Tuesday, March 17, 2009

She Made It Special






I went to the Forbidden City because it's one of those places you must see--and it was everything I'd ever dreamed and far more. But I am a bad sightseer and in a place with a scope as huge as this I go for the micro-details. So I was snapping pictures of decorative tiles and lovely color swatches and paws of bronze lions and the sweep of roofs when I noticed a woman standing beside me. She was alone, which was unusual in a place engulfed by couples, if not groups, and she was staring as intently as I was through my camera lens. She was around my age, wearing clothes without style and a haircut to match, but there was something about her face that claimed me. I stared at her and wondered what she was thinking.

She was old enough to have been born during the Famine, young during the Cultural Revolution, and beginning to age as China decided that being rich was glorious and frivolity was good for the economy. She could remember when the Forbidden City was truly forbidden and knew that Zhou Enlai had saved it from being destroyed by Red Guards bent on eradicating all traces of ancient decadence. I yearned to talk to her but since I couldn't, I stalked her with my little digital camera.

And suddenly I realized she knew what I was doing and wasn't turning her face away. We entered the exit at the same time and were separated by a burst of crowd. And then I saw her spreading out a discarded tour map on the sidewalk to sit on. Her back was turned to me and I started to move away, but then realized there had to be a moment when we could be together in some way. 

I pulled a visa picture from my passport holder, went to her side and squatted beside her. "This is for you, " I said, holding it out," I have your picture here," and I showed the image of her looking into my camera. "Now you have mine."

I put the picture in her hand and walked away. When I turned to look back, she was staring at something in her hand, then looked up and saw me. I waved to her, she moved her hand in response, and we both were smiling.

7 comments:

Katia said...

Janet, you are in CHINA ! I've been so bad at keeping up with blogs, lately. I loved that shared moment with the Chinese Lady in the Forbidden City. Such moments are magic, aren't they? And yet, it would have been so easy to let it pass. I'm glad you had the generosity and wisdom not to.

Janet Brown said...

Thank you, Katia. I get chills when I look at the photos when I realize that she knows I'm taking pictures of her, and it's OKAY!
I'll always regret not having the language skills that would have made this even more special.

Anonymous said...

Wow! great story to go with the pictures!

Janet Brown said...

Thank you, Nick. It is such a cool city--I kept wishing you and Matt were there--except the air is truly bad. At night when I blew my nose, there was blood on my Kleenex...

Aomori Ern said...

I love meeting the locals when I visit countries I've never been to. So, you've done Cambodia, Laos, Hong Kong, and China (okay, I know Hong Kong is a part of China now), when is the Tokyo trip happening? We have a friend who runs a traditional Japanese restaurant...and no worries about a language barrier...

Janet Brown said...

Maybe July??? I will give you fair warning...

Alison said...

How generous she was to you. And, I loved that you went back to offer her a piece of you. I agree with Nick - great story to go with great pictures.