Coppell Gazette (Coppell, Tex.), Vol. 30, No. 23, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 28, 2011 Page: 4 of 12
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4A
COPPELL GAZETTE i WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2011
CoppellGazette.com
Chinese art and pageantry a highlight of trip
Our last day in Beijing
begins with gloomy, raw
clouds scudding overhead.
We bus to a park (ubiqui-
tous in China) where citi-
zens are exercising en
masse, beginning even be-
fore daybreak. Tai Chi, Tai
Chi Racquet, Neck Ring
Toss and other mysterious
gyrations are taking place
among a large group of
mostly adults and seniors
who, according to our local
guide, still revere the Mao
rule which guaranteed cra-
dle-to-grave social security.
There is recorded music for
line
dancing
and se-
rious
competi-
tion
among
tradi-
tionally
clad lo-
cals, Cheramy
which Rusbuldt
our
guide says is the normal
morning activity. Later, we
see another group hanging
out, playing Chinese
Checkers (which is really
Coppell 1
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Chinese Chess) and ignor-
ing multiple No Smoking
signs all over the grounds.
Our cultural object this
morning is the adjacent
Temple of Heaven, a cam-
pus of buildings originally
dating to 1406-1420 A.D.
The highlight is the Hall of
Prayer for Good Harvests,
an impressive round
wooden building con-
structed with no nails.
Crowds are modest, given
both the calendar and
weather, but we have the
opportunity to peek inside
and check out a museum
with models of all the
structures in this UN-
ESCO World Heritage Site.
For the Olympics, the en-
tire site has been refur-
bished. Today, I don my
gloves for the first time.. .it
is really chilly and wet.
Before lunch in the cata-
comb-like basement of a
local restaurant, we are de-
livered to a pearl market.
Knowing that pearls are a
particularly local export, I
hope to replace mine stolen
years ago with my luggage
after my grandmother’s fu-
neral in the Panhandle.
Alas, there is nothing to
compare, though several of
my traveling troupe pur-
chase rare (and expensive)
gifts or souvenirs to take
home.
After a trip through a
local farmers’ market,
where everything from veg-
gies, seafood and gross
hanging meat carcasses
are for sale and the cacoph-
ony is almost deafening, we
are seated around a huge
lazy susan, with “Russian”
soup (a tomato-based con-
coction featuring cabbage),
a “honey melon”... pur-
chased in the market, pork,
beef, rice and various veg-
gies. Our tour director re-
sponds candidly to
population and political
questions about life in
China today.
Next destination: the
Summer Palace, which is
really small compared to
the Forbidden City. It is
mostly a park with an ex-
cavated pond/lake, punctu-
ated by towering Taoist
and Buddhist temples and
what is known as the Long
Walk: a half-mile covered
walkway decorated with
8,000 painted vignettes
and restored several times
following fires, devastation
and the Dowager Empress
Cixi. The newest art
restoration dates to the
Olympics.
Teeth chattering
against the cold, damp
weather, we embark on a
dragon boat for a lake
crossing to our bus, return-
ing to the hotel to prepare
for Peking Opera (or jing
ju), a Chinese theatre per-
formance. We are among
few Westerners and get
front row seats to watch
the make-up and costum-
ing preparation for the
play. Just above us in the
huge audience is a group of
Chinese businessmen in
fancy suits, who continue
throughout to be rowdy
and interruptive. Even
with English subtitles, fol-
lowing the stories is chal-
lenging, but the wardrobes
and dancing are evocative
of Cirque de Soleil, Laurel
and Hardy and Three
Stooges. It is well worth
the $48 USD to be part of
what is a most prestigious
troupe of actors, acrobats
and musicians.
Tomorrow
morning...very early get-
up for a flight to Tibet!
CHERAMY RUSBULDT IS A
FREELANCE JOURNALIST WHO RESIDES IN
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Mann, Rick. Coppell Gazette (Coppell, Tex.), Vol. 30, No. 23, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 28, 2011, newspaper, December 28, 2011; Plano, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth851890/m1/4/: accessed June 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .