12 day China Trip - Sunday 4th Nov.2012 to Thursday 15th Nov.2012 AND off to Vancouver

Hello Everyone

Right below the photos is the description of the painting that one of the Chinese student gave us.

Hope you are all fine.  I am so sorry for this long silence.  I am finally getting down to writing about our trip to China in Nov 2012 and putting down what Jack had in his diary.

Our trip to China was long awaited but came together very quickly. It had always been a dream of ours to visit China.  Over the years in England we had made many Chinese friends who had stayed with us and secondly China always fascinated me.  The deal was so good that it would be mad not to take it.  All the planning with the Agent and with our Chinese friends in China really made it possible for us to travel.  Our plan had been to use BA flights and arrange our own travel and accommodation as we have done for the last 35 years for our various trips around the world.  This time it was going to be from Canada where we are currently based.

Despite having Chinese friends in a number of cities we discovered that China was a bit more difficult with entry requirements which needed all itinerary and accommodation prearranged.   

We had nearly given up when Mel came across a very good package deal with a tour company called Chinapac.  What would we do without Google or how did we manage before???

Well to cut a long story short  we did land in China.

Our trip scheduled start was preceded by Maryann and John visiting us in Toronto at the end of Oct. to beginning of Nov.2012.  Their return to London was on the same day and approximate time so all four travelled to Toronto Airport and departed about 7 am travelling in opposite directions and destinations 23000 miles apart - we West to Vancouver and Beijing and they East to London.

So on Sunday 4th Nov.2012 we depart Toronto at 7.30 am on West Jest to Vancouver arriving 5 hours later.  There were some amazing views as we flew over the frozen expanses of flat Saskatchewan, Alberta, Calgary, Rocky Mountains.  The view was so clear from 30,000 feet that I could pick out the highway we travelled about 15 years ago from Vancouver over the Rockies to Jasper, Banff, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon.  What a wonderful and varied world our God has created for us to live in and enjoy.

Our China trip actually started in Vancouver, flying to Beijing on Air China 8600 miles in 11 hours 30 mins.  Pretty uneventful flight, mediocre food and service but good leg room was a plus.

At Beijing we met up with other members of our Chinapac Group - 18 in all and then flew on an internal flight to Shanghai another 2 and half hours away.  This was very pleasant flight with a friendly and well-spoken crew considering that it was the same airline.  At Shanghai we were met our two guides one who will travel with us all the way and a local guide who us for just 4 days.

We reached our hotel Boalong , Shanghai at 11.30 pm.  It was very impressive and comfortable hotel in the center of downtown Shanghai.  We were ready for bed as next day we had to be up at 7am and leave by 9 am.  By the way we had crossed the international date line so we were actually on Monday night after 19 hours of flying!

On Tuesday Nov.6th - Day 3.

 It was a Shanghai Day.  Breakfast was in a huge dining area with buffet style - Continental, English, Chinese food.  Chinese boiling pots, woks and steamers were manned by chefs ready to boil, fry, steam as required, the veg, meats, noodles that people picked.  What a sight as we wandered around totally confused at what to select and in which order.  For my part I settled for an international mix of spoonfuls of a lot of the dishes.  For the first course and steamed dumplings, veg, soup for seconds.

At 9.15 am we started the trip round Shanghai financial district with all the skyscrapers.  A trip to the 88th floor of the JIN MAO TOWER with great views some dulled by haze.  This was followed by visit to the exquisite YU YUAN Garden built in 1400AD and took 8 years to build.  A fantastic combination of buildings, unique rocks, trees, water ways and naturally carved stone rocks brought here from a radius of 250 miles as Shanghai is a flat sandy land.  What we saw and enjoyed cannot be adequately described in a short script.  A truly enjoyable place also having thousands of Koy in the canals, tanks and ponds, dragons, birds and animals were designed in with deep meaning and stories.

