Chapter 3
To Jyotsna , A Poem On Your Birthday ,
As ,
Your name brings to mind
A beauteous sight
The tranquil radiance
Of a moon-lit night
So ,
Your sweet nature
Will fill and surround
Bringing happiness and joy
In the lives of all around
Written By Dr. Swapan Dutta ,Professor in Deptt of Nuclear Physics
Indian.Institute of.Technology . Delhi ,India 11 March 1995
The first journey on the the flying horse is unforgettable . My dear daddy was no longer with me, Mummy agreed to accompany me on this trip.
Many friends advised us not to go to China ,but I was invited to present to two research papers in the 4 th PBAST Pacific Basin conference on Adsorption Science and Technology in Tianjin. I went to faculty members of IIT Kanpur for advice. A lady professor had been to China ,she advised us to carry rice and cook in the microwave Another Leather exporter , said he carried packets of biryani with him and warmed it in the microwave.We decided to carry dry things biscuits and chips . Chinese cuisine will not suit our stomachs.
We were booked on AirIndia Boeing from Delhi to Tianjin China was a enigma to me . I was going to Peyang university in Tianjin to present research papers in 4 th PBAST Pacific Basin conference on Adsorption Science and Technology. I had read most of the novels of Pearl .S. Buck and seen the movie ‘The last emperor “ so I had expected to see small women in trailing robes ,with bound feet Men smoking opium pipes wearing round caps and headgears .Pearl was the daughter of Southern Presbyterian missionaries to China . Pearl Buck's former residence at Nanjing University is now the Sai Zhenzhu Memorial House along the West Wall of the university's north campus.
Jacky Chang is a popular hollywood star his movie Shanghai noon is an all time favourite, I had seen many action movies based in HongKong , one of my favourites was the ‘Hidden Dragon and the Crouching Tiger’I was eager to see the China portrayed in these movies. I was pleasantly surprised when I reached China.
Shanghai is a renowned international metropolis situated on the Yangtze river As usual AirIndia flight was late in Delhi , we started our journey on the wrong foot . We reached Shanghai pudong airport late and the next flight by Air China was in the morning , some miscalculation on the part of our agent We had to catch this connecting flight from the Hongqiao domestic airport. One interesting feature was that all the airport officials were young boys and girls in early twenties.
I was impressed to see modern China,the beautiful well planned city of Shanghai
There were two pretty girls at the taxi counter who spoke accented English and booked a huge land cruiser for two. Skyline comprised of the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Bund a dam on the Hwanpu river on the way to Hongqiao airport .
Since it was already past 10 o’clock in the night ,the girls asked for lift . I agreed since I thought it would be safer , the driver dropped the girls at their hostel and reached us at the domestic airport which was deserted .China follows the rule no airtraffic in the night. Shanghai ,Bejing ,Tianjin The western attire and fashionable women was visible everywhere . Mao Zedong would inspire Chinese fashion with his own variant of the Zhongshan suit, which would be known to the west as Mao suit. Meanwhile, Sun Yat-sen's widow, Soong Ching-ling, popularised the cheongsam or qipao which is long sleeveless shirt with a mandarin collar as the standard female dress these clothes are tailormade so expensive poor people where a samfu which ia a top and trousers . Students prefer tea shirts and jeans. At the same time, old practices such as footbinding, which had been viewed as backwards and unmodern by both the Chinese as well as Westerners, is forbidden. Something we Indians have to learn that clothes should be for comfort not a social bondage. We sat in the passengers lounge the entire night ,one Malaysian student was there with us. He chatted with me , another fan of Indian food and bollywood actors.
The satan was doing his best in breaking my spirite .After a boring and stressful night ,at the security checkpoint , our hand luggage was opened ,inside everything was covered in white powder , the lady who was checking our baggage ,mistook took it for some kind of drug. I was stumped and looked at my mummy and asked what it was she shook her head . I was asked to taste it , well it was salt , the packet had burst open due to air pressure .One thing I noticed the lady looked more relieved than the two of us . We boarded the Airchina flight it was a small aircraft each row consisted of only five seats we were seated with a Malaysia businessman and had just returned from Mumbai when airhostess served Chinese noodles with boiled pork ,we didnot eat it.He grinned and began extolling the virtues of Indian cusine ,naturally we were laughing but feeling very hungry for home cooking.
