Temple of Heaven Park 3

Old folks "baby gym" 

Jiàn zi 毽子 - Chinese featherball or shuttlecock

Leg exercisers.

Qigong April 2009 all photos ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

We've recently been discussing "health issues", so here are more images from the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Exercise machines like those featured above are soon going to be introduced outdoors in at least one Swedish city to encourage adults (not just children) to exercise. The featherball game pictured above is called jiànzi 毽子 and is one of the most common exercise games in China. (It is also called jiànqiú (毽球) among many other names). It is common in other parts of Asia as well (seems its the national sport in Vietnam, da cau) and is a cheap sport - you only need enthusiasm and the featherball which costs 3-4 yuan. The feathercock is heavily weighted on the bottom with a small number of metal or plastic discs. The point is to keep it up in the air for as long as possible, either passing it back and forth to fellow players or by yourself - all the while never using the hands. The more elegant and tricky the better! Jianzi has existed in some form in China for at least 2,000 years and is now played competitively in many countries around the world. 

Temple of Heaven Park 2

Tiantan, Beijing 090410 ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

It's a topsy-turvy world at the Temple of Heaven. Not bad for a 75+ year old lady!

Torture at the Temple of Heaven

Tiantan, Beijing 090410 ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

It's been a while since I could do something like this...

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Tiantan, Beijing 090410 ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

Why doesn't my husband take me to the park to dance? I suppose that's why they call this park in Beijing the Temple of Heaven ;-)

The Porn House

Shenlu, Ming Shisanling, Beijing 090411 ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

On Saturday I took my group to the Spirit Way at the Ming Tombs north of Beijing. Since I was there last year they have put up new signs explaining the layout of the tombs and the animals and human figures that are lined up along the Spirit Way that was meant to lead the emperor's soul back to the world beyond. I have always thought that the signs were perfectly fine, good English, clear picture, etc etc. The animal figures along the beautiful shenlu consist of a pair standing up (Standing Camel) and a pair crouching down (Prone Camel). A legend says that the two couples work together guarding the spirit of the emperor on his last journey and switch places in the middle of the night when it's time for a "change of guard". 

Something wonky happened with the new translation it seems (probably put up for the "hoards of tourists" that the Beijing authorities "thought" were going to come for the Olympics in Aug 2008). The bad camel and the equally bad elephant are now in the Porn House.  Naughty animals!

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Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan), Beijing 1987 ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

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Lama Temple (Yonghegong), Beijing, 1997 ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

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Forbidden City, Beijing, 2005? ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn 

Chickens, cows, grass and Chinese gardens

2008 Orchard Villas (Jinxiu Huayuan), Chengdu, Sichuan ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

This sign is posted just inside the surrounding wall that protects the western section of Orchard Villas, quite a nice housing complex in one of the more affluent parts of Chengdu. The "green belt" that is mentioned here is that scrabby patch of grass-like spinky stuff in the background. This botanical matter is a kind of ground covering most commonly found in Chinese classical gardens when an appropriate and attractive edging is needed or a space around more important things like trees or rockeries requires filling in. It can also be found potted on its own and I'm sure many a foreign visitor has questioned the purpose of these potted green spikes, wondering when those darn things are going to start shooting up flowers. Why else would you plant grass in a pot?

It is actually a lily (lilyturf) called Liriope and was named after Liriope, the mother of Narcissus (another plant name) by the river-god Cephissus. Its Chinese name is maidong, "winter wheat", as the leaves are evergreen. Western style "grass" was rarely a feature of a classical garden, although it can be seen today in the renovated scholar gardens of eastern China's Jiangnan area and the Imperial gardens of Beijing. Classical garden architects of former days thought that this kind of flat ground covering was boring and uninteresting - as one Chinese visitor snippily commented  upon seeing a big, green, unending British lawn: "Grass is cow fodder , it contains nothing to feed the intellect of an educated man".  

Back to the sign: I can understand the warning against walking dogs (and letting them defecate) in a public area but the poultry mentioned above is another matter all together. Why would there be a need for such a warning in an area as rich as Orchard Villas? And why would the rich people living there necessarily let their chickens peck around (or horrors breed!) in the common "green belt"? If they indeed kept farm animals in the middle of a city and in one of the richest parts of town wouldn't you think that they would let said poultry run around looking for food and fun in their own garden? That would still classify as "free range" wouldn't it? 

The crazy thing is that even people that live at posh addresses in China do keep chickens and roosters. Especially before Chinese New Year when many a foreigner remarks how they would like to ring the neck of the rooster that started crowing at four in the morning near their bedroom window. I hadn't given this phenomenon a thought until the earthquake last year when we camped out at China Gardens (beside Orchard Villas) and witnessed the moneyed crowd sleeping in their garages (or in their Ferraris or BMWs) with the rooster tied up next to them. Over here where I live in the not so rich part of town my neighbors keep their finger-lickin-good friends on the balcony. 

Looty, Schloff, Manchu and Lady Li: Famous pekingese

A step down from its imperial past a pekingese surveys his kingdom in a quintessential Beijing hutong ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

From Wikipedia:

Recent DNA analysis confirms that the Pekingese breed is one of the oldest breeds of dog. For centuries, they could be owned only by members of the Chinese Imperial Palace.During the Second Opium War, in 1860, the Forbidden City was invaded by Allied troops. The Emperor Xianfeng had fled with all of his court. However an elderly aunt of the emperor remained. When the ‘foreign devils’ entered, she committed suicide. She was found with her five Pekingese mourning her passing.

They were removed by the Allies before the Old Summer Palace was burnt. Lord John Hay took a pair, later called ‘Schloff’, and ‘Hytien’ and gave them to his sister, the Duchess of Wellington, wife of Henry Wellesley, 3rd Duke of Wellington. Sir George Fitzroy took another pair, and gave them to his cousins, the Duke and Duchess of Richmond and Gordon. Lieutenant Dunne presented the fifth Pekingese to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, who named it Looty.

The Empress Dowager Cixi presented Pekingese to several Americans, including John Pierpont Morgan and Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt, who named it Manchu. The first Pekingese in Ireland was introduced by Dr. Heuston. He established smallpox vaccination clinics in China. The effect was dramatic. In gratitude, the Chinese minister, Li Hung Chang presented him with a pair of Pekingese. They were named Chang and Lady Li. Dr. Heuston founded the Greystones kennel.