After this we had a Chinese Lunch at Superman Cafe and a free hour of shopping in the stalls of the old city with people selling fakes of watches to Ipods even something which said made in the USA obviously for the Chinese market.  This done we drove to the Bund Area a part of the modern city built in the early 1900 to 1950.  European style buildings face the Bund along the river Poo (yes the foul word).  This is a very pleasant Esplanade to walk and compares well with any city in the West.  One could well think you are not in the Orient.  NEXT a walk down Nanjing Road opens your eyes to the mix and variety of cultures which has formed modern Shanghai.  Residential low rise buildings are inter-mingled with modern shop fronts and further up even very high class department stores.  A ride on a Disney style road train give the feel of travelling along a road showing 100 years of evolving architecture.  After a bit of gift shopping it was time for another Chinese dinner on the Bund river near the Memorial to the Unknown soldier.  It was now getting dark and time to go on the optional cruise along the Poo river to enjoy the buildings brightly and artistically illuminate along both banks.  What a colorful feast to the eyes as we cruised by buildings  lit up like a fairyland each competing with the other to gain our attention with messages and adverts.  The temp dropped to about 5 degree a bit chilly on the upper deck from a high of 10 degree during the day.  THIS HAS BEEN A VERY PLEASANT DAY.

  

On Wednesday  Nov.7th - Day 4

Breakfast today was again a testing experience of different Chinese dishes.   Sampled eggs boiled in tea today.  First visit today was to the Jade Buddha temple which claims to have the only 2 Jade Buddha's outside Beijing.  The story goes that 6 were sent from Burma to China in early 1900.  They were shipped to Shanghai but the 2 here were too big and heavy to be sent to Beijing in those days so have remained here and a temple was built around them.  They escaped destruction during the Cultural Revolution because some quick thinking monks hid them behind a huge portrait of Chairman Mao the 2 Buddhas, one  sitting and one reclining, are huge and each carved from single pieces of Jade rock.  The wooden temple structures have intricate carvings and massive wood beams, pillars and roof structures.  Like many religious places of the East the outside has beggars of all types.  The temple also has a large collection of Bonsai trees.

The next stop was at a Silk Rug Factory where we saw the making of a Silk Rug.  Obviously they tried to sell to us but we had no intentions.  Lunch was at a Mongolian BBQ restaurant.  The procedure is to select what you want grilled take it to the chefs who grill and return to you.

After lunch we moved to the next city Suzhou - 2 hours’ drive North West of Shanghai.  I have never seen so many elevated roads and flyovers before as in Shanghai.  It gives the impression of some futuristic city you see in Sci Fi movies.

Suzhou is rated as the cultural center of China and named Venice of the East.  

The first stop was at the Master of Nets Garden.  A World Heritage site.

Gardening here is all about rocks, pools, walkways, fish and buildings all put together with deep meaning?  The guide explained the thought process in design.  From the garden to a silk embroidery centre showed the craft side of Suzhou.  It is difficult to explain the talent of the Masters who use silk thread to weave intricate pictures, photo like portraits and landscapes, some even double sided.  Some were on sale for upto $300,000 way beyond our range.  Pictures of Mao and Diana took 2 years each to create.

After a 'nothing to talk about' dinner got to the 'Grand Metro Park Hotel'.   A very impressive hotel beautiful decor and very good rooms.  Another day done.

 On Thursday  Nov. 8th was Day 5  -  Suzhou - Hangzhou

Breakfast today was in a beautifully set dining area with again a big variety of Chinese and Continental breakfasts which tempted us.

The first excursion was to the Grand Canal System.  The Grand Canal is a North South waterway 1900 km long from Beijing in the North to Hangzhou in the South.  It was designed to connect the main Chinese rivers which flow East to West to produce a waterway system to better serve food movement from the South to North.  It also connected vast areas of China to the Yangtze River and to the world via the Yellow Sea.  Construction started in 486 BC and Beijing was connected in the 13th century nearly 1800 years later.

The launch gave us a flavor of a part of the Suzhou section which is like Venice but not the same charming buildings and better maintained buildings.  Suzhou is also the center of the Chinese silk production so our next visit was to a Silk factory.  This was a very informative experience showing how the eggs turn to worms to larvae, silk cocoon, boiling, thread making and finally making of duvets, pillows and textiles.  Of course the end aim was to sell products from scarves to dresses, cushions to bed sets.  After lunch we drove South to Hangzhou and straight to the Old City center to walk a pedestrian street full of traditional shops selling everything from clothes to food and tourist items to household goods.  Evening dinner was again just okay but the Hotel was (Nade Freedom  Hotel) Northern part of the city was good looking and when we got to the room a real beauty.  Every holiday must have something unique and this was it.  Mel unpacked and went straight into the shower while I sat reading.  Suddenly I hear a shout Jack can you see me?  I look up to see her standing in the bath like a mannequin waiting to be dressed.  We both realized that the bathroom and bedroom were separated with a clear glass wall.  We had never seen such a feature in all the years we have traveled.  By selecting which curtain to pull you could decide which of your personal shows could be viewed.

