Forbidden City and Summer Palace

Someone told me recently that Aboriginal people in Australia often painted over their rock paintings—it was never expected that they would be preserved in their original form. So, again demonstrating my generation's cultural identity, I did a quick search on the interwebs to get the facts. According to the Australian Government's site on the Kakadu National Park's Aboriginal rock art, "At many sites in Kakadu images have been painted over each other: the artist was not concerned about preserving an image for posterity but simply wanted to paint to tell a story."


So I'm sitting here beside a cute little pond I found nearby my hotel and contemplating how the Chinese treat their cultural heritage. I'm sure this is a well-discussed topic in intellectual circles to whose conversations I'm not privy, but in the absence of any further research from my iPhone, these are a few observations I've made in the past few days.


Western people like to maintain their historical artefacts in their original condition—untouched to the extent possible—as if it somehow proved that the history is real. Anybody who has tried to see the David, or the Mona Lisa, you'll know that you can't just wander up and trace their curves with the tips of your fingers or stick your nose up close to see if the eyes are actually following you. I think our societies try to keep our cultural relics unchanged because we value objective truths in history. Chinese people, on the other hand, do not consider it necessary to keep a monument, building or painting in its original condition. They can't understand why you would. If you didn't rebuild things, they would look old and shabby! Why would you want to fence off a building? How can you use the building if it is fenced off? What is the point of having a temple if nobody can enter it?


Personally, I like the Chinese approach. I think it is so much more vibrant to live your history. It's nowhere near as boring as stuffy museums and art galleries full of high heels, dark suits and the occasional hipster stocking. It helps everybody to become part of their history and to remember where they came from. It brings history and culture to the people, and boy do many many people come to these places. We went to the Summer Palace on a public holiday weekend, and it was absolutely packed full of Chinese people, mainly from other regions. Imagine that, people wanting to see historical places in their own country. The Forbidden City was the same. 


Strangely enough, rural visitors seem almost as interested in the laowai (foreigners) as they are in their society's history! I lost count quickly of how many pictures were taken of me and my (white Australian) friends. Sometimes the culprit would sidle up to us—just that little bit too close!—and we would find ourselves unexpectedly in the middle of a family portrait. I asked our volunteer Chinese guide why they wanted photos of us, and she responded simply 'because you are beautiful'. So lovely, but I still don't understand why they take photos of us.
Given that we are all allowed to get up close and personal with Chinese historical sites, I have managed to visit two in my first week of China and this is what they look like:

Summer Palace

Forbidden City