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October
10, 1999
This is
Doug Pape. Today we visited the Emperor's Summer Palance near Beijing
This is
Doug Pape. Today we visited the Emperor's Summer Palace near Beijing
Every
morning greets us with new possibilities. Although we are enjoying
ourselves in Beijing, we know we must say goodbye to this city eventually
and face the challenges of the road. We are nervous and excited at the
same time. It is much like the feeling of an athlete before the start of
a race. You spend months of preparation, so you are mentally ready, yet
the moment you set yourself in the starting block, time seems to slow
down.
We received
word that the Rovers are being held up indefinitely because of some kind
of paperwork problem. We feared a problem, but you can only do so much
preparation. Sometimes things happen beyond your control and you have to
take them as they come. The same is true with planning for weather. You
can be prepared for it, but you never know just what you’ll have to drive
through. Although these times can be frustrating, I think adversity is
like having along an additional passenger, an additional personality of
sorts. One you can’t yell at.
Today's
adventure is the Summer Palace. In the summer Beijing gets hot and muggy.
To escape the heat the Emperor Qianlong transformed this garden area into
his royal summer residence. The place is beautiful. The stunning
architecture flows seamlessly in rhythm with the surrounding plant life.
The willows with their gradual curves create a sense of calm, as they
escort the slow-flowing waters through the grounds. The buildings are
nestled into this peaceful scene, looking like natural appendages of the
gentle hills that support them.
As we
walked the grounds a certain timeless calm came over me, massaging my
mind and body. Time awoke and stirred me into its depths as he recreated
events gone by. Now as I think about it, the Summer Palace seems to
represent the Heart of China in many ways. The splendor and subtle
artwork evoke a sense of rich history, pride and pageantry, but with a
depth that only an ancient culture could create. The merging of structure
and nature represents a gradual evolution of man and nature, a dance that
has taken many years to perfect, yet often remains unsettled and
disturbed by war and conflict.
The Summer
Palace felt the destructive touch of war when it was burned to the ground
by European forces as a result of the Opium wars. The Europeans took to
the seas as they explored the world and eventually encountered the
Chinese. At first the European powers were confined only to the port of
Canton, because China kept strict control of its land. However, the cycle
of Chinese history was on the downswing. Superficially, China appeared as
the world’s greatest power, but internally it was disintegrating. Quests
for power and a lack of leadership increased the demand for quick fixes
and opium became the quick fix. Opium sales increased and finally
Europeans had the bartering tool they were looking for. Trying to put a
stop to this trade imbalance, China seized a very large shipment of
English Opium and destroyed it.
English
merchants were outraged and a deployment of warships soon left English
harbors. They were met by hostile Chinese junks. This was just the game
the English wanted to play, and they were victorious. The Opium trade was
kept open and so were five more Chinese ports. The imbalance of this
first treaty (The Treaty of Nanking) made a second clash inevitable, and
it occurred 10 years later. That clash, the Arrow War, left the Summer
Palace in ashes, as well as the heart of China. Since then, China has
been raped and pillaged by many nations, not only the west, but they are
emerging as a world power again.
It is interesting
to compare the histories of Europe and China. Europe is a collection of
small states with no centralized power. Nations were always fighting,
forming tenuous allegiances and negotiating, and through this, they
developed a keen eye for power and how to acquire it. Their use of
technology and their ability to rally and harness great assembled armies
lies in great contrast to China. China was an empire long before the rise
of the Greeks or Romans and was able to build housing for more than two
million people. They developed a writing system, giving themselves the
important ability to record their thoughts. They also created gunpowder
and were oceangoing traders since ancient times, having ventured to
remote lands such as India and even Africa in 400-foot sailing vessels.
What caused
the West to meet China before China went to visit the West? China
effectively controlled large populations of people, larger populations
than the West had every seen, or even thought of. How did they do this?
What was their style of leadership or indoctrination? What can we learn
from their rise and fall from power? And how different is our present
course from that of China? Are our modern governments really that much
different? When I tour these places I see signs that they were very
different, yet in the streets of Beijing today, I see many similarities
with life back home.
To put
things in modern perspective, just think of the Opium Wars. The English
fought a war to maintain the right to sell narcotics in China. They believed
that this was their right. Now let’s turn the tables. As Americans we
believe it is our right to sell guns, other countries believe it is their
right to sell us drugs. Who is right, who has the rights, and who is
wrong?
As we
walked through the Summer Palace, our guide King talked of China and we
talked of the States. It was a beautiful afternoon, although it was a bit
hazy, as you can see from the pictures.
As the
afternoon retired we filed back into our tour van and drove the crowded
streets back to the hotel. On the way back from the Summer Palace, we ate
another banquet feast, and lethargically retired for the evening so I
suppose I will too. This is Doug Pape signing off from China, the only
country where you can call in late to work because your horn is being
repaired... and they understand. Goodbye People.
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