On Friday  Nov.9th - Day 6  -  HANGZHOU 

This morning after breakfast we headed out to see the Six Harmony Pagoda built on the hillside next to a river to protect the area from flooding.  There was some rain today a constant drizzle.  From the Pagoda we went to the 'Longjing Plantation' which apparently is the only Organic tea Plantation.  The aim at the end is to sell some expensive tea-green of course.  The gardens are huge and the operation extensive.  Following lunch we made our way to West Lake for a Boat ride.  Although dull and rainy the ride was very informal and enjoyable.  The weather had been wet all day and cloudy so views on the lake were not so good. In the evening we had a friend Da Huang who came from Wanzhou   about 5 hours away.  He came with his son and wife.  We had a wonderful meeting after 3 years.  He took us out to a typical fish restaurant and we had fish soup and a number of other typical dishes of that area including shrimp, and crab.  

On Saturday Nov.10th - Day 7  -  HANGZHOU – XIAN Terracotta Army

Today was an early morning start leaving the hotel at 4.30 am for a 7.30 flight to Xian.  The flight was good and while the bags were sent directly to the 4* Titan Times Hotel we went to a ceramic factory where the terracotta process was explained and how the Terracotta warriors would have been made 2400 years ago.  The tourist replicas today are made using the same clay and same backing process.  This factory also produces lacquer furniture.  This stop is again to encourage tourists to buy to help the economy.  After lunch was the trip to see the Terracotta Warriors.   This is an impressive site organized very well for the thousands of people who come (20 million per year).  The excavations are not yet complete.  Our local guide Jenny told us about the thousands of warriors, horses and weapons that were made over a 38 year period for the king’s burial chambers.  They were discovered by accident when a farmer was excavating a well.  All the full sized warriors found were broken and smashed due to plundering after the king died and later by collapsing chambers etc.  It is worth reading the net to get the full story of the reasons and painstaking work that was undertaken then all for the burial process of a king.  The site, museum and the whole story is truly amazing and the Chinese have done a wonderful job to show it off.  The whole area is meticulously clean.  In the evening we went for a dumpling dinner and Tang Dynasty show.  The colorful costumes and elegant dance moves were very enjoyable.  Back at the hotel Titan the rooms are really nice and the hotel lobby is amazing and breathtaking.

Sunday 11th Oct. – Day 8 – Xian to Beijing

This morning we left our luggage at the Lobby and went to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and The Grand Mosque which is in the Muslim quarter.  It is here we met our friends Chen Na and Beibei.  Being Sunday they took us for lunch while the rest of our group went for their lunch.  Beibei's husband also joined us for a dumplings lunch.  It was great meeting these Chinese students who had stayed with us in England for 3 weeks.  After lunch we met up with our group and went to the airport for our flight to Beijing.  The flight was at 3.30.   After a 2 hour flight we were in Beijing about 5.30 and after a drive through the city of Beijing we had a dinner of Chinese dishes and then to our Hotel Pullman Wanda West.  Again this is a very good 5* hotel with a grand entrance lobby.  The room is large with a King bed instead of 2 twins we have had in Shanghai and Suzhou.  Being Sunday we have not been able to go to Mass.

  

Monday 12th Nov.  Day 9-  Beijing

After a buffet breakfast we left today at 8 am and headed to the Summer Palace of the old Chinese Emperors.  The scale of construction that was undertaken to create a lake, a hill from the spoil, gardens, palace buildings, bridges and rockeries is awe inspiring.  The buildings are decorated elaborately and connected with an 800 m long corridor.  A citizen's choir was singing happy revolution songs and any one could pick up a book and join quite like a 'Come let us sing together Gospel songs concert.  They all looked very happy mainly senior citizens.

Lunch was a dim sum with lots of steamed dumplings which were delicious.

