Beijing. The one we went to is Called “Ba Da Ling”, which means a valley leads to all directions. This is the reason why it was a strategy pass in the past. If you search online, there might be many ways to get to there, but the only correct way to there is take NO.919. All other bus or coach will lead you to a wrong place where still far away from the Great Wall.

Usually, people take a slid car go up to the fourth watching tower then climb till the eighth. The weather was really good for us on that day. When we climb the Great Wall, it was bit cloudy, but when we reached the top of it, the sun suddenly came out from all the cloud and the sun beam lighten the golden wall. My friend and I had lunch on this relic architecture while under the sun.

When we back to the city centre, it was about 2pm. There is still plenty of time, so my friend and I decided to go to the city centre to have a look. There is a place called “Wang Fu Jing”, it is a modern shopping area, which can show the living situation of Beijinger in nowadays. There are also some traditional shops. In a building especially for selling traditional exquisite stuffs, a lady sells paper cut art works and she also can do paper cut well. She did a live show to us, showed how to cut a butterfly. Thank this kind lady. :)

a quickr pickr post

This is our second day of visiting Beijing, which include the Great Wall, buying traditional stuff and observe the modern Beijing. What’s next…even more exciting. We went to the Forbidden City. To be continued…

I wanted to write this little article for a long time. In this summer, a friend from Lboro came for a business trip. During her busy schedule, we find some time gap that allow us to visit some of the famous sites of Beijing.Before my friend came, I get some very professional suggestions from one of my friend who grew up in the centre part which is the most traditional part of Beijing. He knows whats the best to see and how to choose the route.I think his knowledge is better than a travel book.The fact proved that his choice is the best. So, I give my special thanks to him. :)

Because the time was limited and it was her first time to Beijing, so we chose to visit all those "must see" sceneries.

I think the route we took can be considered as a very good route. If you are going to come to Beijing, it’s worth to think of. (That’s also why I want to write this article to you.)

The first day, we had nearly a whole day after my friend arrived at her hotel. Out route is: take underground to Tian’an men square(another translation of the name is :heavenly peace square)—> walk through the big square and have a look at all the important buildings beside the it,which include the Chairman Mao’s Memorial Hall, The Great Hall of the people and the Monument of the people’s heroes.—->walking till a place called Qian Men to visit the traditional Beijing streets and old shopping areas.—-> walking through a street which called Da Shi Lan, and all those old shops which more than hundreds years old.—> take a taxi to the Temple of Heaven and walk around in it—> Go to the most traditional restaurant to have Piking roast duck.

It was very cloudy that day, it’s not good for taking photos but it’s the best weather for walking outside and visiting places. It’s in summer but it’s not that hot on the day. Moreover, my friend did a really good job, because she can start our journey right after she arrived and without took any min to have a rest !

(Left: My friend in Tian’An Men square.               Right: Chairman Mao’s Memorial Hall  )

(Left: Tian’An men tower in the night                 Right: the National Opera House)

There are some repairing work going on there, because the 60th National Day is approaching.There will be a big celebration in this square which include the parade and fireworks in the evening.

(Left: my friend standing in front of the entrance of the street.    Right: they made an bus which used in the past.—-very very very long time ago.)

This is Qian Men. It was the shopping centre for Beijinger about 20 year ago. However, after the new shopping mall has built, this area was becoming bleak. Few years ago, although the economy grows fast, more and more people start to worry about losing the old traditional places of Beijing, such as those old shopping area or Hutong(alleyway) areas,because these are the sign and very important part of Beijing’s culture.Therefore,some project of repairing and re-build of the old places started.For example of this Qian men, they re-build many fake old building next to the street, and they try to restore the place like how it look in the past.

(Left: a silk shop which more than 100 years old             Right: in the shop, this is the furniture people will put in their main foyer in the past.)

(Left: Temple of Heaven                       Right: inner look of the hall. )

This is the Temple of Heaven, it’s much bigger than you can imagine from the photo. The blus glazed tile on the top represent the sky or Heaven.This is the place where the emperor used to worship the God of Heaven.

