2001上海蘇杭北京
A Journey with Friends — Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Beijing, 2001
與友同行——二〇〇一年上海、蘇州、杭州、北京之旅
It is 2001. Once again, I travel with friends across mainland China（中國大陸）, but this journey feels very different from our first visit to Chengdu（成都）many years ago.
At that time, shortly after mainland China had opened its doors to overseas visitors, we were clearly treated as foreigners（外賓）. We used Foreign Exchange Certificates（外匯券）, travelled on vessels reserved for foreign guests, and seemed separated from ordinary local life by an invisible line.
This time, that line has almost disappeared. We are no longer treated as foreigners. We use the same money, enter the same shops and move naturally among the local people. We are visitors from Taiwan, yet we no longer feel that we belong to a separate world.
I have brought one of the latest digital cameras with me. In 2001, it still feels like a small technological wonder. There is no need to change film or wait for photographs to be developed. After pressing the shutter, my friends gather around the tiny screen, eager to see the picture immediately. Every street, bridge and smiling face seems worthy of being preserved.
Shanghai — A City Rising beside the River
上海——黃浦江畔崛起的城市
On the Bund（外灘）, we stand between two centuries. Behind us are the dignified historic buildings of Old Shanghai; before us, across the Huangpu River（黃浦江）, Pudong（浦東）is rising boldly into the sky.
The Oriental Pearl Tower（東方明珠塔）and Jin Mao Tower（金茂大廈）shine above a forest of new buildings. Construction cranes turn slowly in the distance, as if the entire city is rebuilding itself before our eyes.
At night, Nanjing Road（南京路）glows beneath countless neon lights（霓虹燈）. Bicycles, buses and taxis flow through the streets, while crowds move beneath brilliant shop signs. Shanghai is restless and ambitious, always hurrying toward tomorrow.
I raise my new digital camera again and again, trying to capture the city’s energy. Yet Shanghai seems to change more quickly than any camera can record.
Suzhou — Beauty and Loss
蘇州——美麗與失落
In Suzhou（蘇州）, one of my friends becomes deeply fascinated by Suzhou embroidery（蘇繡）. Before us, coloured silk threads become flowers, birds, mountains and human faces. Some pieces are so finely worked that they resemble paintings rather than embroidery.
My friend studies every stitch with admiration. Beneath the changing light, the silk seems almost alive: feathers tremble, water flows and flowers quietly open upon the cloth.
The city is also preparing for an important international meeting. We initially believe it is connected with the Asian Games（亞洲運動會）, but it is actually the 2001 APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting（亞太經合會財長會議）held in Suzhou.
Everywhere we see construction and urban renewal. Streets are being widened, walls removed and old houses torn down. The city appears eager to present a new face to the world, but amid the dust lie fragments of its former beauty.
Architectural ornaments, carved wooden panels（木雕板）, old paintings（古畫）, picture frames（畫框）, small sculptures（雕塑）and various antiques are scattered among the remains of demolished buildings. Some are covered with dust; others lie unattended beside broken doors, roof tiles and ancient bricks.
I ask several inhabitants what will happen to these objects.
“If you like them, you can take them away,” they answer casually.
Their words surprise me. These discarded objects may appear worthless to those who see them every day, yet each one contains the workmanship and memory of an earlier Suzhou.
I long to choose a carved panel, an old frame or a small ornament and bring it home to Taiwan. Unfortunately, they are too heavy, too fragile and too difficult to carry. I can only photograph them and leave them where they lie.
It is painful to walk away. A new city is being created, but part of the old city is quietly disappearing beneath our feet.
A Night Journey along the Grand Canal
大運河上的夜航
In the evening, we leave Suzhou for Hangzhou（杭州）by boat, travelling through the night along the Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal（京杭大運河）.
The canal is poorly maintained in places. Its water is dark and rather dirty, and the banks sometimes appear neglected. Yet when night falls, these imperfections fade into shadow, and the journey becomes unexpectedly romantic.
Lights from houses tremble upon the water. Stone bridges pass silently above us, while dimly illuminated windows reveal brief scenes of family life. Occasionally, another vessel approaches from the darkness, its engine sounding across the still canal before it slowly disappears behind us.
