MOON CAKES AND WILD SWANS / Shahukou / 26.9. 2007

Excuse me. My mother said, if you want to have a rest. You can go upstair. It’s our house.

We thought that the worst was over. But no, no way Jose. The coal rally continued all through the following day – as we continued our journey to the northwest. From a distance the landscape reminded me of Andalusia. Even the buildings with arched windows. But at a closer look, it is a different story. One open coalmine is just by the road – so we stop to take a look. No problems what so ever of going in there. The question was more, does one want to. Everything was black…or covered with black dust. None of the workers did wear any kind of breathing mask or some other elementary safety gear. Everybody smiled and looked at us with the usual curiosity as the huffing, puffing, squeaking monster-looking machines pulled big blocks of coal up to the surface. Three big Caterpillars pushed the coal into big heaps. Two guys sitting on a three-wheel motorcycle with platform having cig break. Most likely they would later fill that little platform full with coal to transport it to who knows where… We continued further, and after a while we did spot traffic jam on the road – one big yellow truck loaded with coal had ended up in a small ravine. No breaks. It looked a bit scary. I did consider myself lucky for not being in his way when that happened..some minutes earlier. Two hours later we did set up our camp again. The air was somewhat cleaner – looked like we are heading out of coal country. That was not a bit too early though. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----- “ So-ping fu 2.7. 1908 …. In the afternoon we do reach the town of So-ping-fu, one of the places that where tarnished with innocent blood during the Boxer rebellion. The local Manchu mandarin ordered 13 Europeans to under military escort take their refuge in Peking. Just outside the city wall, they were all heaved from their carriages and stoned to death by the mob and their military escort. The victims were 10 Swedes, 3 Americans, one of them a small child. Fearing the cannons of Europe, that unfortunately was too far away the Chinese authorities rushed to pretend to bury the remains of the 13 corpses. Stone blocks with inscriptions in Chinese have been raised. The unselfish, honorable work by these martyrs should have deserved an engraving in their own language. The Chinese names are unidentifiable. So, the name of one person, Mr. Larsson is “ Leimu” etc.. The strange thing is that the initiator to this horrible deed remained on his post as the commander of Manchu garrison. For the time being there are two Swedish missionaries stationed here. “ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----- Churches are to be found here and there. Some are in the centre of a village or town and they all seem to have regular activities Foreigners missionaries are not to spotted any more – in fact foreigners are a very rare sight in the Chinese countryside over all. And no hostility what so ever. The city of Shiyu is a typical modern Chinese town. Same design as in thousand others. There is nothing left of the old city wall. Even though this is a quite large place, the traffic is minimal. Must be because of the Moon Cake Festival holiday. But we decided anyway to transport the horses around this city by truck. First load was under my command - and the second was Kristians. So after finishing my part I decided to enjoy a leisurely lunch. Picked a small place randomly and once inside, I realized that a big yellow truck was parked outside – with collision damages. The same truck that was upside down yesterday. So, here I am sitting in this small family run restaurant – very friendly service. Sparsely decorated with, a picture of Mao on the wall, a poster with fruits, seafood, western cutlery and a bottle of wine. The place is surprisingly clean. The husband is the cook – his wife and daughter serving. A group of men sit at one table, playing cards, and smoking. After a while a small man with lively eyes and a black face (coal dust..) came in and sat down. It turns out that he is the driver of the yellow truck that is now being towed away. He looks ok – no injuries. I managed to ask him if this was his first accident? - “ Bu, Bu…No, no. It has happened many times before” he says while laughing loudly. Strange with these people. They seem to accept their fate and also be happy with it. As long as they have food and a home. It is very rare to see unhappy faces in China. Stressed, tired..Yes. But most people have a very short way to a smile. As I am about to finish my lunch I notice that there is still plenty of time. I pick up “ Wild Swans” from my bag, a sip of tea. Then the young girl brings a plate with round shaped cakes -. - Home made moon cakes.. It is the moon cake festival, she says in quite good English. Yum, they taste good. Very nice. A few minutes later a plate with pieces of fresh melon is brought to me accompanied by a piece of paper - “Excuse me….”

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