Day 36, 37

Yesterday I left Beijing on a lunchtime train heading west to Shijazhuang. I got up early, though, and was able to fit in a bit more sightseeing, primarily at a public park just north of the Forbidden City. It was a pretty sight, with it's immaculate gardens and plastic paddle boats zipping around an artificial lake system, but again, it's all a little emblematic of how Beijing can sometimes be a turn off - big crowds and souvenir hawkers everywhere. I don't mean to suggest that Beijing is a place to be avoided, but rather that it takes a bit of work to enjoy one's self there.

Past noon-time, I boarded a fast train to Shijazhuang. That was a treat! The short haul trains from the capital are FAST and very comfortable. In two hours I covered as much ground as would have taken six on any of the other trains I've used so far. Arriving in Shijazhuang, I was greeted by a very pleasant downtown core. Even the area surrounding the train station was clean and quiet, something that is rare in ANY country.

So, other than the provincial museum (I skipped it), Shizahuang's sole "sight" is it's Revolutionary Martyr's Mausoleum. That, fortunately, is the sole reason I decided to visit the city. Entombed here is Norman Bethune, a Canadian doctor and communist party member who served in the Chinese army during the war against Japan. Bethune was a True Believer - he lead the Canadian medical mission in the Spanish Civil War before coming to China. Since his 1939 death of blood poisoning (picked up in the field due to a lack of surgical gloves), he has become a hero to many Chinese communists - there is a medical school named for him, and his tomb is very impressive, complete with life sized statute and Chairman Mao quote (bilingual). Mao actually penned an essay on Bethune's life and for a time made it required reading for all Chinese students.

I'm moving west again right now, this time on a very slow, very dirty hard seat ticket to Pingyao, which I am lead to believe is a very historic sort of city of about 90,000 souls.