2012-07-07 chongqing => taipei

Here are two more pics from this day from the Art District and Lunch. It was a spectacular day.

Jerry, our highly animated and very caring tour guide informed the group that we had approximately forty minutes to wander the China Three Gorges Museum in Chongqing before the group was to regroup outside the first floor auditorium for a 360 degree film presentation on the history of the building of the Three Gorges Dam. After instructions, our group quickly disbanded and as we made our way through the museum in smaller groups, pairs, or individually we marveled at the museum’s vast collection of artifacts and exhibits. Part of the third floor of the museum has been devoted to China’s War of Resistance against Japan, commonly known to us as the Second World War. Here where artistic bronze representation’s rendering the suffering of the Chinese people during this horrific and grim period as well as artifacts such as a ghostly rusting machine gun long silenced but still speaking of past struggles to all curious visitors. I could not help but wander who sat behind this destructive machine of war and who received on its opposite end its delivery of flaming and deadly steel. This before me was a monster and a great taker of life. Was it an instrument of liberation or oppression? How many had been robbed of life and how many were given another day as a result of this instrument? My quiet contemplation ended when out of the corner of my eye I witnessed the shaking of hands and smiles and gestures that required no special knowledge of a foreign language to be understood as nothing other than the expression of genuine and heartfelt gratitude. It was Clay exchanging words with two Chinese gentlemen, one in a white and blue shirt, the other sporting a Lakers’ jersey. Clay was being thanked for America’s aid to the Chinese people during the Second World War. An aid that in the historical collective memory of some Chinese was remembered with the upmost gratitude. These gentlemen did not speak from any personal experience of the war but rather spoke on behalf of the memory of their fathers, mothers, and grandparents who remembered fondly America’s aid towards China during their struggle and had passed on to their children the memory. After thanking Clay as well as other members of our group, I too was approached and thanked for my country’s aid in this tragic conflict but unknown to these gentlemen was the fact that although I was born in the States and had pledged as all American students allegiance to the stars and strips all through grade school, my ancestors did not actually participate in this monumental struggle because they were citizens of other nations. This all crossed my mind as I stood there shaking their eager hands and exchanging smiles and gentle pats on the shoulders and part of me wanted to explain that my ancestors had nothing to do with this generous aid and therefore was not sure that I actually deserved this warm gratitude. To them, however, they only saw an American and as such wanted to express this long and perhaps longer yet, repressed gratitude. Remembering though that grandfather Chuy had been part of the Braceros Program during the war, I imagined grandfather toiling under the San Joaquin Valley’s scorching sun as a farmhand and that perhaps, just perhaps a minuscule possibility existed that grandfather’s pickings just might have ended on the plates of Chongqing residents during this period eased my mind about the acceptance of such kind and pleasant gratitude.
edited by glopez on 8/10/2012

So many opportunities here for great photos and experiencing life in a different part of Chongqing then the night life we experienced of the night before. Super interesting and I felt as though I was walking through Greenwich Village of the 70's. This was a great find.