FEATURE
JOURNEYS IN CHINA
By Ruby Tsao
April, 2016
G
eorge was invited to
visit a food company
in Shantong, Jining.
It is a good size city with a
population of 8 million+
(2010), but arrangements
were made to take us to Qufu
by high speed train. Qufu,
Confucius’ hometown, is
now a national, if not
international, destination with
visitors coming from all over
the country and the world
even though it’s a smaller city
of 600,000. It took only a
little over 2 hours from
Beijing South Station to
arrive in Qufu station. Along
the way, we saw rows and
rows of neatly planted trees
separating good size farms. We hardly saw any
farm houses—like the mud-huts in the old days.
Apparently agriculture is entering large scale
operations to replace the small plots of yore.
Jining is a prefecture-level city bordering
Lake Nanyang in southwest Shantong Province.
Qufu is located in the southwest of Shantong
Province. It covers an area of 896 sq km. And it
has a population of 630,000
It is the northernmost city on the Grand Canal of
China, a part of the South to North Water
Transfer project to deliver water to Beijing,
Tianjin and nearby areas. Liangshan, a county of
Jining, is the famous setting of the Chinese
Classic Water Margin.
Upon conclusion of business, the
company boss sent his aides to accompany us to
visit Mencius’ home nearby and the next day,
Confucius Temple and Confucius home in Qufu
before returning to Beijing. We visited Qufu
about 20 years ago, a much more modest place
then. On our way to Confucius Temple, we saw a
new cultural park and a new museum bearing his
name. With over 500 Confucius Institutes
established around the world, it’s obvious that
Confucius has been placed on the high pedestal
once more. Among residents of 600,000, 1/5 of
Located in Qufu, China, Confucius' hometown, the temple of Confucius was originally just his house.
the population, or 120,000 bear the last name
Kong.
In 1996, we visited the Confucius
Temple and the Kong Forest—the family burial
ground. This time, we got to see also the
Confucius Home- Kong Fu. This is a good size
compound occupying 327.5 mu (6 mu=1 acre)
with palatial buildings and a beautiful garden.
The three components of Confucius Temple,
Kong Fu and the Kong
Forest grew over the years
to be one of three palatial
building groups in China,
the other two being the
Forbidden
City
and
Chengde Summer Palace.
direct descendants of first son’s lineage. Emperor
Zhu Yuan Zhang of the Ming Dynasty started the
buildings as a place to conduct memorial services
and as the residence of Kong family. Subsequent
emperors tried to outdo previous emperors by
adding more and more splendid buildings to show
their reverence.
We spent three days in Shandong. The
round trip on the high speed train was
Confucius
never
lived in Kong Fu. A simple
cottage was built by his
students the year after
Confucius died. During the
Song Dynasty, a hereditary
title
of
honor
was
established for Confucius’
the Numismatic Museum
the raising of flag at Tiananmen Square at 5.25 AM every morning
comfortable. We were served drinks and snacks
in the spacious luxury cabins. The company has
an office in Beijing. A representative picked us
up at the station to take us to the People’s
Congress Hotel in the heart of Tiananmen.
This hotel is right next to the People’s
Congress Hall, to accommodate people’s
representatives when the Congress is in session.
It’s very convenient to visit the Palace Museum,
Zhong-Shan Park, the Historical Museum, etc.
The Palace Museum is so big with so much to see
that it always deserves another visit. It’s a long
walk from the front gate to the back and up and
down the stairs of buildings. You must see
whatever displays on the way because it takes too
much time to back
track. Bring your
passports for half
price admission for
seniors.
One afternoon, I
went
in
the
Numismatic Museum
next
door
(free
admission
for
seniors) to see the 4
floors of exhibits. As
I remembered the
super-inflation of the
paper currency in
1948, I looked for the
shops and restaurants in Dashilar highest denomination
Tiananmen Square at night
of paper money used during that time: 6 billion
yuan (they did not bother to print out the zeroesthe paper was not wide enough to fit that many
zeroes; just the words :6 billion were displayed).
I can say, as a child, I was already a billionaire.
The next morning at the crack of dawn, I
heard music playing and voices of people rushing
by the hotel window. Later I inquired at the desk.
The hotel clerk told me about the raising of flag
at Tiananmen Square at 5.25 AM every morning.
Since I wake up early, I decided to join the crowd
the next day for the flag raising ceremony. I
figured this was the only chance for it. (Sleep was
more important to George.) I allowed more time
to walk the distance in the largest square in the
world. When I walked out the hotel at 4.30 AM
next day, long lines of people already waited at
the gate for security check. A street vendor was
allowed to do business to serve breakfast to the
crowd. There were tour groups following tour
guides’ flags. People were rushing from all
directions. The ceremony lasted less than 3
minutes. There were at least 10 rows of people
filed behind the fences surrounding the vast
Tiananmen Square. I could see only from the
view of people’s cell phones on hand-held poles.
The hotel is convenient for sight-seeing,
but meal prices are high. We did not see
restaurants or shops near Tiananmen. After a little
investigation, we saw to the right is Qian Men, to
the left is Wangfujin, both within walking
distance. Our hotel is closer to Qian Men. Nearby
there are shops and restaurants in Dashilar, a
favorite tourist spot. As we strolled along the
street, we discovered a rotisserie stand selling
freshly-roasted Peking duck for 29 yuan— a
fraction of the cost at a fancy restaurant— and no
waiting. It was still hot when we got back to the
hotel.
Normally we do not have a chance to see
how beautiful Tiananmen Square is at night.
Blooming flowers and sculptured shrubs line the
streets. At dusk, buildings are all lit up to show
the beauty of architecture; long rows of street
lights with clusters of globes illuminate the
magnificent Chang An Street. Lots of tourists
from all corners of China came to visit. Vendors
were showing off toys or flying kites to attract
children to buy. This is indeed a people’s square,
a place to welcome people from all walks of life,
young and old, rich and poor, to have fun at the
nation’s capital.
###
Ruby Tsao, born in China, went to Taiwan with
family in 1949; received BA from National Taiwan
University; awarded full scholarship from an international
education foundation to study in the US, received MS from
the University of Michigan.
She has served as President of General Resource
Technology, Inc. and treasurer of Tsao Foundation -both
organizations to promote utilization and research of
renewable resources technology developed by her husband
Professor George Tsao. Her interests include travel and
writing.
She writes on history and culture in the hopes to
promote understanding of China for better US-China
relations.