After lunch was the high light - Visit to Tian An Men Square and The Forbidden City.  One has to see the scale of organization to understand this area.  The control, the pride, the deep rooted loyalty to the People's Republic all show in the tidy buildings, pristine gardens and pavements.  The crowds are huge even on this working day.  The visit to these places is a must.  The Forbidden City is so called because it was not to be entered by anyone except the Emperor, wives and sons, was guarded by thousands of Eunuchs. 

A bit of culture followed, with a visit to the 'Golden Mask Dance'.  This is a fabulous story of a queen who is besotted by a common man and ultimately marries him after he saves the kingdom from invaders and also floods.  The highlight is waterfalls and floods by water actually  flooding on stage.  A typical Chinese dinner followed and the end of a long day.

Tuesday 13th Nov. Day 10- Beijing

Started today at 7.30 am with a visit to a Jade factory.  The scale of operation is really awesome.  Again the aim is to entice the tourist to buy.  Today after a two hour drive was the highlight - The Great Wall visit at Badaling .  The complexity of this man made Wonder of the World needs to be seen to be believed.  We were blessed with a clear day but freezing temperatures and very strong winds which must have a wind chill of -5 at least.  It had snowed 3 days earlier and it was still lying.  In these conditions we climbed and walked a 2 km section between 5 ramparts.  The last section is very steep with 395 steps and a ramp.  Despite the chill winds, aching knees Mel did 4 sections of the wall which I was amazed at.  This was an experience.  Even my video stopped working because the batteries drained out in the low temperatures.  On the return trip we stopped by at a Cloisonne Factory (copper enamel) to shop and have lunch.

On the way back from The Great Wall as we passed through Beijing we stopped by the 2008 Olympic Village to take pictures of the Birds Nest Stadium and Aquatic Center.  What we have seen of Beijing and all the 5 cities we have visited is very impressive.  Wide Boulevard streets, clean paved wide pavements, hardly any cycles, plenty of flyovers and elevated roads, high rise glass clad offices, hotels and shopping malls, all showcase very modern cities like if not better than any in the West.  Is it all like this out of sight of the tourist route???  That's a question to be explored on a later independent trip perhaps God willing.  Our whole group has certainly  been impressed by the tour so far, the hotels, the food, the programme, and the balance between sightseeing and shopping was well planned and executed.

Next was a trip to a part of the old city which is likely to be demolished in the next few years. Some activists –yes there are some even in China-are trying to get this a World Heritage status.

Here is where the ethnic Mongolians have lived for 800 years.  We rode on cycle rickshaws through the narrow streets and visited a typical house.  The owner gave a brief history of her family (all Kung Fu instructors)  This reminded me of Indian villages in North India.  This tour ended with a climb up to the top of the Drum Tower with one 70 flight of steep steps which again Mel managed for a fabulous view of the old city and a demonstration of traditional drum beating.

Sarah Keenlyside Maryann's friend who runs a tourist agency came to see us briefly.  Then Zhung Pung came to collect us to meet a group of Chinese visiting teachers who had come to Reading UK 3 - 5 years ago and were our house guests over a 2 year period.  8 Students and their families 17 of us had dinner at a restaurant frequented by Chou En Lai.  Dinner lasted 3 hours with many snapps toasts with local Chinese alcohol, speeches, reminiscences and gifts.  It was like Christmas for us.  Mel has been keeping in touch with these teachers by email and telephone over these years.  It was great meeting these warm friends and cementing our bond further.  Zhung Pung dropped us back at 10 pm.

This was a fantastic end to a hectic and tiring day.

The restaurant was called TAN PALACE.

Wednesday 14 Nov.  -  Day  11

Today is the last sightseeing day.  Leaving at 8.30 am we first went to Beijing Zoo to see the Giant Pandas of course.  Today was about 3 degree C so cold.  The Pandas came out to greet us.  Such gentle creatures.  The Zoo is quite big but having seen the Pandas and a few other animals we left to go to Temple of Heaven.  This temple is surrounded by gardens with hundreds of old trees.  Everywhere we looked there were groups of people dancing, exercising, singing, playing and generally enjoying.  One area even had outdoor exercise equipment being well used by seniors who looked near 80 years old.  Outdoor music boxes played dance tunes to which couples were dancing.  The temple was huge, built by the king in about 600 AD to give thanks at harvest time.  Like all temples this was elaborately decorated and built in stone and wood.  Today on the last day lunch was a 'Western' style buffet with plenty of selection followed by shopping in the Silk Alley Market.  This market is on 5 floors with jewelry, clothes, language, toys generally anything one wants to buy as gifts.  Here is also an opportunity to try one’s bargaining skills.  On exchanging experiences on the bus some of us managed to bargain down to one tenth of the price demanded.  After that you come back feeling that you have still been fleeced.  It was an interesting experience.

