zimatravels

I just turned 66.  In 1991, I had an unusual birthday visiting the Zhalong Crane Reserve in QiQihar, China.  The following is an excerpt from my book, Memoirs of a Middle-aged Hummingbird, published in 2006.

August 13, 1991

We took the long ride out to see the cranes.  It was such a pretty marsh, I spent some time lying on the ground by myself and talking to the spirit of the marsh.

Marsh:  Hello.  Welcome to our spot.  Nice to have a new visitor.

Me:  Yes, I’d like to rest awhile and join you and your friends.  It seems like a truly wonderful spot.

Marsh:  Yes, it’s nice to live here.  The air is fresh, the breeze is sweet, and the cranes and other birds liven up the place every year during their migration.

Me:  Looking up I can see the waving reeds and the wide, blue sky with puffy clouds stretching across it.

Marsh:  It’s a good place to rest.  I can tell your eyes are ready to close.  I’ll wait with you while you rest.

Me:  I feel like I’m sinking into the ground and joining the marsh.  It feels like a friendly, nice place.  And the sun feels good on my body.

Marsh:  Yes, it’s quite a nice spot to drive into sleep.

Me:  You know, today is my birthday.  I turned 48 years old.   That’s not particularly momentous, but I wonder if I should think momentous thoughts now about my life up to now.

Marsh: Oh, that’s not necessary.  Just join us in our serenity.  I get the feeling you want to come closer to nature.

Me:  Relationships with people can be quite confusing and troublesome.  I want a deeper relationship with nature, but maybe it’s also hard to be close to nature.

Marsh:  Don’t worry about that now.  Perhaps it will get clearer as you get closer.

Me:  Actually, except for some sagging parts of my body, I feel very, very healthy and well.  I am quite lucky really.

Marsh:  Yes, you look strong and healthy compared to a lot of Chinese people.  But their lives are hard.

Me:  That’s true.  I’ve had a physically easy life and good nutrition.  If my health lasts, I can do everything.  If it doesn’t, I’m not sure I’ll mentally be able to cope with that.  But, for now, I can enjoy my feeling of health.

Marsh:  It’s true that nothing stays the same.  Our marsh is in a good mood now, but sometimes it’s in a terrible mood and then I’m not sure you’d like it.

Me:  That sounds like the young friend I’m traveling with.  He is often in a silent mood, and sometimes a dark mood.  It puzzles me why I am sometimes miserable with him, but miss him when he’s not around.

Marsh:  Sorry, I can’t help you figure out loving and caring for others.  I’ve never figured it out either.

Me:  I have a peach and a banana here.  Would you like to share them?  I’d like to eat here with you.  I feel so relaxed now.  The sounds here are really wonderful.  There is silence, and then the voice of the reeds as the wind comes through.  This place has something to touch every sense.  I travel the world and I seem to need change.  Does it ever bother you to stay in one place all your life as you do?

Marsh:  I never thought about it.  We who come from nature do not think like you who are human.  I feel content here most of the time.  In the bad times, I do my best.  I don’t have a long life, after all.

Me:  Well, I probably should rejoin my friend now.  He didn’t want to come out here, but I’m glad he didn’t because I wouldn’t have had this chance to talk with you.  And I wouldn’t have been able to join the marsh like I have.  I do want to thank you for your kindness in helping me to enjoy this place so much.  You didn’t treat me like a weird object like many Chinese treat foreigners.

Marsh:  To us in nature, there are no foreigners.

Me:  Oh, my!  That crane just flew so close.  It is so very beautiful to watch him fly by.  It is a special treat as I’m ready to leave.

Marsh:  Remember that the Orientals consider the crane to be the symbol of longevity.  Happy Birthday!

To be continued…

I made it to northern China in the summer of 1991.  This is an excerpt from my book, Memoirs of a Middle-aged Hummingbird, published in 2006.

August 11, 1991

The best time to see the northern city of Harbin is in the dead of winter when the city comes alive with massive ice sculptures.  I can’t imagine myself ever being here in such cold weather, so I had to settle for seeing it in the summer.  Unfortunately, some of its prettiest parks are closed off because the Song Hua River has risen too high and may flood.

The northern Chinese are much taller and fuller than their southern counterparts.  They eat much more meat and wheat.  In some places, I can even find tasty hard bread from Russia because we’re so close to Russia up here.  We usually ordered way too much because the portions were so huge compared to southern China.  In one restaurant, one of the local young men was so excited at seeing a foreigner up close, he asked me several questions through my friend, Russell’s, translation.  Then, he ran out of the restaurant and returned quickly with a gift of a fan with the city of Harbin on it.  I felt like a movie star.

On the other hand, people notice my shabby clothes, especially my well-worn sandals.  Because I’m always traveling in dust and dirt, I dress accordingly.  Not so the Chinese.  They may not own many clothes, but they do not dress shabbily.  Russell overheard some Harbin residents muttering that I must be Russian because Americans are rich and dress well, complete with gold jewelry.

Harbin’s residents love to socialize.  In the wintertime, there are many large areas set aside for ice skating, complete with music.  In the summertime, people gather at these same locations to dance with each other until late in the night.  A man from North Korea asked me to dance.  Unfortunately, with our language barrier, we didn’t get past “One, two, three.”

August 12, 1991

We arrived in the cool, neat, small city of Qiqihar with the goal of seeing the Zhalong Crane Reserve.  At the train station, we were “adopted” by a father-daughter team who drove a taxi.  Apparently, they expect to be our transportation all the time we’re in their city.  Even though the ticket agent said there were no sleeper tickets for the train to our next destination, Hohhot, the daughter promised to get us sleeper tickets.  Can we trust her?

To be continued…