Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
His name was Mr. Ma, and he wanted to know if I could understand the conversation
we were listening to. Cecily told him I couldn't.
But foreigners are smarter than Chinese, he told us, not even half joking. He had heard
a foreigner speak Chinese once, and had concluded that it must be very easy for foreigners
to learn it. He thought I must understand it, too.
Disbelief that I didn't understand Chinese had been a running theme. In Guiyu, Mrs.
Han had asked Cecily about it more than once. He can't understand us?
At all?
A retired prison guard, Mr. Ma had lived in the Linfen area all his life. The city had ex-
panded over the years, he said, but it hadn't changed much. Had I noticed the air?
I had.
It's haze and coal, he said.
Yes indeed, I said.
He addressed Cecily. Be open-minded about dating foreigners, he told her. It's okay for
Chinese and Americans to marry now.
Cecily rolled her eyes. I think. I couldn't really tell, as I was busy with my own eye roll.
To his credit, though, Mr. Ma also told Cecily that she had done right to focus on her career
and education.
Take care of him, he told her, as we parted ways. He's a guest in our country.
Linfen has a number of decent attractions besides the smog. From Drum Tower Square,
you can take a nice run through the grounds of Shanxi Normal University and out to the
riverfront, which reminded me a bit of Hudson River Park, in Manhattan. There were no
skate parks or beach volleyball courts, but there was a mini-golf emporium, closed for the
winter.
Spreading east from the river is the Hua Gate area, a wide pedestrian arcade in the style
of the National Mall, lined with temples and buildings. Of these, only the Yao Temple is
supposedly original, the site of one of the earliest Chinese dynasties, dating back millennia.
But it's hard to know what's real. Across the arcade from the Yao Temple is a scaled-down
replica of the Forbidden City's famous Meridian Gate. The fakey vibe only increases down
the sidewalk, where there's a replica Temple of Heaven, distinguishable from the Beijing
original not only because it is much smaller but because it has a haunted house inside.
