Chirac's warriors

The French president arrived in Xian today to have a third look at the army of emperor Qin Shihuang’s terracotta warriors,… in his third capacity!

He first saluted the army as mayor of Paris in 1978, even before the site was opened to mere mortals. He became the first foreigner to view the excavation and promptly declared the terracotta army the 8th wonder of the world.

In 1991 he visited as France’s prime minister. Today he returned for a third time as president. It may not be his last visit, but the next time it will be as an ordinary pensioner, although in the eyes of the Chinese government he will always be a VIP.

Some commentators argue that Chirac is friendly to China in order to try to sell French products. That is only half the truth. He also loves Chinese culture and civilization, its porcelains and bronze wares. He has also visited the Shanghai Museum three times.

The Chinese like Chirac because he is a cultured man. Some other so-called statesman’s knowledge is limited to a cowboy hat.

The China Pagoda

Why did I call my blog View from The China Pagoda?

Pagoda’s are a typically Chinese construction. Well, you also find them in Japan, but they probably borrowed the idea from China.

China still has thousands of pagoda’s. They are elegant, beautiful constructions. You can climb to the top of many of them along a rickety staircase. Sometimes it is so narrow you have to be pretty slim to make it to the top. One such pagoda is the one on the hilltop in Yan’an, the old revolutionary base area where Mao ended up after the Long March. I didn’t make it to the top of that one. It was really too narrow and claustrophobic.

The Big and Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xian are also quite famous. If you do make it to the top of those structures you have a nice bird-eye view of the surroundings. When I climbed to the top of a pagoda in Yinchuan, capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, I could see a church building which was completely invisible from the street. I dropped by and learned that the church had been founded by Flemish missionaries in 1920s!

Pagoda’s are no ivory towers. You don’t lock yourself up in them to escape from the world. On the contrary, from the top storey, they give you a general view. Once back down, you have a better idea how to explore the surroundings.

So the pagoda is a metaphor for my blog: keep an eye on the overall picture, get down to earth and fill in the blanks.

In tomorrow’s post we’ll have a look at another famous pagoda, the Longhua Pagoda in Shanghai, which has been opened for the first time since 1949 for just three days from October 1 to October 3.