Walking down the middle of the Unter den Linden avenue from
Brandenburg Gate, visitors are invariably encountered with new
landmarks that transport the imagination hundreds of miles away to
China. Five faces painted in red, black, blue, yellow and white on
the walls of a pentagon-like pavilion stare at passers-by with
different expressions: triumph, anger, viciousness or defeat.
Then there is a wall of nine dragons, a red dragon boat, a pair of
red huabiao (ornamental column erected in front of a palace
or tomb in ancient China) pillars upon which a dragon encircles, a
red and yellow pagoda across the river from the huge Berlin
Cathedral and a green peacock. Adorning street lamp posts are
banners bearing words of wisdom from Confucius that wave in the
wind.
The popular Chinese colors are somewhat incongruous to the lush
green trees and stately buildings that line the streets, but
illuminated at night, they offer a strong Chinese cultural presence
as the city prepares for a China Festival during its Asia-Pacific
Weeks, starting today.
"These help me learn more about China," said Sophia, who wouldn't
give her family name because of an on-going Sino-German project she
was involved in.
Standing by the colorful Peking Opera facial paintings, she said
the Chinese landmarks "remind me of the joy and laughter that I
shared with the Chinese on the night when Beijing won the bid for
hosting the 2008 Olympics."
During the festival, the local people and tourists to the city are
not only provided with things Chinese to see, but to feel, to taste
and to have hands-on practice such as flying a kite, or painting
with a Chinese brush.
Inside the China tent at the temporary Asian market in the Imperial
Palace Square, a group of Chinese student chefs from the Beijing
Muxiyuan Vocational School prepared indigenous Chinese snacks from
steamed dumplings to fried tiny flour dough with minced pork,
carrot cubes, and onions in soy sauce. Some visitors who had
difficulty maneuvering chopsticks simply used them like a fork.
In
the same tent, Jacqueline Meiske tried her hand at plucking the
strings of the yangqin, or the Chinese dulcimer. "The sounds
are beautiful," she said.
The Chinese cultural presence has been felt over the weekend, even
in the northeast suburbs of Berlin, about an hour's light-train
ride from downtown.
In
the Erholungs Park at Marzahn, hundreds of red umbrellas dotted the
lush green lawn like mushrooms. Where there were no umbrellas,
there were local residents flying colorful kites. According to Zhou
Fengran, a Chinese student studying sociology and film in Berlin,
500 kites were given away on Saturday afternoon.
Claudia Kinzel was chortling when her 7-year-old daughter, Elisa,
was able to send a dragonfly-kite into the sky. While Elisa handled
the wheel with caution, Claudia Kinzel shouted nervously when the
kite fell.
After a five-minute walk into the park, people entered the Chinese
Recovered Moon Garden, where they sampled a variety of Chinese tea.
Uwe Kunzler, a chemist living in the western part of Berlin, came
all the way with his friends, to have a cup of Chinese tea.
"It's the first time I came here," he said. "I've found this is a
quiet place."
(China
Daily 09/17/2001)