The power of my camera is gone off when we arrived the restaurant,but I think even without the photo, I can still convince you that the food is really nice ! (OK, I use my mobile took some. Here it is.) The restraunt is Called:Quan Ju de,which is the most troditioanl restraunt to have Peking roast duck.

      

(Above: We ordered half of the duck and the chef is slicing the duck.)   

(Above: the dishes that we ordered. The red one on the left was a cold dish which called Steamed Lotus Root Stuffed with Sweet Sticky Rice. The one in the middle was: Black Peppered beef on Hot Plate in the middle. The one on the left was also a cold dish, which is sea weed. The one in the back was some green vegetable with fragrant mushroom. The juice in that glass was make of dates.

OK, it’s getting too late now. This is the trip about our Day 1, the report other two days are coming…

When we meet next time, we went to the Great Wall.

开始这次旅行之前，我和痞总在布鲁日和苏格兰高地之间犹豫不决。去布鲁日的原因是因为一部电影让痞总萌了，我知道，如果我看了那个电影的话，估计也无法免疫。之后讨论来讨论去，痞总说，看多了城市风光，觉得城市和城市之间的差别也就那样了。就是这一句话，让我们的选择变得清晰了。于是，为了洗刷我们的审美疲劳，而决定去看一看完全不同的自然景色。最后，这三天的自然之旅，让我和痞总豪快的体验了当“野人”的快乐。请注意，“野人”这个词对于我和痞总来说，是一个真真实实的褒义词。其指代是，在消费主义盛行的时代，仍然保持着自我以及自我价值观的追求，将俗世的负累抛之不顾，亲近自然，亲近自我的一类人。

我们的旅程从把爱丁堡开始，坐上大巴之后，城市文明就被我们高高兴兴的遗忘于身后了。几年以前的话，我自己绝对想象不到自己能看到鸟无人烟的高地腹地，能站在这么一个连地图上都找不到名字的地方。我情不自禁的说：“从来没有想象到能到纬度如此靠北的地方来。”痞总在一旁说，她则是没有想象到能看到如此高纬度地区的植被。一点也不错，眼前对苏格兰高地人来说司空见惯的景象对于一个“低地人”来说是多么的神奇。“低地人”相对于高地人，是我管我们的新称呼。

“走过温带阔叶林，然后是亚寒带针叶林，再之后是寒带苔原”这些地理书上只对大脑不对心起作用的语句现在变成了我眼前活的经历。山上覆盖满了苔藓类植物，每一株都有着湿润可爱，如海葵一般的嫩黄色叶片。 它们一株一株连成一片，安安静静的铺满了地面。在这里，我也见到了代表苏格兰的花卉——蓟花。蓟花之所以成为苏格兰的“国花”是因为，相传几百年前维京人想要攻打高地上的一座城堡，当时，他们决定在深夜偷袭。于是，入夜之后，维京的战士们就悄无声息的向城堡行进。他们为了防止弄出声响惊动城墙上的士兵，就脱去了自己的靴子和袜子。正当他们要潜入护城河的时候，却发现等待他们的不是冰冷的河水，而是填满了护城河渠道的蓟花。长而尖的蓟花刺直接刺入血肉之躯，维京士兵们不可遏止的发出了痛苦的吼声，于是，城墙上的士兵得到了预警，轻松的赶走了狼狈逃跑的维京人。（左：苔藓类植物 右：蓟花）

