Ti jian zi

We headed off to Tian'anmen Square where the army cadets were marching and viewed the huge monument which dominates the square in front of Mao's Mausoleum and Memorial Hall

Again the area it covers is vast and the newly erected, white metal, crowd control barriers are efficient in keeping pedestrians where the officers say they may be.

Hence you often find yourself walking miles to get to where you want to go because the short way is barricaded off. You hardly notice them until you want to go somewhere you are not permitted!!!







After this we headed to the Temple of Heaven and en route we found this man selling kites and stringing them all together to attract his customers.







The Temple is situated in an enormous park which is very well used by families and groups entertaining themselves in the evening. We saw a group of older people sitting in the shade of an archway playing traditional instruments and singing traditional songs. The woman had a very strong voice and was obviously enjoying herself as were the men on the instruments. People in the crowd which had gathered obviously knew the songs as they sang along with the songstress as she performed.
This was countered by the many groups that we saw and heard singing kareoke as we walked through the grounds


Unfortunately I can't remember the name of this zither like instrument but one of my students wrote down the name for me so I will update this later this week when I get the right name.


The Erhu which means 'two strings' is a simple, somewhat primitive, instrument consisting of a cylindrical wooden sound box covered by python skin and topped by an upright handle with two strings stretched taut along its length. The pair of strings have a rich soulful range and when well played can have a haunting sound. We often see blind beggars playing this instrument along the streets in Hangzhou - usually led along by a wife or child as the person plays.



There is another instrument which looks like a pipe which a man was playing but I do not yet know its name or how to play it but I will try to find a better picture and information about it for another blog.


And of course there were the games that are ever present where you find a group of Chinese people. There were cards games and Chinese checkers



and a game that lots of groups were playing both young and old and you could join in as you passed if you wanted.


It is like hackey sack but it is played with a shuttlecock made out of feathers and a series of rings over a coin so that it makes a lovely clicking noise whenever you kick it. The words at the top of this blog mean 'to kick the shuttlecock'. What a great way to spend an evening.