We pass the ancient Pan Gate（盤門）, the waterways near Maple Bridge（楓橋） and the poetic world of Hanshan Temple（寒山寺）. Farther south lie old canal settlements such as Pingwang（平望）, Shengze（盛澤） and the waterways around Jiaxing（嘉興）. Some landmarks are hidden by darkness, yet their names alone fill the night with history and poetry.
I recall the famous lines written by Zhang Ji（張繼）:
“Beyond the walls of Suzhou, the bells of Hanshan Temple
reach the traveller’s boat at midnight.”
“姑蘇城外寒山寺，夜半鐘聲到客船。”
As our boat continues southward, my friends gradually become quiet. Some rest in their seats, while others remain beside the window. I watch the moonlight breaking upon the dark water and listen to the slow rhythm of the engine.
Near daybreak（黎明）, the landscape begins to emerge from the darkness. Low houses, stone bridges, fields and lines of trees take shape beneath the pale morning sky. Smoke rises from village kitchens, and the first boats of the day appear upon the canal.
Approaching Hangzhou, we enter the historic canal districts near Tangqi（塘棲） and Gongchen Bridge（拱宸橋）. Night gradually withdraws, and the water turns from black to grey, then slowly reflects the first light of morning.
We have travelled from one poetic city to another, carried through the night by an ancient waterway.
Hangzhou — Morning beside West Lake
杭州——西湖清晨
After the long night journey, West Lake（西湖）appears especially peaceful. A thin mist rests upon the water, and willow branches move gently beside the shore.
We walk along Su Causeway（蘇堤）, visit Broken Bridge（斷橋） and look toward the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon（三潭印月）. The lake is like a traditional ink painting（山水畫）in which mountains, water and sky quietly dissolve into one another.
Tired from the night voyage, we sit beside the lake and drink Longjing tea（龍井茶）. Its first taste is slightly bitter, but a delicate sweetness soon returns—rather like travelling itself, in which discomfort often becomes part of the most beautiful memory.
Beijing — The Palace of Emperors
北京——帝王宮殿
In Beijing（北京）, the Palace Museum（故宮博物院）, also known as the Forbidden City（紫禁城）, is especially worth visiting.
Passing through Tiananmen Gate（天安門城樓）, we enter a world of red walls, golden roofs and immense stone courtyards. One gate opens into another, and one palace stands behind the next, extending toward the distant northern sky.
At the Hall of Supreme Harmony（太和殿）, I try to imagine imperial ceremonies taking place upon these marble terraces. Civil and military officials once stood here in carefully arranged ranks, while the emperor occupied the centre of a world governed by ritual, hierarchy and absolute authority.
Yet beyond the grandeur, there is also loneliness. The palace is vast enough to contain thousands of people, but its high walls seem to imprison every voice. We walk through the Imperial Garden（御花園）, photographing ancient cypress trees, ornamental rocks and elegant pavilions, wondering how many lives once unfolded silently behind these walls.
Among everything we see in Beijing, the Palace Museum leaves the deepest impression. It is not simply a collection of old buildings and treasures; it is an entire civilization enclosed within vermilion walls.
The Great Wall at Badaling
八達嶺萬里長城
At Badaling（八達嶺）, the Great Wall（萬里長城）climbs over the mountains like an enormous dragon awakening beneath the sky.
The stone steps are steep and uneven. We climb together, sometimes stopping to recover our breath and sometimes reaching out to help one another. The higher we go, the stronger the wind becomes.
From a watchtower（烽火臺）, we see the wall rising and falling across ridge after ridge until it disappears into the blue distance. History is no longer a paragraph in a book. It lies beneath our feet, cold and solid, carrying the footsteps of soldiers from centuries past.
We stand together for a photograph. The wind blows our hair into disorder, but everyone is smiling. I hold up my digital camera, and for one brief instant, this ancient wall and our modern little machine meet across the centuries.
“不到長城非好漢。”
He who has never reached the Great Wall is not a true hero.
We have reached it—not alone, but together.
The journey gives us magnificent cities, ancient gardens, moonlit canals and imperial palaces. Yet its greatest treasure is friendship（友情）: the laughter beside the road, the shared wonder before a work of Suzhou embroidery, the quiet conversation aboard a night boat, and the hand offered when the Great Wall becomes too steep.
The camera preserves our images, but friendship preserves the warmth within them.