我想，整个高地的色彩取决于石楠花的心情。现在秋天刚刚开始，大片的石楠的颜色由深粉到暗红，和其它颜色的苔藓植物交织在一起，让整个高地变成了一张威尔顿地毯。

（左：深粉色石楠 右：被石楠覆盖的彩色山野）

山峦起伏，目光所及却没有一棵树木遮挡视线。清凛空气，每一次的呼吸都让我在自然中浸透得更深。站在山坡上，感觉血管中的血液放开了理智，自顾自的汹涌流动。

让我给这次旅行极高评价的不只是因为不同的景色和视觉盛宴，更重要的，或者说80%的原因是因为我们的导游。导游在邓迪出生，他的家庭则是来自更靠北的地方。他是一个真正的高地人，是麦克劳德家族的成员，是一个真正的苏格兰战士。一路上，他给我们讲所经之地的传说和民间故事以及百年以前的历史，就连之后放的音乐都是和故事内容相应的民俗叙事歌。而听一个当地人讲自己家乡的故事和听语音书是完全不同的，因为当地人会把自己的感情和人生放到故事里面。作为听者，听到的就不光只是美丽的词句，更多的是被其感情的因子所影响。这位导游是一个很好的吟游诗人，可能他并不亲自去唱诗，但是，我却一再有想把他讲的故事全部录下来的冲动。

高地流传下来的故事中，总是充满了战争——家族之间的，或者抵抗入侵者的。爱情也占有一席之地，不过，我想它的比重肯定比不上任何欧洲童话集。顽强不屈，是众多美德中的精金，勇敢奋斗是强者力量的尊荣。当自己亲自看到高地的环境时，我就逐渐明白了，为什么苏格兰人是苏格兰人，为什么苏格兰民族是这样的。导游不羁的狂野，讲故事的语气，以及他的行为态度，正是这些细小的到无法言喻的东西解释了人类学的问题。也正是这些，让“文化障碍”不过是形同虚设的词汇，“高地精神”就如此轻易的传递给了我们。在寒冷严酷的高地上，伴随着丰润矮小的苔藓，苏格兰人们学会了对自然的尊敬，并与其相调和，协作，成长。这片土地培养出来的是有坚毅个性，坚韧情怀的强大战士。他们选择自然中的岩石为居所，身旁的苔藓为衣服的色彩，同时，广袤的高地也选择了接纳他们。

“爱德华王子呀，你生既为王……”这是导游放的歌曲之一。之前，我很少听带人声演唱的歌曲，就算听，也完全忽略人家演唱的歌词，我只是更习惯用自己的情绪填满旋律。但是现在，我情愿被歌词讲述的故事带到另一个时空下。我觉得痞总应该对这件事情很满意，在她一年潜移默化的教导下，终于在和高地人通力合作之后，把我培养成了民歌爱好者。

我们在思凯岛上的时候，导游给我们演示了如何将一块羊毛布折叠出苏格兰的裙子。众所周之，方格呢短裙是苏格兰的标志之一。“裙子”这个词在苏格兰古语，盖尔语中的意思是“大毯子”。这个词可谓精确到位。因为，苏格兰方格裙确实是由一个非常大的毯子折叠而成。一个平铺在地上的大毯子，从头开始折叠，逐渐的折出裙子的褶皱——最多不出5分钟就能准备就绪。然后，人躺在整个折好的毯子中间，将自己包裹好之后，将一根普普通通的绳子当作腰带束在腰上，最后站起身来，整个毯子就神奇的变成了一件完成的衣服。导游还向我们演示了如何将身上的“毯子”在围系出口袋和背包。说道格子的不同颜色，导游解释说，染这件羊毛格子裙颜色的染料全部来自于周围的植物，人们采集这些植被，然后把它们熬煮，再将羊毛染上色彩。所以，这件裙子会根据你居住地区的不同而呈现出不同的色彩，同时给你提供天然的掩蔽。这一连串生活方式，都在向我说：“看，自然是我们的舞伴，我们在一起可以跳出这样的舞步。”

三天下来，外出冒险，没怪可杀，但是总是有宝物可得。我揣着导游抄写给我的叙事诗民歌列表和一连串的故事回到了“低地”——相对于高地，我对自己生活世界的新称呼。同样，我带回来的高地精神也被我小心的珍视收藏，而且，每天它们都被我拿出来仔细擦拭——我不想遗忘它的任何一丝细节。它就像我心中不绝的风笛声，与竖琴相和，持续的演奏着传承了几个世纪的高地传说。