CHINA'S SUMMER PALACE

                                      A Real Showplace

            Covering 270 square hectares, the Summer Palace is larger than the Forbidden City. Located northwest of Beijing, the Summer Palace is just shy of 10-miles from central Beijing. It is the largest and best preserved royal park in China. The construction started in 1750 as a luxurious royal garden for royal families to rest and entertain. It later became the main residence of royal members at the end of the Qing Dynasty. With a couple of previous names it was renamed the Summer Palace after reconstruction in 1888. In 1900 foreign troops torched the Summer Palace, but it was rebuilt a few years later, and in 1924 was opened to the public.

            In 1949 it underwent major restoration. There are many rocks on the grounds that serve both as scenery and as protectors of good luck. Entering the first court yard we stopped in front of a large bronze imaginary animal—the Royal Statue. The creature had the horns of a deer, the skin of a fish, the hooves of oxen, the tail of a lion, and the head of a dragon. It was pretty weird.  That courtyard led to the Hall of Longevity built in 1750 to celebrate the 60^th birthday of the emperor’s mother. Not surprising the thresholds were high throughout the Summer Palace. In contrast to the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace had numerous lovely spacious gardens and courtyards. The roof tiles were different from others we’d seen. These tiles were long red tube-shaped that flipped at the end. Many buildings contained ornate furnishings and fine art work.

            Stopping in front of a huge but interesting rock our guide explained that it is called the unlucky rock. A long time ago the richest man in the country wanted to move this rock to his home, but half way he ran out of money and abandoned the rock alongside the road. Later the emperor saw the rock and had it moved to the palace. But the palace was already built and the rock wouldn’t fit though the gate. So part of the palace had to be disassembled to get the rock into the courtyard. I’m not sure when all that happened.

         

Covered walkway

   We strolled down the half-mile covered walkway, which provided a walking area for the empress during inclement weather. Beautiful murals were painted all along the ceiling of the walkway roof. During the Cultural Revolution the ceiling was whitewashed to protect all these lovely murals. After the revolution the whitewash was removed. The walkway ended at the marble boat, an elaborate two-deck pavilion of marble and stained glass---an interesting and unusual site.

   A lot of bamboo grew on the grounds. Bamboo, a symbol of strength, bends but never breaks, which is quite typical of the Chinese themselves over the centuries.

            The whole area radiates natural beauty and the royal gardens are not only grand but also beautiful. Over 3,000 manmade ancient structures including pavilions, towers, bridges,

Marble Boat

corridors, etc account for building space of more than 70,000 square meters.

            Kunming Lake covers two-thirds of the grounds. The lake has two stone bridges to a manmade island in the center. The lake is formed and fed by natural springs. We ended our tour of the Summer Palace by taking a boat ride across the lake.

            In 1998 UNESCO declared the Summer Palace a World Heritage Site declaring it  "A masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value."

      It is a fantastic place and was a wonderful visit on a lovely sunny day.

THE TITANIC SINKING

                                     Titanic Connection to Nova Scotia

            I somehow always thought about the sinking of the Titanic as being very far away, but it actually sank northeast of Nova Scotia, Canada.      

            The site of the sinking had already become a debris field when the cable laying ship, Mackay Bennett, under contract to the White Star Lines, arrived on the scene. Survivors had already been picked up by the Olympia and taken to New York.

            The ship arrived with a couple hundred body bags and gallons of embalming fluid. Bodies were picked up and numbered in sequence. Some were identified, but many were not. There was much controversy regarding whether to bring the bodies ashore or to bury them at sea.

            It is said that the recovery of a little boy was the determining factor for the crew of the Mackay Bennett to decide that the bodies would be taken ashore in Halifax. The bodies were taken to the ice rink where they were placed on the ice to be kept cool. A total of 212 bodies were recovered.

Body number 4 was a little boy about two years old who became known as “orphan boy”. It is documented that a young mother, named Alma Paulson, was on her way to meet her husband in Chicago, as he had become successful enough to send for her. She and her four small children were berthed in the lower part of the ship. Alma ignored the first warning bells because she thought it was a drill or not serious.

As time went on she heard a commotion in the passageway and when checking she could see water covering the passageway. She then took her children up on deck only to learn that all the lifeboats were already in the water. She gathered her children around her and to keep them calm while she played her harmonica. She and all the children drowned. Her body was identified, and it was thought that “orphan boy” was her small son, so he was buried in the grave at her feet. However, recent DNA testing has proved that the boy was not related to her, so he is again “orphan boy”

            A special burial service was held at St. John’s Church in Halifax. The Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish cemeteries all accommodated the bodies of their faith. I’m not sure how that determination was made for the unidentified bodies.

            On my visit to the Protestant cemetery I learned that the White Star Line put the same size stone on every grave regardless of the class of passage. The stones, set with a slight curve, simulate the shape of a ship. Some families of identified passengers have erected a more elaborate headstone for their loved one, but none was ostentatious. It was a sobering visit.