public transportation
Head to town determined to figure out the Beijing Subway. It turns out to be easy as pie. They have signs in letters I can understand, and announcements too. Everything is clean and air-conditioned. The 3 RMB ticket keeps poor people out, and the crowd is typically young and professional. Our destination is Beijing Railway Station where we find the waiting room for international passengers furnished with red plastic armchairs. It has a ticket window. A not very helpful woman refers us to a travel agent since we have questions before we are ready to purchase our tickets to Yuncheng and Shanghai. We take a bus to the Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall for 1 RMB to discover it is closed on Mondays, Mao's Mausoleum too, so we purchase a kite and fly it on Tiananmen Square before visiting the Zhongshan Park. I want to see the alter for the autumn gods of the earth where the emperor performed sacrifices for the harvest. A square wall with 4 gates surrounds the square alter which is divided in four colors of earth: black to the north, red to the south, white to the west and green to the east. The middle is yellow representing the power of the emperor. The amount of people who want to take a picture of them selves with one of us is a little overwhelming. We take the subway to a cab home.
Knud Larsen, one of my teachers in architecture in the 80s gives a surprise call. He is in Beijing on his way back from Tibet. He visits with Rigmor and Petter, Baard Breivik's assistant. Mel has made dinner and they bring cheese and bread and wine. Rigmor talks about the need for the Chinese government to allow the artists some space and the scene to grow. It used to be Paris, NY and Berlin, now Beijing is hot, and the government should support this moment. Other issues discussed: professors from the Academy, international artists, cheap labor and materials, live traditions, good skills, no masks or glows, moral issues?
Knud Larsen, one of my teachers in architecture in the 80s gives a surprise call. He is in Beijing on his way back from Tibet. He visits with Rigmor and Petter, Baard Breivik's assistant. Mel has made dinner and they bring cheese and bread and wine. Rigmor talks about the need for the Chinese government to allow the artists some space and the scene to grow. It used to be Paris, NY and Berlin, now Beijing is hot, and the government should support this moment. Other issues discussed: professors from the Academy, international artists, cheap labor and materials, live traditions, good skills, no masks or glows, moral issues?
» Post a Comment