Just now on a pedestrian flyover near the Sijiqing Bridge, I saw a man selling a single, live, adult snapping turtle in a shallow plastic washtub. There was an inch of water in the washtub and the man was moistening his fingers and flicking them along the turtle's reticulated shell. Once in a while a pedestrian crossing the flyover would stop to prod the turtle. I asked the man how much for the turtle, and while giving the traditional marketplace hand sign for the figure, he accidentally flicked water in my eyes and mouth and now I'm anxious about turtle-born disease.
He was asking for 1,500 yuan, about $240. Nothing doing. The turtle would ootch its neck if people rapped it on the shell. I thought of the baby snapping turtle I found in Croton Park in the Bronx. Readers will remember that little guy.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Transcription of a Plaque from the Forbidden City
ZHONG HE DIAN (Hall of Central Harmony)
A throne is placed in the center of the hall and a board hangs above the throne with an inscription written by Emperor Qianlong. The inscription reads:
"Yun Zhi Jue Zhong,"
meaning
"The Way of Heaven is profound and mysterious and the way of mankind is difficult. Only if we make a precise and unified plan and follow the doctrine of the mean, can we rule the country well."
A throne is placed in the center of the hall and a board hangs above the throne with an inscription written by Emperor Qianlong. The inscription reads:
"Yun Zhi Jue Zhong,"
meaning
"The Way of Heaven is profound and mysterious and the way of mankind is difficult. Only if we make a precise and unified plan and follow the doctrine of the mean, can we rule the country well."
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