Ashley, our guide, insisted I put down the camera and stop working for a second so I could document my time at the Summer Palace. Here is the pic he took of me. Thanks, Ashley.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Another Dragon Lady? : )
Ashley, our guide, insisted I put down the camera and stop working for a second so I could document my time at the Summer Palace. Here is the pic he took of me. Thanks, Ashley.
Dragon Ladies and a Time of Daffodils
I’ve had the pleasure of hearing our talented students sing one of my favorite songs in their programming, “In Time of Daffodils,” a poem by e.e. cummings that was composed into a lovely work for vocalists, many times on this trip. During rehearsals, during impromptu performances throughout China, sometimes on the bus while we’re traveling to our next destination. I never tire of listening to the students soar beyond their years for a second, letting their lives rest in the maturity and wisdom of the poem through song.
During our last day in Beijing, “In Time of Daffodils” really took on a whole new meaning for anyone who heard it, I think. We had already spent the morning exploring one of Beijing’s most well-known places, the Summer Palace, which was originally built by Empress Dowager Cixi, or the “Dragon Lady,” a ruthless and powerful woman in China’s history. She began her rise to power as a young concubine who ruled China through a series of emperors. She was known a
s the Dragon Lady because it is said that she killed her own son so that her nephew could be emperor (according to our guide). But it’s not just her n
ame (or her story) that make the Summer Palace a place of wonder, something that seems forgotten by time, or a setting for a fairytale. Swooping, stone roofs, a barge made of marble, kaleidoscope colors and storytelling paintings that line the Long Corridor give the whole area a feeling of enchantment. The quiet, misty lake is very much taken from childhood stories and legends.
Tours of foreigners (including many Westerners) fill the Summer Palace, from every co
untry you can think of. Many of them trailed behind us as we made our way past the mythical qilin statue (which, according to Lonely Planet, is “a hybrid animal that appeared on earth only at times of harmony”). I kept thinking about how incredible it is that so many people from outside of China are now rushing in to appreciate its beauty, its culture, its light-speed economy that has allowed it to transform its cities in just the past few decades. It all seems otherworldly at times, like something in a novel, it is so vivid and intense.
My thoughts on all things magical and moving stayed with me when we later visited Beijing Chaoyang Xinghe Primary School so that the Chamber Choir could sing to children. Our time there began with us taking a tour around the school to see its grounds. It’s a beautiful facility, with state-of-the-art classrooms and a large, clean athletic field. When we went into one classroom, the children rushed up to us with beaming faces and cries of joy and excitement, their hands full of construction paper collages they had made for us. They all cried out, “Hello! Hello!” over and over again. It made me smile because it echoed our own students calling “Ni hao!” to people they see in China. After our tour, we took a group picture and then settled in the auditorium for the performance, which was MCed in English and in Chinese by the school’s students. The afternoon went really well. We enjoyed dancing and singing by the Primary School’s kids and faculty (our students joined one teacher for an aerobic dance performance) and then our Choir performed. The school’s teachers and principal joined our singers on stage for “Usuli Boat Song,” a proud moment of sharing for our people and theirs.
When the Choir got to the time in the program for “In Time of Daffodils” beaming children suddenly filed on stage with roses in their hand for each singer. It was such a sweet and simple gesture that meant so much. I thought of several lines from “Daffodils” that seem reflective not only of FSU’s experiences here but of what’s happening right now between China and the rest of the world:
in time of daffodils (who
know the goal of living is
to grow)
forgetting why, remember how
then later it says
In time of roses (who amaze
our now and here with paradise)
forgetting if, remember yes
Our time in China is a time for believing, of enjoying every moment for what it is—something that we master in childhood and sometimes struggle to hold onto later in life. Our relationship with China, as cultural ambassadors, representatives of our country, and perhaps most importantly, human beings who all share this earth, is about forgetting if and remembering yes, we can do this. We can be a world of shared knowledge, love and learning. Our experience here makes me know this possible.
During our last day in Beijing, “In Time of Daffodils” really took on a whole new meaning for anyone who heard it, I think. We had already spent the morning exploring one of Beijing’s most well-known places, the Summer Palace, which was originally built by Empress Dowager Cixi, or the “Dragon Lady,” a ruthless and powerful woman in China’s history. She began her rise to power as a young concubine who ruled China through a series of emperors. She was known a
s the Dragon Lady because it is said that she killed her own son so that her nephew could be emperor (according to our guide). But it’s not just her n
ame (or her story) that make the Summer Palace a place of wonder, something that seems forgotten by time, or a setting for a fairytale. Swooping, stone roofs, a barge made of marble, kaleidoscope colors and storytelling paintings that line the Long Corridor give the whole area a feeling of enchantment. The quiet, misty lake is very much taken from childhood stories and legends.Tours of foreigners (including many Westerners) fill the Summer Palace, from every co
untry you can think of. Many of them trailed behind us as we made our way past the mythical qilin statue (which, according to Lonely Planet, is “a hybrid animal that appeared on earth only at times of harmony”). I kept thinking about how incredible it is that so many people from outside of China are now rushing in to appreciate its beauty, its culture, its light-speed economy that has allowed it to transform its cities in just the past few decades. It all seems otherworldly at times, like something in a novel, it is so vivid and intense.My thoughts on all things magical and moving stayed with me when we later visited Beijing Chaoyang Xinghe Primary School so that the Chamber Choir could sing to children. Our time there began with us taking a tour around the school to see its grounds. It’s a beautiful facility, with state-of-the-art classrooms and a large, clean athletic field. When we went into one classroom, the children rushed up to us with beaming faces and cries of joy and excitement, their hands full of construction paper collages they had made for us. They all cried out, “Hello! Hello!” over and over again. It made me smile because it echoed our own students calling “Ni hao!” to people they see in China. After our tour, we took a group picture and then settled in the auditorium for the performance, which was MCed in English and in Chinese by the school’s students. The afternoon went really well. We enjoyed dancing and singing by the Primary School’s kids and faculty (our students joined one teacher for an aerobic dance performance) and then our Choir performed. The school’s teachers and principal joined our singers on stage for “Usuli Boat Song,” a proud moment of sharing for our people and theirs.
When the Choir got to the time in the program for “In Time of Daffodils” beaming children suddenly filed on stage with roses in their hand for each singer. It was such a sweet and simple gesture that meant so much. I thought of several lines from “Daffodils” that seem reflective not only of FSU’s experiences here but of what’s happening right now between China and the rest of the world:
in time of daffodils (who
know the goal of living is
to grow)
forgetting why, remember how
then later it says
In time of roses (who amaze
our now and here with paradise)
forgetting if, remember yes
Our time in China is a time for believing, of enjoying every moment for what it is—something that we master in childhood and sometimes struggle to hold onto later in life. Our relationship with China, as cultural ambassadors, representatives of our country, and perhaps most importantly, human beings who all share this earth, is about forgetting if and remembering yes, we can do this. We can be a world of shared knowledge, love and learning. Our experience here makes me know this possible.
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