Comments on: To Linfen http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/2008/11/13/to-linfen/ ramblings of an expat Kiwi living in one small corner of Beijing Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:02:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: wangbo http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/2008/11/13/to-linfen/comment-page-1/#comment-5578 wangbo Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:02:40 +0000 http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/?p=1093#comment-5578 TH: The square was on the northeastern corner of the roundabout around the Drum Tower. I didn't get a chance to see it other than from the car as we drove past. What I saw seemed to be of very recent construction, but you're right, it would be very interesting to look into the history of that area. Mr Ji: Two very good comments. Thanks for the song, I'm Baidu-ing it right now- ah, it seems the first result in the MP3 search is a very old recording, sounds 1930s-era. Very interesting. I must remember to download it when I get back to Beijing and can use my own computer. And thanks for the confirmation of 解' pronunciation. The only thing I could find that called it 'hai' was that book. Everything else I saw agrees with you. TH: The square was on the northeastern corner of the roundabout around the Drum Tower. I didn’t get a chance to see it other than from the car as we drove past. What I saw seemed to be of very recent construction, but you’re right, it would be very interesting to look into the history of that area.

Mr Ji: Two very good comments. Thanks for the song, I’m Baidu-ing it right now- ah, it seems the first result in the MP3 search is a very old recording, sounds 1930s-era. Very interesting. I must remember to download it when I get back to Beijing and can use my own computer. And thanks for the confirmation of 解’ pronunciation. The only thing I could find that called it ‘hai’ was that book. Everything else I saw agrees with you.

]]> By: TH http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/2008/11/13/to-linfen/comment-page-1/#comment-5577 TH Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:19:35 +0000 http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/?p=1093#comment-5577 It would be interesting to know the dimensions of the Linfen city square which you mention as being somewhere north of the Drum Tower ("...wide square obviously put to good use by the locals, and lining the square were several restaurants, including a KFC and a Big Pizza"). If so inclined, compare the extent of the square with, say, a Republican era or late Qing gazetteer 地方志 map of Linfen, and you may arrive at some interesting conclusions. It would be interesting to know the dimensions of the Linfen city square which you mention as being somewhere north of the Drum Tower (“…wide square obviously put to good use by the locals, and lining the square were several restaurants, including a KFC and a Big Pizza”). If so inclined, compare the extent of the square with, say, a Republican era or late Qing gazetteer 地方志 map of Linfen, and you may arrive at some interesting conclusions.

]]> By: Ji Village News http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/2008/11/13/to-linfen/comment-page-1/#comment-5575 Ji Village News Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:11:20 +0000 http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/?p=1093#comment-5575 I just looked up 解 on the web, and no place has an entry for "hai". "hai" is wrong, I think, especially with the highway sign saying it is "xiezhou". I had a classmate in middle school whose family name is 解, pronounced as xie. 三国演义, of which 关云长 is one of the important characters, is the major reason why 关帝 is so famous all over China. It was more or less written in 白话 of that time (14th Century), not totally 古文, so I suppose it could be used as a good intermediate step to 古文. It is engaging and very influential to the Chinese psyche. I just looked up 解 on the web, and no place has an entry for “hai”. “hai” is wrong, I think, especially with the highway sign saying it is “xiezhou”. I had a classmate in middle school whose family name is 解, pronounced as xie.

三国演义, of which 关云长 is one of the important characters, is the major reason why 关帝 is so famous all over China. It was more or less written in 白话 of that time (14th Century), not totally 古文, so I suppose it could be used as a good intermediate step to 古文. It is engaging and very influential to the Chinese psyche.

]]> By: Ji Village News http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/2008/11/13/to-linfen/comment-page-1/#comment-5574 Ji Village News Fri, 14 Nov 2008 03:25:08 +0000 http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/?p=1093#comment-5574 Really enjoyed reading your experience! Last year during our family road trip from 薛城 to 上海, my brother played 郭兰英's (a Shanxi native) 人说山西好风光 in the van. Partly due to the musical quality, partly due to the simple yet absolutely beautiful lyric, partly due to the memory and familiarity it brought back, it touched me greatly. And the image/atmosphere that song conjures up fits your description here pretty well. Thanks for the indulgence. Marvelous! 人说山西好风光 (故事片《我们村里的年轻人》插曲） 词:乔羽 曲:张棣昌 人说山西好风光 地肥水美五谷香 左手一指太行山 右手一指是吕梁 站在那高处 望上一望 你看那汾河的水呀 哗啦啦啦流过我的小村旁 杏花村里开杏花 儿女正当好年华 男儿不怕千般苦 女儿能锈万种花 人有那志气永不老 你看那白发的婆婆 挺起那腰板 也象十七 八 Really enjoyed reading your experience!

