Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China

Beijing Ancient Observatory

The Beijing ancient observatory was easy to get to on the subway – at Jianguomen. A lovely and surprisingly peaceful place to visit even though it is now surrounded by large freeways. It was particularly interesting to look at the sundials and gnomons below the observatory tower in the garden as I have done some installation work inspired by the movement of the earth around the sun when I first arrived in Australia. This was a very effective way to get some orientation in a different location and, specifically, hemisphere.

209 shorts

A bit late to mention this really but one of the recordings I made at Shilihe insect market [Cricket Sale, Shilihe] will be broadcast on 209 Radio, Cambridge, UK between 30th September and 13th October. Radio 209 can be found on 105 FM and broadcasts full time to Cambridge City. This programme focuses on sound works made to a specific time of 2’09” and is curated by Kirsten Lavers. There are 14 works in this particular slot and they will be played between programmes throughout each day during that period.

Incidentally

The temperature is significantly cooler now – a max of 19′ according to the papers and when the famous Beijing wind blows if feels much colder.

And

The fares on the Beijing subway have gone down in price! From 3 yuan to a flat fare of 2 yuan [which is about 35 cents AU or 10p]. This is a government incentive to encourage people to use public transport rather than drive cars. Car ownership is increasing apace here. I can’t believe other cities have not used this device to encourage public transport use. The two cities I know well – London and Melbourne – have never reduced fares.

Sunday morning – Traditional Chinese Medicine

I went to the local doctors today and it was not just a medical experience but a cultural one! And local – it was just around the corner. Tuanjiehu has a great many resources. This particular centre was huge and obviously long-standing. It was richly painted in the traditional Chinese manner on both ceiling and walls, in a similar vein to the renovations of the temples and tombs around the city. Two marble statues of the fathers of Chinese medicine [I assume] flanked a stuffed peacock in the main area. A small wooden bridge traversed a pond full of goldfish and a woman was playing a traditional stringed instrument. It was very busy but I was shepherded carefully through the system by a helpful young assistant. About 10 assistants prepared the herbs for the medicines from two long walls of wooden drawers floor to ceiling. 6 assistants helped point patients in the right direction and several cashiers took money. Upstairs the doctors had their rooms where they could attend to about 6 patients at a time. There must have been about 10-12 doctors working this morning. My assistant took me up to see Dr Meng [pronounced Mung] who had some English. He suggested herbs and acupuncture. He was emphatic when assuring me about the sterility of the needles for acupuncture even though I had not queried this. The acupuncture lasted about 15 minutes. I took the option for the herbs to be boiled for me and each dose was packaged in one small sealed bag, two per day. I had to return to pick them up in the afternoon and they were still hot – and don’t taste too bad. I have had Chinese medicine in both Australia and the UK, and I am pleased to have finally had the treatment in its place of origin. Dr Meng suggested I return next Sunday morning for a follow up.

20th Anniversary of the Beijing Cricket Tournament, Bao Guo Si Temple continued

The best singers according to Mr Feng and Mr Zhao

I managed to ask some information about the singing attributes of the crickets, and apparently the four best singers or chirping insects are the guo guo’er [gampsocleis gratiosa], the youhulu [gryllus mitratus or oily calabash], the jinzhong [trujalia family or golden bell -green- ] and also xi shuai. I must have got this last one wrong as this is the generic name for ‘cricket’ in Chinese.

Xi’an Cicada

Ai-Ping contacted me and said that the cicada from Xi’an is the common cryptotympana atrata once again.