|
|
 |
China, The
South Road |
|
This second journey to
China was organized by a French agency according to the wishes of the
pre-set group. It started with the visit of Peking, the capital, then
went on south-westwards to visit minorities and to see rupestral, parietal
paintings. It finished in Canton and Hong Kong. It visited, again, certain
cities already mentioned by the previous journey in 1982 to which it is
referred for the comments.
It was made in 1988, from July 25 to August 19.
The Air France flight left on time for a direct flight to Peking.
The report is in six tables. The general comments are given by the
China presentation. |
|
|
|
|
Peking |
|
|
|
 |
|
Temple of Lamas |
|
Approach: The trip by plane from Paris to Peking lasted
approximately 13 hours without stopover. The control and the passage
through customs went smoothly.
Peking: The programme of the visit of China's capital was
quite similar to that made six years before,
Peking 1982. The visit of the commune was replaced by the
temple of Lamas.
Temple of Lamas: This lamasery is set in the former
palace of the Eternal Harmony, Yonghegong, of emperor Yongszeng.
It lodged up to 300 lamas from various Chinese areas of Buddhist
Lamaist obedience. The rooms present Tantric Buddhism by exhibiting
the various forms of Tibetan art. The most representative objects
are Tibetan Tanka and Ming period figurines. A stele set up, in 1792,
at the request of emperor Qianlong recalls the history of Lamaism. |
|
|
|
|
|
China changed significantly enough in six years to be
perceptible, in particular in the behaviour of the Chinese. The
suit with Mao collar was in the process of disappearance for men
as well as for women, who wore skirts or dresses again.
This evolution was confirmed in a more marked way in the
south areas.
We saw strange scenes at the Peking railway station,
hundreds, even thousands of people sitting on the ground in the
railway station yard waiting for trains.
|
|
|
|
|
Xian |
|
|
|
|
Approach: The trip from Peking to Xian was made by a
two-hour domestic flight.
Xian: There again the visit of Chang'an was
similar to that made six years before,
Xian 1982.
Qianling:
At the foot of the Liang hill, the tomb of Tang emperor Gaozong
and his wife, Wu Zetian is preceded by the Way of the Spirits
bordered by 120 sculptures of senior officials, horses and lions. The
tomb of princess Yong Tai has murals of exquisite
delicacy.
|
|
 |
|
The wall of Xian |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The walk in the Xian lanes was impressive and
enriching by the Chinese daily spectacle.
|
|
|
|
|
Chengdu, Dazu, Chongqing |
|
|
|
 |
|
Temple of the two kings |
 |
| Dujiangyan |
 |
|
Dazu |
|
|
Approach: The
trip from Xian to Chengdu was made by plane then by train to Youtingpu,
by bus to Dazu, and finally by a four-hour ride to Chongqinq
Chengdu:
Capital of Sichuan, China's most populated province, it was the
capital of the Kingdom of Shu, one of the three Kingdoms and
that of the Five Dynasties. Of its glorious past it has preserved
only the square plan and the orthogonal streets ordered around the
Imperial City. The Cultural revolution completed what time
had already begun, the destruction of the historic buildings. It was
called the City of Brocart then the City of Hibiscus in the 20th
century.
Temple of Wuhouci: this memorial founded in the 6th
century under emperor Kangxi, was known under the name of Zhaolie.
Various galleries present Tang and Ming artefacts.
Temple of the two Kings: the sanctuary is staged on the
hillside. The roofs are decorated with persons and animals which make
the charm of this construction.
The Dujiangyan dam: on the Minjiang
river dates from the Battling Kingdoms, 250BC. A clever device,
a long barge with floats fastened at a fixed point, directs water
towards the branches of the river according to the needs and
circumstances.
Dazu: After a pleasant trip on a train,
in the day to admire the landscapes, the Dazu site, on the northern hill
of Beishan, shows Buddhist sculptures, more than 10,000,
among the most beautiful of China. They were cut in the Tang period,
618-907, and were completed at the time of the Song, 1127-1276.
The interest of the site lies in the freedom of the artists' expression
and in the large last programs of rupestral sculptures in the Song period.
Chongqing:
The old city set up on a peninsula bordered by Jialingjiang
and Changjiang carrying the Sichuan red earth. It is one
of the three furnaces of China, the temperature is higher than 40°C
in summer and more than 200 days of fog.
