(S2E1) Thoughts in pictures

Sometimes, a picture can tell a good story...

Leave me alone

The other weekend, I had a tour in the beautiful Anglesey Abbey near Cambridge. I encountered these two swans in the pond next to the mill. They were just putting their heads under the water looking for some food. The only heads-up time was for them to catch some breath.

Could it be that they were hiding away from visitors’ cameras and shouting out loud in their mind: leave me alone? I hate strangers’ cameras.

A peak into history

I took a trip to Morocco recently. On the way to the gateway to the Sahara: Ouarzazate, we visited a magical place called Aït Benhaddou. It used to be an important trading point along the route linking ancient Sudan to Marrakech. The wide gap in the middle is actually a river dividing the modern day residency in the nearby villages (the upper part in the picture) and the old Ksar standing in the pre-Sahara desert (the lower part in the photo).  

Tourists like me are attracted here partly because Aït Benhaddou is such a popular shooting location for lots of blockbusters and trending TV dramas: Gladiator, The Mummy, Game of Thrones, to name just a few. But the most striking moment in my short visit in the Ksar is when I was standing, all alone, in an open area of the wide river looking up at the panorama of the architectures. It was in the late afternoon. It was almost completely silent, apart from the sound of wind with the sands, birds’ occasional singing, and then the loud and long call for prayer played from the nearby Mosque. It was surreal and sacred. It was a moment like that reminds me of how short an individual's life is in the long history; how cultures can be so different across nation borders and continents. But yet, all these things are so significant, powerful and vital for people to understand each other, to get to learn and so to embrace differences. And that is the beauty.

Calligraphy on a fan

The collection in the China gallery, British Museum is sensational as usual. Don’t be discouraged by the crowds, you will be amazed by what you can see if diving deeper. Just turn down the noise around you, pay more attention to shelves in the hidden corner. I encountered this beautiful fan used by Empress Dowager Cixi by accident, when I decided to appreciate every object in the China gallery one by one no matter what.

I am always a big fan of fans (pun intended). I feel they are the synonyms for well-raised ladies. To be honest, you can’t really rely on fans to kill the heat. Most of the time, they are used for a hint of elegancy and exquisite laziness, at least in the world of delicately made fans. On this fan in the above picture, the calligraphy was nicely created by scholar Lu Runxiang, who was a high-ranking civil official, teacher of the last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty: Pu Yi. It says that Empress Cixi liked to ask him for calligraphy alongside her drawing. Mr. Lu’s handwriting is just extraordinary. A Chinese poem is beautifully presented through this round fan with a touch of tranquillity and power.