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				<td nowrap="1" bgcolor="#000033">  <font size="-2" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"><a class="white" href="http://hua.umf.maine.edu/China/beijing.html">&nbsp;Beijing </a></font>  <font size+1 class="white"> |</font></td>

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<a href="china.html"><IMG ALIGN=LEFT BORDER=0 WIDTH = 166 HEIGHT = 200 SRC="drag2ol.gif" ALT="Dragon"></a><br><br><HR><font class="times"><H1>Active
Beijing</H1>  </font>
<HR>
<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>
<font class="verdana">
<blockquote>
<H3><I>The Streets</I></H3>

<font size=-1><P>Street life varies from the farmer's markets to the glittering joint-venture
buildings
which dot the landscape.&nbsp; Our favorite streets were filled with small kiosks and stalls
selling everything from fruit and vegetables to shoelaces.&nbsp; Most of these burgeoning
businesses were run by farmers who had come to Beijing in search of jobs and a
better
life.&nbsp; As reforms are put in place in the economy, the greatest opportunities are
in the urban areas.&nbsp; Progress is slow in the rural areas where the lack of facilities
and access make it difficult to establish factories and businesses.&nbsp; The large
population from rural areas gives the city a country flavor.</P>  

<P>In the past several years, Niu Yangge dancing has become popular.&nbsp; No one
seemed to know where it started or why.&nbsp; It was brought from the countryside and
became part of the life of the city.&nbsp; In the evening, if you go outside and listen
carefully you will hear the sound of pounding drums.&nbsp; Beneath under passes, in
vacant lots, in parks, the Niu Yangge dancers are dancing in long snake lines,
curving in upon themselves as they follow ever more complex steps and arm
movements.&nbsp; Most of the dancers are women holding pom-poms of streamers in each
hand, while the drummers are usually men.&nbsp; The dancing continues from sunset to
midnight. It is exhausting and filled with energy.&nbsp; It is a release and an
expression.</P>  

<P>In 1976 Beijing suffered a severe earthquake.&nbsp; As you drive around the city you
see beautiful old buildings which have fallen into disrepair.&nbsp; Kept for hundreds of
years, now there just aren't enough resources to repair the damage of the quake.&nbsp; The
cost of adding modern plumbing and facilities to an existing structure is prohibitive.
Modern high rise apartments are a much more attractive alternative.&nbsp; In Maine, we
see the same phenomenon.&nbsp; The large Federal and Victorian homes which
characterize the New England town, house businesses if they survive, while families
move to modern energy efficient maintainable homes.</P>
              
<P>Liulichang is a street where renovation allows us to catch a glimpse of the past. 
It is a
commercial street  near the section of the city where the old legations and embassies
were built.&nbsp; The stores specialize in art and art supplies and cater to the tourist and 
collector alike.&nbsp; The decorations under the eaves, on the doorways, and walls are as
interesting as the contents of the stores.&nbsp; If you leave the main street and walk
through 
the area you can still see bullet holes in the sides of some houses, souvenirs of the 
Boxer rebellion.&nbsp; </P>

<P>The market's are everywhere.&nbsp; We visited several "free" markets, so called
because
they were and are allowed to trade goods and services outside of the collectivist
organization.
Many of these markets are in lean-tos, but we visited one near the Temple of 
Heaven which
had been transformed by the government and moved into a large air-conditioned
building.&nbsp; I am
afraid that I preferred the original market which I had seen a year before.&nbsp; Somehow
the sense
of discovery is gone when it is easy to find what you are looking for -- but they
probably
tripled their sales judging from the number of bags people were carrying.&nbsp; The prices
were
still excellent.

<P>The silk market near the American Embassy does a brisk trade with both Chinese
and foreign
visitors.&nbsp; You can find brands from all of the top fashion houses of Europe and
America.&nbsp; The
market specializes in overruns and factory seconds -- one big factory outlet.&nbsp; On
many items we could get better prices in Walmart or in Freeport, but you would
never find the selection and variety in one place in the States.&nbsp; There are over a
hundred stalls and
if you look
in them all you will find twenty different styles of formal blouses in as many colors. 
Judy did some major shopping for herself and her daughters, getting items which
you just could not find without exhaustive searching in the States.&nbsp; Denise found the
most luxurious pajamas and the rest of us just enjoyed the colors.</P>

