Today, we visited Jade Spring Park and its Black Dragon Pool, which offers a view toward Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. There was no entrance fee, and it was fully enjoyable. The water indeed looked like jade, having its distinct green jade color. On our way there, a guy saw me looking at Mao Zedong’s big statue, which is near the old town of Lijiang, and asked to take a picture with me in front of it. I agreed, and after putting my arm around his neck (he was positively surprised by my friendliness), we both smiled like two happy goats, with Mao Zedong’s statue behind us, radiating inspiration of peace and friendship. Happy moment.
A similar situation happened in Jade Spring Park, but this time with Dipty. A lady saw her and asked if she could take a picture together with her because she looked so beautiful. Dipty, happily surprised, agreed. I told Dipty many times that she should not be afraid when people in China stare at her (often they do that in Germany as well), because she is a beautiful Indian princess walking the Earth, having fun in Europe or, for now, in China. Plus, with me, the wild piggylein near her (I didn’t pack the beard trimmer before coming to China), she shines even more, for sure.
While walking in Jade Spring Park, I saw an old lady sitting in front of a beautiful temple. I was looking at her because I saw that she was very old and because she was trying to pick something to eat from her bag. Suddenly, she raised her head and looked toward me. I smiled, as I gracefully usually do. Then, in an instant, she smiled back with such a big and beautiful smile of a very old woman (she looked like she was 90–100 years old), full of wisdom, that I felt there is no time, only the present, as Osho said, an eternity in a second. I had that feeling of eternity that I first experienced with my great-grandmother, Maica, when I was 15 years old. If I wasn’t a sucker, I could have experienced enlightenment right there on the spot, because I’m sure that moments like this are the reason why people developed the greeting where they unite their hands and bow in Asian culture.
You see, I find these kinds of moments unfair, as they sadden the heart in a way, because my desire would have been to go to her, take her hands in mine, hug her, and talk to her for hours. But I don’t speak Chinese, and I don’t want her to feel weird seeing me possibly crying from happiness. In my imagination, I was already doing all of this, plus visiting her house, listening to her stories, and accepting her wisdom with my fully open heart. In that one second, her warm eyes and beautiful smile were „the sound of one hand clapping,“ and such experiences do not happen often, because many people don’t live their lives gracefully. This very old lady did live gracefully for sure, because her song was the timeless song that only pure-hearted carriers can hear. For example, Chihuahuas cannot hear it, at least not on the first try, I’m sure of that. To add salt to the wound, after that, I saw a statue in the park of an old lady who had her feet in a basin of water, and a small kid in front of her. I imagined it was me in front of this very old lady. What a great idea for a statue, kudos to its creator and to the ones who planned to place it in this park. China = wisdom + love.
Later, we enjoyed another round of souvenir shopping, because Dipty has a woman’s body, and women are known for their love of shopping. As for me, I planned a private trip for tomorrow near Lijiang for us because it will be our last full day here, before flying back to Beijing on Wednesday. Why Beijing again? Because on Friday, we will fly back from Beijing to Frankfurt am Main, our vacation in China coming to an end.
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