Three hour later the flight landed with light rain at Tianjin , I went to the help desk for directions , the young people there spoke broken english but arranged a taxi for me, they were accepting yuan only. Our taxi driver was very kind , he took quickly to the university gate.
The university gate we were stopped by the security guard , he just said , No in Chinese to everything .I had asked my fellow passengers to write in chinese that have to attend conference and to stay in the guesthouse showed him that chinese note actually since I was a foreigner so everything was negative.
I was stumped then I began asking the students walking in and out of the gate for help , some just smiled since they did not know english suddenly two pretty girls popped up actually angels in disquise ,one of them carried a bright pink mobile phone . she called up the coordinator who was luckily at his residence. She gave the handset to me I informed him about my arrival. He instructed the gateman to allow my taxi to enter.
Well the second satanic attack had just been overcome.
Tianjin university has a huge sprawling campus, as you enter there is a huge fountain facing the gate near it a large statute of girl reading a book which at banks of a huge artificial lake with a pagoda style pavilion , right opposite to the statute is the Vice Chancellor’s office on an elevated platform which you can enter on climbing a series of stairs.At the door are two huge porcelain vases about 9 ft with chinese motifs and design the architecture is Chinese pagoda style.
We reached the guest house finaly , the coordinator Dr Zhou Li welcomed us .the room had two separate beds with a large television a refrigerator and microwave ,doorkey was digital.
I was not aware that China was so ahead in technology , Japanese electronic items are exported more around the world.I became a stauch fan after spending fifteen days in Tianjin.
Well that day we rested since flight schedule had worn us out. My mom was feeling depressed due to the course of events. I switched on the tv and surfed the channels , suddenly familiar face Sharukh Khan the bollywood superstar was there speaking in Chinese , the subtitle ‘ I’m here always’ my mother started laughing . Indeed God has unique ways of reminding us that he is there with us among strangers.
That night satan really tried to break my spirite , I slept fitfully ,in my dream someone kept saying you have brought a Bible to China ,the secret police will come and arrest you.
I kept yelling in my dream that I’m a professor . The next morning I wokeup early drank tea we had brought,breakfast was a diasaster ,the colorful food cooked in pork lard smelled and there were boiled goose eggs with soyabean powder milk to drink. I tried to drink it but it tasted horrible .
Somehow we gobled up some eggs and the famous Chinese tea was missing , then we both went back to our room m mom took out the tea bags and milk pouches , biscuits and we missed the rice which the Indian lady had told us bring to China.
I decided go and interact with the students after all I was on an university visit. Behind the guesthouse I saw some students playing badminton ,so I made straight beeline for the building ,walked in through the door to find a reception desk with a lady there.
I smiled and introduced myself and said ,’I’m visiting from India . ‘
She smiled and waved towards a door and took me there ,another lady was there suddenly there was crowd of smiling people obviously no one knew english .
Then two African young men arrived on the scene ,who knew english . I had actually entered the foreign students hostel.
Anway one of them Dr Omer who then was pursuing a Ph.D in environmental science , he was Christian student from Bene .He spoke good english , he took me around the campus on scooter .He came up to my room and met mom , ate some biscuits and drank indian tea .He realized our problem ,in the evening he went with to a American food outlet , which served some concotion of potatoes and tomatoes ,at least we knew what we were eating.
Dr Omer had a very nice room complete with a personal telephone and piano
I had bought a calling card ,through his telephone we called India and chatted with Parvinder ,a turbaned sikh my schoolmate who was like a brother. Parvinder was happy to know we were safe. We visited the St Joseph cathedral an historical monument in hepping commercial area, attended service in Tianjin Christian fellowship where you have to show your passport to prove foreign citizenship to Tianjin international fellowship.
In the evening I walked around the campus ,our guesthouse was facing the lake, the vice chabellors office and the gate was at the other end of the lake .