Our final dinner had to be 'Peking Duck'.

 Thurs 15 Nov-Day 15- Return to Vancouver.

Boarded the Air China flight to Vancouver and landed 11 hours later. With good byes we all went our different ways to the parts of Canada where we had come from. We stayed a further 3 days in Vancouver with our friends after about 20 years.

This stay in Vancouver included a visit to Victoria Island which we had missed 25 years ago. We also caught up the friends who we had stayed with at that time and had a fantastic meal.

We finally arrived home on Sunday the 18 November 2012.  Another wonderful holiday!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A local home and he was unique, you can see from the pictures

I climbed all those steps

This was our first Chinese student that stayed with us.  It was a real pleasure that he came to meet us

From here you can see them all and
what a wonderful time they gave us.
We were really touched by their
love, hospitality, kindness,friendship
and all the gifts they showered on us.
We thank God for them and we are
so BLESSED by them.

All of them were such lovely people especially their families that we were meeting for the first time.

This is a park where all sorts of activities takes place for people's health and welfare.
I say it is FANTASTIC.

YOU CAN FIND YOUR WIFE AND HUSBAND THROUGH THESE PAPERS... At least the Chinese believe in that!!!!!!!!

DUCK

The longest silk painting one of our Chinese friend DAVID HOU presented to us.  Very touching indeed.

Our guide Mike and his beautiful wife and baby

Flying back from China to Vancouver

This is Banu and our friend Kitty.  Below are all photos from Vancouver and BC

What a huge Masala Dosa the next table were having..

 

All the above photos are self explanatory from the Blog.

YOU CAN VIEW THE PAINTING THAT JACK IS HOLDING.  THE DESCRIPTION IS BELOW.

Along the River During the Qingming Festival

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Along the River During the Qingming Festival

Traditional: 清明上河圖, Simplified: 清明上河图
Artist	Zhang Zeduan
Year	1085–1145
Type	Panoramic painting
Dimensions	25.5 cm × 525 cm (10.0 in × 207 in)
Location	Palace Museum, Beijing

Along the River During the Qingming Festival (simplified Chinese: 清明上河图; traditional Chinese: 清明上河圖; pinyin: Qīngmíng Shànghé Tú) is a painting attributed to Song Dynasty artistZhang Zeduan (1085–1145). It captures the daily life of people and the landscape of the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng, from the Northern Song period. The theme is often said to celebrate the festive spirit and worldly commotion at the Qingming Festival, rather than the holiday's ceremonial aspects, such as tomb sweeping and prayers. Successive scenes reveal the lifestyle of all levels of the society from rich to poor as well as different economic activities in rural areas and the city, and offer glimpses of period clothing and architecture.^[1] The painting is considered to be the most renowned work among all Chinese paintings,^[2][3][4] and it has been called "China's Mona Lisa."^[5]

As an artistic creation, the piece has been revered and court artists of subsequent dynasties made several re-interpretive versions, each following the overall composition and the theme of the original but differing in details and technique.^[6] Over the centuries, the Qingming scroll was collected and kept among numerous private owners, before it eventually returned to public ownership. The painting was a particular favorite of emperor Puyi, who took the Song Dynasty original with him when he left Beijing. It was re-purchased in 1945 and kept at the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City. The Song Dynasty original and the Qing version, in the Beijing and Taipei Palace Museums respectively, are regarded as national treasures and are exhibited only for brief periods every few years.^[7]

The Song original[edit source | editbeta]

The bridge scene where the crew of an oncoming boat have not yet fully lowered their sails and are in danger of crashing into the bridge

Scene of urban sprawl right before the bridge leading to the main gate of the city (seen on the far left)

The main gate of the city and the urban setting within, with teahouses, vendors, homes, and various figures interacting with one another

The scroll is 25.5 centimeters (10.03 inches) in height and 5.25 meters (5.74 yards)^[8] long. In its length there are 814 humans, 28 boats, 60 animals, 30 buildings, 20 vehicles, nine sedan chairs, and 170 trees.^[1] The countryside and the densely populated city are the two main sections in the picture, with the river meandering through the entire length.