<P><A HREF="bpepper1.jpg"> <IMG ALIGN=RIGHT BORDER=0 WIDTH =200  HEIGHT =196 
VSPACE = 10 
HSPACE = 20 SRC = "bpepperb.gif" ALT="Hot Red Peppers"> </A>There are farmer's markets where the
Beijing people do their daily shopping. 
Fresh food is important to Chinese cooking.&nbsp; People prefer produce that has been
picked that day.&nbsp; We saw heaps of spices, fruit of every sort and
variety, and meat markets. A <A HREF="bmwalrs.jpg">morning walk in the market
</A> near BPU gave the group a
chance to stretch their legs and awake to color and great smells.&nbsp; </P> 

<P>There were stands where you could get "fast food."  This man is making a
concoction called jianbing guozi  which
is similar to a tamale or a crepe -- an egg with hot sauce is wrapped in a large thin
pancake.&nbsp; I prefer it without the egg, but the other members of group liked them "as
is."
A number of stands sold quantities of cut mixed vegetables in every combination for
stir fry.
Precut vegetables significantly shorten preparation time for families in which both the

husband and wife work.&nbsp; I always wondered how anyone had the time to prepare
elaborate
evening meals.</P>  

<H3><EM>Two Special Events</EM></H3>
<P>When I discussed the types of experiences the group would like to 
have during the trip with Cai Zunan, Deputy Director of the International
Program at Beijing Polytechnic University, I mentioned that a brief
introduction to calligraphy would be ideal before we visited art 
museums.&nbsp; Chinese calligraphy is a high art form.&nbsp; The placement and
strength of characters help interpret poems, the beauty and life of
the characters give insight into the person of the calligrapher, and
the style of the characters is developed and interpreted by an
individual through a lifetime of practice.</P>  

<P>When we arrived that afternoon, we found that Cai and BPU had
invited Ren Meng Long, an internationally known Chinese painter
and Pu Xi Yang, one of the five top calligraphers in Beijing to
give demonstrations of their art forms.&nbsp; <A HREF="cal1.jpg">
<IMG ALIGN=RIGHT BORDER=0 WIDTH = 250 HEIGHT = 201 VSPACE = 10 
HSPACE = 20 SRC = "cal1.gif" ALT="From left to right -- secretary, Liu Yu Rong, Ren Meng LLong, Pu Xi Yang">  </A>This was so much more
than we had expected.&nbsp; We were honored by the
extraordinary hospitality shown us.&nbsp; The demonstration took place
in the president's conference room.&nbsp; An enormous painting by Ren Meng
Long hung on one wall.&nbsp; Secretaries brought in blue ceramic bowls of water
and ink.&nbsp; In the photograph to the right, Professor Liu Yu Rong who translated 
the lecture for us is second to the left.&nbsp; Next to her is Ren Meng Long and
Pu Xi Yang is on the right.&nbsp; Gradually,
the room filled.&nbsp; Ren Meng Yun, special assistant to the President, and
his wife were there.&nbsp; Ren Meng Yun had brought an exhibition of Chinese
art to UMF several years previously and has been a great friend of the
UMF people visiting China.&nbsp; Other administrators came in.&nbsp; It is not
often that people get to see great artists at work and it was a chance
that they couldn't miss.</P>

<P>Pu Xi Yang began by showing us the origins of Chinese characters and
the development through the <A HREF="cal2s.jpg">shell and bone era</A> up 
to the <A HREF="cal3.jpg">modern Kaishu characters</A>.&nbsp; His touch 
with the brush was sure and strong.&nbsp; We were
then given a chance to try our hands.&nbsp; I can't say that we were too
sure, but all of our characters bore a faint resemblance to the model.</P>

<P>Pu Xi Yang then cleared the work space and spread a new sheet of rice paper. 
He
had been asked to create the character "meng", dream.&nbsp; It is one of my
favorite characters.&nbsp; The word includes hope, aspiration, daydream,
creativity, as well as the sleeping dream.&nbsp; The room became silent.&nbsp; He
chose a large brush and began filling it with ink.&nbsp; He stood for a moment and
then wrote the character.&nbsp; As the last stroke was pulled from the paper, the
group gasped.&nbsp; We had all been holding our breath.</P>

