day 12: 保定 (baoding) = okm

白昕 and the twins decided to stick around and do some sightseeing today, so we went to what seems to be the main attraction of this city: the 故莲花池, an ancient lotus pond originally dating back to the 唐 (tang) dynasty:

This is a beautiful, if small and unspectacular, place with a nice and relaxed atmosphere to it, made for some time spent pleasantly and at leisure. Interesting details:

I’m still not sure how to describe these creatures. You find them on most classical Chinese roofs. They’re supposed to shield off the structure from evil spirits but also give an idea of the importance of the specific building – the more beasts, the better the place! 对了，有谁知道这样的楼上的小动物到底叫什么请告诉我，我查了半天还是查不到！

We stayed such a long time I ended up playing with backlight situations.

Here’s a dramatic 施懿珈.

On the way back to the car we noticed a catholic church opposite of the park and decided to have a look before my three friends had to go home to Beijing.

The thing is, I always get a funny feeling when I’m around manifestations of Christianity in China: I suddenly feel like an expert. I know I’m not, and I know that this feeling is totally immature, but I guess it must be the same for a Chinese person who is witnessing Buddhism in a European country – it just feels a bit weird. Saint Paul holding up a Testament in Chinese, is that like Richard Gere chanting “Om omne padme hum”?

I found a blackboard inside the courtyard and I liked this drawing of the Virgin Mary a lot. I liked the colors and the arrangement of the characters in columns and in rows. I especially liked the fact that it was done in chalk, and therefore wasn’t meant for perpetuity.

Eternity is a scary thing to think about when you’re in a miniature hotel room with no windows and a damp smell to it, and the nightkeeper is outside snoring like a big dying bear.

And there is all this road ahead.

Soundtrack: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Karajan) – “Communio: Lux Aeterna”

—total: 189,8km