The right section is the rural area of the city. There are crop fields and unhurried rural folk—predominately farmers, goatherds, and pig herders—in bucolic scenery. A country path broadens into a road and joins with the city road.

The left half is the urban area, which eventually leads into the city proper with the gates. Many economic activities, such as people loading cargoes onto the boat, shops, and even a tax office, can be seen in this area. People from all walks of life are depicted: peddlers, jugglers, actors, paupers begging, monks asking for alms, fortune tellers and seers, doctors, innkeepers, teachers, millers, metalworkers, carpenters, masons, and official scholars from all ranks.

Outside the city proper (separated by the gate to the left), there are businesses of all kinds, selling wine, grain, secondhand goods, cookware, bows and arrows, lanterns, musical instruments, gold and silver, ornaments, dyed fabrics, paintings, medicine, needles, and artifacts, as well as many restaurants. The vendors (and in the Qing revision, the shops themselves) extend all along the great bridge, called the Rainbow Bridge (虹橋 Hong Qiao) or, more rarely, the Shangtu Bridge (上土橋).

Where the great bridge crosses the river is the center and main focus of the scroll. A great commotion animates the people on the bridge. A boat approaches at an awkward angle with its mast not completely lowered, threatening to crash into the bridge. The crowds on the bridge and along the riverside are shouting and gesturing toward the boat. Someone near the apex of the bridge lowers a rope to the outstretched arms of the crew below.

In addition to the shops and diners, there are inns, temples, private residences, and official buildings varying in grandeur and style, from huts to mansions with grand front- and backyards.

People and commodities are transported by various modes: wheeled wagons, beasts of labor (in particular, a large number of donkeys and mules), sedan chairs, and chariots. The river is packed with fishing boats and passenger-carrying ferries, with men at the river bank, pulling the larger ships.

Many of these details are roughly corroborated by Song dynasty writings, principally the Dongjing Meng Hua Lu, which describes many of the same features of life in the capital.

Exhibition[edit source | editbeta]

In a rare move, the Song original was exhibited in Hong Kong from June 29 to mid-August 2007 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's transfer to the People's Republic of China. It is estimated that the costs of shipping the painting ran into tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars in addition to an undisclosed cost of insuring this piece of priceless art.

From January 2–24, 2012, the painting was exhibited in the Tokyo National Museum as the centerpiece of a special exhibition to mark the 40th anniversary of normalized diplomatic relations between China and Japan,^[9] with the Japanese museum officials providing the "highest security standards" for the work.^[10]

Remakes[edit source | editbeta]

The original painting is celebrated as the most famed work of art from the Song Dynasty.^[3][11] It was a pride of the personal imperial collections of emperors for centuries.^[5] Due to its high artistic reputation, it has inspired several works of art that revived and updated the style of the original.

An early remake, generally considered to be very faithful to the original, was made by Zhao Mengfu during the Yuan Dynasty. Another notable remake was painted during the Ming Dynasty (14th to 17th centuries). This version has a length of 6.7 meters, longer than the original. It also replaced the scenery from the Song Dynasty to that of the Ming Dynasty based on contemporary fashions and customs, updating the costumes worn by the characters and the styles of vehicles (boats and carts). The Song wooden bridge is replaced with a stone bridge in the Ming remake. The arc of the stone bridge is much taller than that of the wooden original, and where the original had a boat about to crash into the bridge, the reinterpretation has a boat being methodically guided under the bridge by ropes, pulled by men ashore, several other large boats dutifully waiting their turn, undisturbed.^[12]

Another version by five Qing Dynasty court painters (Chen Mu, Sun Hu, Jin Kun, Dai Hong and Cheng Zhidao) was presented to the Emperor Qianlong on January 15, 1737. This version, shown below, was later moved, along with many other artifacts, to the National Palace Museum in Taipei in 1949.^[13]

There are many more people, over 4,000, in the Qing remake, which also is much larger (at 11 metres by 35 cm, or 37 ft by 1 ft).^[14] The leftmost third of this version is within the palace, with buildings and people appearing refined and elegant. Most people within the castle are women, with some well-dressed officials. On the contrary, in the original Song version, the leftmost side is still the busy city.