The city was visited on foot starting from the Peak of Pibashan
to admire the exceptional panorama and to surprise the chess and
card players at twilight. |
|
|
|
|
|
Sichuan offers tourists a variety of spectacles, landscapes, busy streets
in the large cities as well as artefacts of the various periods of the Empire
of the Middle. It is an example of China's rich cultural past.
|
|
|
|
|
Guiyang, Kali, Guilin |
|
|
|
|
Approach: The
trip to Guiyang and Guilin was made by plane and by bus
for the excursion to the minority village, Kali.
Guiyang: Capital of Guizhou attested
since the Han dynasty, the city is little visited by tourists.
The park of Qianlingshan is set in a low valley with
the so particular atmosphere of the Chinese gardens, pavilions,
kiosks and rupestral inscriptions.
The Hongfu monastery was founded in 1672.
Kali: The road to Kali was spectacular
through terraced paddy fields. The folk spectacle made by the
minorities, was a rapture for the eyes, a riot of colour and
elaborate hand movements. The visit of the wooden houses staged
on the hillside, with old weaving looms, women doing embroidery,
young women doing domestic tasks was thus a return back to the most
remote times. Of course, it all snacked of the conventional set of
a cultural reservation.
Guilin: The city keeps very little trace of its past, if
it were not its prestigious environment, it would not deserve the
detour. The scenery are among the most symbolic of China.
Located on the right bank of the Lijiang river, the city occupies
a plain of rice culture and the vegetable
cultures. The landscape was cut in limestone by water with
the dissolving capacity which left posed on tables the karstic
reliefs of symbolic shapes from the Chinese
Pantheon, each structure bearing a name. The excursion was made on a boat
also offering the sight of cormorant fishing. |
|
 |
|
Minority Kali
|
 |
|
Guilin |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The visit of the Guizhou and Guangxi provinces made it possible to
approach the minorities cherished by the Chinese authorities, not
subjected to birth control and to see the reliefs and the sceneries
of the Guilin area.
|
|
|
|
|
Nanning |
|
|
|
 |
|
Parietal paintings |
 |
|
Parietal paintings |
|
|
Approach:
The trip from Guilin to Nanning was made by a domestic flight.
Nanning:
Capital of Guangxi, an autonomous area at the Vietnam border, it is
the land of the minorities, Miao, Yao, Yi and
especially of Zhuang, the largest of China. The sinicization of
the area is recent and its development dates from the 20th century.
The museum of the Zhuang autonomous area of Guangxi was
created in 1954. The rooms are set up by periods,
Han, the Three Kingdoms and collections concerning the minorities.
The most interesting is a vast collection of Bronze drums without equal
which cover the Springs and the Autumns period from 722-481BC to the Qing dynasty,
1644-1911.
Excursion:
The visit to Huashan after a three-hour road and a voyage on a
five-hour boat on the Minjiang and Zuojiang rivers made it possible to admire
1,300 parietal paintings covering 6,000m2 of a cliff. The studies in
progress have not been able to determine the origin of these paintings. They
represent dancers and musicians in red ochre colour. |
|
|
This second journey in China was completed by the traditional end-trip cities
in this area : Canton and Hong Kong.
|
|
|
|
|
Canton, Hong Kong |
|
|
|
|
Approach:
The trip from Nanning to Canton was made by plane then
Canton to Hong Kong by train and on foot to cross the "No man's land"
according to usual process.
Canton: The city was also visited, six years before.
It is one of the official ways out of China,
Canton 1982. The temples of the Six Banyan and Guangxiaosi were
visited as well as the municipal museum of Canton. The Island of Shamian
and the garden of the orchids were the object of all the attention of the group.
Hong Kong: One day and a half was spent in the already
visited city,
Hong
Kong 1982. |
|
 |
|
The temple of the Six Banyan |
|
|
|
|
|
|
This second journey to China brought a complementary
vision. Other trips would be necessary to look further into this
thousand-year-old culture on the way to deep economic
upheavals which will change the world's balance.
|
|
|
|
|
The return to France was made by an Air France direct flight
to Paris.
|
|
|
|
| Neuilly, le 2003/09/14 |
|
|
|
|
|
|