Last year during our family road trip from 薛城 to 上海, my brother played 郭兰英’s (a Shanxi native) 人说山西好风光 in the van. Partly due to the musical quality, partly due to the simple yet absolutely beautiful lyric, partly due to the memory and familiarity it brought back, it touched me greatly. And the image/atmosphere that song conjures up fits your description here pretty well. Thanks for the indulgence. Marvelous!

人说山西好风光
(故事片《我们村里的年轻人》插曲）
词:乔羽 曲:张棣昌

人说山西好风光
地肥水美五谷香
左手一指太行山
右手一指是吕梁
站在那高处
望上一望
你看那汾河的水呀
哗啦啦啦流过我的小村旁

杏花村里开杏花
儿女正当好年华
男儿不怕千般苦
女儿能锈万种花
人有那志气永不老
你看那白发的婆婆
挺起那腰板
也象十七 八

]]> By: wangbo http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/2008/11/13/to-linfen/comment-page-1/#comment-5573 wangbo Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:18:00 +0000 http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/?p=1093#comment-5573 Susan: It took me four days to write this. Something about the trip had me really inspired, and although I didn't really do or see much out there, I still had a lot I needed to write, but of course the real world kept intervening and I had to go teach my classes and grade papers and all that kind of stuff. I'm glad what I wrote was good enough to keep people reading through to the end. Adam: Cheers. I tried to make it as clear as possible that the nature of my trip to Linfen put some pretty hefty limitations on what I could actually say about the place, and I hope I've left everybody with that understanding. I do have to say the air really was quite thick and flavoursome when I was there, and yes, I did see evidence of the hell-hole aspects of the place. The little I did get to see of Linfen really did flesh out a more complex picture. I was most impressed with the strong evidence of a lot of work being put into cleaning the place up and developing it- and not just the environment, but the economy and education, too. And a conversation with one of my students on Monday backed up that impression. He said there's no longer pollution there. I said, really? He said it's much better than before. Unfortunately all my short trip did was intrigue me enough to leave me with a strong desire to go back and spend some quality time there. Susan: It took me four days to write this. Something about the trip had me really inspired, and although I didn’t really do or see much out there, I still had a lot I needed to write, but of course the real world kept intervening and I had to go teach my classes and grade papers and all that kind of stuff. I’m glad what I wrote was good enough to keep people reading through to the end.

Adam: Cheers. I tried to make it as clear as possible that the nature of my trip to Linfen put some pretty hefty limitations on what I could actually say about the place, and I hope I’ve left everybody with that understanding. I do have to say the air really was quite thick and flavoursome when I was there, and yes, I did see evidence of the hell-hole aspects of the place. The little I did get to see of Linfen really did flesh out a more complex picture. I was most impressed with the strong evidence of a lot of work being put into cleaning the place up and developing it- and not just the environment, but the economy and education, too. And a conversation with one of my students on Monday backed up that impression. He said there’s no longer pollution there. I said, really? He said it’s much better than before. Unfortunately all my short trip did was intrigue me enough to leave me with a strong desire to go back and spend some quality time there.

]]> By: Adam Minter http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/2008/11/13/to-linfen/comment-page-1/#comment-5572 Adam Minter Thu, 13 Nov 2008 07:09:37 +0000 http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/?p=1093#comment-5572 Interesting piece of travel writing. I'm not all that surprised that Linfen turned out to be something less than the hell hole that so many people claim it is. No doubt, there are some ugly days there, and plenty of things that you didn't see. But also, no doubt, the place is far more complex than the manner in which it is commonly depicted. Glad you wrote this up. Interesting piece of travel writing. I’m not all that surprised that Linfen turned out to be something less than the hell hole that so many people claim it is. No doubt, there are some ugly days there, and plenty of things that you didn’t see. But also, no doubt, the place is far more complex than the manner in which it is commonly depicted. Glad you wrote this up.

]]> By: Susan Yang http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/2008/11/13/to-linfen/comment-page-1/#comment-5571 Susan Yang Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:36:20 +0000 http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/?p=1093#comment-5571 It took me long the read this blog.hahaha..i guess you must be tired to write so long a page..so take a rest! I have not been here for quite a lot of days ,and you added many new stuffs. Happy to see this! I also checked your albums.The puppy called "zaizai'is really cute. It took me long the read this blog.hahaha..i guess you must be tired to write so long a page..so take a rest!

I have not been here for quite a lot of days ,and you added many new stuffs. Happy to see this!

I also checked your albums.The puppy called “zaizai’is really cute.

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