Associated poem[edit source | editbeta]

In April 1742, a poem was added to the right-most end of the Qing remake. The poem apparently was composed by Emperor Qianlong; the calligraphy is in the running script style, and is in the hand of Liang Shizheng (梁詩正), a prominent court official and frequent companion of Emperor Qianlong. The poem reads as follows:

Original		Pinyin	Literal translation
蜀錦 裝 金 壁 吳 工 聚 碎金 謳歌 萬井 富 城闕 九重 深 盛事 誠 觀止 遺踪 借 探尋 當時 誇 豫 大 此 日 歎 徽欽		Shǔjǐn zhuāng jīn bì Wú gōng jù suìjīn ōugē wànjǐng fù chéngquè jiǔchóng shēn shèngshì chéng guānzhǐ yízōng jiè tànxún dāngshí kuā Yù dà cǐrì tàn Huī Qīn	A wall of gold has been mounted on Shu brocade. Craftsmen from Wu collect spare change To pay tribute to the abundance of a myriad of families. The watchtowers of the city rise to great heights. The bustling scene is truly impressive. It is a chance to explore vestiges of bygone days. At that time, people marveled at the size of Yu, And now, we lament the fates of Hui and Qin.

Digital version[edit source | editbeta]

For a three-month period in the World Expo 2010 presented at the China Pavilion, the painting was remade into a 3D animated, viewer-interactive digital version, titled River of Wisdom, about 30 times the size of the original scroll. The computer animated mural, with moving characters and objects and portraying the scene in 4-minute day to night cycles, was one of the primary exhibitions in the Chinese Pavilion, drawing queues up to two hours with a reservation. Elaborate computer animation gives life to in the painting.

After the Expo, the digital version was on display at the AsiaWorld-Expo in Hong Kong from November 9 to 29, 2010,^[15] where it was a major commercial success.^[16] It was then exhibited at the Macau Dome in Macau from March 25 to April 14.^[17] The digital painting also traveled to Taiwan and displayed at the Expo Dome in Taipei from July 1 to September 4, 2011.^[18] From December 7, 2011 to February 6, 2012, in an exhibition titled A Moving Masterpiece: The Song Dynasty As Living Art, the digital reproduction was exhibited at the Singapore Expo.^[19]

Gallery[edit source | editbeta]

Panorama of Along the River During the Qingming Festival, 12th century original by Zhang Zeduan

Panorama of Along the River During the Qingming Festival, an 18th-century remake of the 12th-century original

Translations of the title[edit source | editbeta]

Scholars have disputed the accuracy of the translation of the painting's name; the word Qingming may refer to either the Qingming Festival or to "peace and order". Several translations have been use by various scholars, such as:

• Going Upriver on the Qingming Festival,
• Life along the Bian River at the Qingming Festival,
• Life Along the Bian River at the Pure Brightness Festival,
• Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival,
• Upper River during Qing Ming Festival,
• Spring Festival on the River,^[20]
• Spring Festival Along the River, or alternatively,
• Peace Reigns Over the River.

During the late 1960s, when the Taipei Palace Museum released a series of books (later digitized as CD-ROM), videos, and stamps about the scroll, it was translated simply and loosely as A City of Cathay.^[14][21]

Analysis[edit source | editbeta]

Traditionally, three things have been accepted about the original painting:

• The city depicted is Kaifeng
• It was painted before the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty in 1127
• It depicts the Qingming Festival

Some recent scholarship challenges all three of those assertions:

• The city depicted is an idealized non-existent city^[22]
• It was painted after the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty in 1127
• It depicts a scene in early autumn

In 2003 a further interpretation was presented:^[23]

• The city depicted is indeed Kaifeng
• It depicts a day in the Qingming solar term of the Chinese calendar, but not the Qingming Festival itself

The wooden bridge depicted in the original version would later be rebuilt by a team of engineers and documented by the PBS television show NOVA during their Secrets of Lost Empires series.^[24]

See also[edit source | editbeta]

• Chinese painting
• Culture of the Song Dynasty