<P>The table was cleared again and Ren Meng Long began to tell us of the
classical principles of Chinese painting.&nbsp; With a few swift strokes,
he created a bowl of grapes and cherries.&nbsp; Form and balance are the
essence of both calligraphy and painting.&nbsp; The symbol is more important
than the object.&nbsp; For this reason, some schools of classical painting
use almost no color, relying on the viewer to abstract the meaning.</P>

<P>Qi Baishi wrote the classic description of painting.&nbsp; His
principles must be mastered before a painter begins to individualize
his work.&nbsp; Ren Meng Long illustrated by doing a painting of shrimp.
As in calligraphy, the stroke order and direction is important to the
effect.&nbsp; The different strokes call for different densities of
ink, achieved by loading the brush with a mixture of water
and ink.&nbsp; Ren Meng Long did this by "feel" which can only come from
years of experience.&nbsp; Brush and ink are demanding tools.&nbsp; You can't
build a line as you do with pencil or charcoal.&nbsp; Each stroke reflects 
the tension of the hand, arm and shoulder.&nbsp; The direction of the stroke
is defined, and changes the entire impression if done incorrectly.</P>

<P>Chiang Yee described one of the horizontal lines used in calligraphy as
". . . so written as to seem like a formation of cloud stretching
from a thousand miles away and abruptly terminating" (Chinese Calligraphy, 2nd.
ed.,
 1954, p. 112).&nbsp; We saw two men who were able to do that with a brush
and it gave us a deeper appreciation of the art exhibits we saw later
on the trip and just a glimmering of understanding.</P>

<H3><EM>Acupuncture</EM></H3>
<P>Acupuncture presents a wonderful puzzle to science.&nbsp; How does it
work?  The placement of the needles is based on energy centers, or
Meridians.&nbsp; There is no obvious anatomical relationship between the
position of the needle or needles and the effect.&nbsp; The art is old,
probably derived from early acupressure and massage.&nbsp; It is used 
in the west primarily for blocking pain, but has a wider range of applications
in China.</P>
<P>It wasn't in the schedule, but things fell into place and Cai Zunan picked
us up early one morning and we drove to a residential area where we
picked up Dr. Zhao Jihui.&nbsp; Dr. Zhao Jihui had just returned from Norway, where
he had been giving courses on acupuncture to physicians.&nbsp; We drove
to the main Training Center of China Academy of Traditional Chinese 
Medicine in Beijing and
discussed some of the successes of acupuncture and the current 
developments in treatment.&nbsp; </P>
<P>On the ward, a colleague demonstrated the placement of needles and
cupping while Dr. Zhao Jihui explained.&nbsp; We spent most of our time
discussing the recent successes the Chinese were having in treating
stroke with acupuncture.&nbsp; The treatment is by no means predictable, but
in some cases he sighted the patients were able to regain use of
limbs and functions quickly.&nbsp; The Chinese are placing greater
emphasis on early intervention and therapy as we have begun to do
in western medicine.&nbsp; Dr. Zhao Jihui stressed the need for further
research to determine what makes one treatment successful and 
another a dead end.</P>

<P>Judy was curious and asked if she could try.&nbsp; The doctor agreed
and having examined Judy and asking several questions about her arm,
did one placement.&nbsp; Judy described the feeling as unusual -- not
unpleasant -- but as if there were an effect throughout her arm.&nbsp; It
was not a tingle but a sense of activity. </P>
<P>The doctor then demonstrated cupping.&nbsp; A flame was placed into
glass bowls and the bowls or jars were placed on the back in various
positions.&nbsp; The flame is in the bowl briefly, just long enough to burn 
off the oxygen, creating a minor vacuum.&nbsp; When the bowls are placed on the
skin, they remain there by suction, pulling the flesh into their centers.
  It sounds cruel, but I watched the face of the woman as the cups
were placed and there wasn't a flicker of a wince.&nbsp; Still, no one
in the group asked if they could try.&nbsp; Cupping is commonly used 
to treat backache and serves to increase circulation to the area.</P>

<P>Dr. Zhao Jihui discussed the growing trend in China to combine 
western and traditional medicine.&nbsp; Many of our pills are merely refined
herbal products which extract the active ingredient.&nbsp; The Chinese
emphasis on balance has had a positive influence on our development of 
holistic medicine.&nbsp; The Chinese in their turn are adopting antibiotics
and some of our surgical techniques.</P>
</blockquote>
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