There’s only so much you can do in a day. This expression, apparently, is not clearly understood by the Chinese. Doing the Great Wall tour yesterday left quite a few of us with callused toes…the logical conclusion might have been to take it easy today. But that is not the Chinese way. But first, a message from our sponsors….
It’s clear that the Chinese government is hoping we’ll help with their social issues since it seems that everywhere our bus stops, there is a gang of street vendors clamoring to sell us Chairman Mao quotation books, colourful chopsticks, Beijing caps or “Rolex” watches for anywhere from one dollar to 5 of same. Perhaps I conspire too much…street people in Canada demand money for nothing so at least here, you get something for your contribution. Surprisingly, I’ve only seen two cases where people asked for “donations” without offering for sort of exchange.
Now, on to the soft-sell…at least once every day, there’s been a visit to some “culturally significant” institution which, coincidentally, happens to sell stuff at great discount to those who can afford to take advantage of such deals. Presumably, the rank and file can’t. Pearls, silk, personal tailors, rare jade….you name it. There is a state-run shop that can offer you stuff at a discount…a discount that doesn’t attract enough local interest to be profitable, obviously. But a discount nonetheless.
Today we had a pitch by a bunch of naturopaths…or traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. The problem is that each of them had a recommendation that involved buying from 500$US to 1500$US of herbal medicines that would be, in their words, a “supplement” to western medicine and because of its “all natural” properties would complement without interfering with whatever you are currently taking, I became skeptical very quickly. The idea of holistic medicine based on herbs is not a hard case to make…history has already made that case. It’s the leap from “it comes from nature” to “nature would not mess with you” that I find difficult to accept.
But still…I have to admit that a quick trip to the wild side of holistic medicine can’t possibly hurt…but I’m a bit ahead of myself since that’s how the day ended.
Earlier, we set out for the Forbidden City, a walled-in compound used by the Imperial family up until the 1920s. It’s a remarkable place that demonstrates the wealth and power of the royal families throughout the ages but also demonstrates the significant differences between occidental societies and oriental ones. The Forbidden City is walled but the walls are to keep the riff-raff out, not the barbarians. There has never been a siege of the palace…battles are fought outside the imperial compound and, if vanquished, the defeated Emperor is either killed, flees to another country or quietly moves to a small, anonymous village and commits suicide.