Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
This market in a central street of the capital
is like a country fair transposed to the city, where the animals are sold still alive.
We hide our cameras behind the heaps of fruits and tea leaves.
The prices are low. The abundance is accessible to all.
Apart from gentle manners and subtle intelligence,
food appreciation is another common trait among Chinese.
The table is rich is fanciful.
Each province is proud of its diverse specialities.
But, at least for an outsider, the important thing is
that the giant expanse of the agricultural grounds helps all Chinese
to overcome the Asian tragedy of malnutrition.
Even though not everywhere you can find as much abundance as here.
"There is a Great Palace in the City" wrote Marco Polo.
One Sunday, we leave to rediscover the walls, roofs, staircases and gardens of the Forbidden City
described in Il Milione.
A few decades ago,
no Europeans were allowed to enter here, and only very few Chinese.
Closed during the Cultural Revolution, the Emperor's City has recently reopened.
And we've come here to watch the Chinese visitors,
rather than to explore the legacy of the imperial times.
The names of the halls and pavilions celebrate the enormous divine prominence
that the emperors associated with their own presence.
Supreme Harmony, Celestial Purity, Terrestrial Serenity, Nourishment of the Spirit.
The actual life behind these walls was a rather different story.
These were cruel and greedy courts
dominated by extravagant and hardly human customs.
The halls and palaces formed an itinerary leading toward the inaccessible power.
The visitors and court officials kept pacing from one hall to another,
waiting to be summoned to the Emperor's chamber,
often passing away or abandoning their original intention
before being able to reach the destination.
The modern Chinese have a peaceful relationship with their past.
They see its grandeur as a motivation to look into the present,
and visit without solemn trepidation these no longer forbidden grounds.
Beijing is still an old city with small houses
narrow streets and closed courtyards.
This old woman has tiny feet. Her steps are unsteady.
Since childhood, her feet were tightly bound and not allowed to grow.
One emperor had a concubine with shapely buttocks and tiny feet,
and that's how this cruel custom has originated.
The officials at the court decided that the prominent shape of the buttocks, a symbol of beauty,
depends on the size of the feet.
Hence they invented the custom.
A woman with feet like this must have been young in the days of the last dynasty.
This is an antique trading street called Liu Li Chang.
It is brimming with shops selling all sorts of curiosities. They are all managed by the state.
And all the goods are sold at fixed prices.
The streets are narrow. And there is always a Public Security Guard
who would maintain the order and prevent strangers from entering.
The roofs protrude beyond the walls.
There are no windows outside.
The life is confined to the courtyards.
They are a kind of communal area used for both work and recreation.
A kind of private order is maintained inside by consent of all inhabitants.
The houses are simple and poor.
Getting inside is hard.
You have to overcome the diffidence and shyness.
But once you're in you'll discover the human warmth as well.