Many students came and sat there , everywhere students were going on bicyles
I went started talking with some girls , soon I was surrounded with girls and boys many couldnot speak English but wanted to learn . At the end I managed to make friends with some chinese girls. On the last day I made friends with Linfeng Yang who doing MBA well we stayed in touch by emails till she got married .
The next four days we ate goose eggs at breakfast and the potatoe dish I frequented the food outlet on the campus and managed to buy some buns. We had brought biscuits and chips from India .
Before 4 th PBAST Pacific Basin conference on Adsorption science and Technology.began , we shifted to the venue Tianju hotel and business centre . Hotel was majestic with a revolving door and uniformed bellhop . Food had been imported from Australia . My room was beautiful with porcelain toiletries .
The conference started with a bang.The keynote lecture was delivered by Dr Sanjay Bhatia , as the common practice after each lecture is teabreak so all the delegates were gathered outside the hall.
I simply walked upto Dr Bhatia and introduced myself. I told him, since he was the only Indian delegate apart from me ,I thought I should get aquainted. He smiled and asked me from which place in India .I said ,’Kanpur , I teach chemistry in Christ Church college .’ He laughed and said,‘I’m also from Kanpur , I studied in Methodist High School , one month in Christ church college ,later I joined Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur for B.Tech.1972 .His father was an official of telecommunications [ telephone] , those days his office was in Wescott building which is a part of my college campus.
I told him that lived twentyfive years on IIT Kanpur campus because my mother worked there. Soon we went back in for another lecture after that we went for lunch, I brought mom down from the room and introduced her to Dr Bhatia. . Both together chatted about good old days in Kanpur. Dr Bhatia was representing Australia
Once again I realized that God plans are different, he wants the human race to intermingle and grow together . He has taken Indian scientists to all parts of the globe.
The great wall of China extends 5000 km , wriggling like a gigantic dragon across north China it is a wonder in the history of architecture acomprehensive defence work It took 200 years to complete a symbol of the progressive nature of the Chinese people The wall is 5660 km long starting from Shngia pass to Jiaju pass to Bejjing ,Shanxi ,inner Mongolia Ningxia .
Tianjin is situated close to the wall , a sightseeing tour was arranged by the coordinator and we went to see it after the fourth session. We were able to see the wonder with our eyes
There was closing ceremony at a banquet in a fabulous restuarent ,we were taken in bus coaches to this place . Huge golden dragons adorned the doors ,red latterns were hanging from foyer and at the entrance everywhere. Fast moving elevators took us to the upper storey.The waitresses were dressed in red Chinese dress looked like kimono without sleeves.There was a violin recital by students and the conference was declared closed .
Bejjing duck was on the menu , the cutting and serving is a ceremony The hot roast duck will be brought to the dining table by the chef where he will slice it into more than 100 thin flakes, each having its piece of crispy skin. The way to really enjoy the succulent meat is as follows: first take one of the small, thin pancakes provided and spread it with plum sauce, small slices of spring onions and then add some pieces of duck. Finally roll up the pancake and take a bite. You will be surprised by the terrific taste!
[First, a suitable White Beijing Duck was plucked, air was pumped between its skin and flesh. A small incision was made for the removal of the entrails. once the bird had been thoroughly cleaned, a wooden skewer was inserted through it to facilitate its hanging and ultimate heating; the body cavity was filled with water and the incision that had been made was closed. Then skin of the duck was air dried and brushed with a layer of sugar.Fourthly, the duck was then put into a large oven, using a smokeless hardwood fuel and heating to about 270 degrees Centigrade for 30 to 40 minutes. The duck was turned frequently during the roasting process to ensure even cooking.Then the delicious dish was ready, a shining date-red in color and unique in flavor; It is characterized by its crispy skin and tender texture.]
.A toast was raised for the coordinator . One of the dish was fish , a large fish boiled was placed on a platter was served ,you had to eat it with chopsticks , all the six people at the table from one fish. Anyway we never ate it since there were no forks. Still we enjoyed the banquet . The delegates were presented with a porcelain coffee mug with.logo.
One thing we missed was the Jin tower of Tianjin , situated in Hepping commercial area is one of the world’s tallest skyscraper ,78 floors, its inception began in 2006 and was inaugurated in 2010, global finance centre.