Explore the ancient sites of Beijing: ancient trees, majestic rocks, precious waters

Author: (Japanese) Anami Shigeru (Anami, V.S.)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-02-01
Features: Looking at Beijing within the framework of trees, sunshine and water is a way of appreciating the city's heritage, based on a special relationship between man and nature. In the process of exploring Beijing's ancient ruins, what I often found as markers of the past were a well of spring, a couple of gnarled pines, and sometimes a stele or an abandoned stone cave. They took on the mantle of the site's history. It was these three aspects of nature that held Beijing's past. They helped me define and respond to the sites I was searching for. Often they maintained the atmosphere of these places, long after the rituals there ceased. They also were places, merely to remember one place from another and gave me their energy. Moreover, they led me to the people of Beijing, who readily shared their knowledge and stories.
Author Bio: Virginia Stibbs Anami, “Ginny,” was born an American in 1944. She became a naturalized Japanese citizen in 1970, taking the legal name Anami Fumiyo, Anami Shigeru. Ginny has lived in the U.S., Japan, Pakistan, Australia, and China with her diplomat husband, Ambassador Koreshige Anami, and two children. Ginny Anami has taught history, art history, Buddhist history, geography, and social studies as both her B.A. and M.A. were in Asian Studies, majoring in East Asian History and Geography. She wrote Nishimachi: Crossroads of Culture in 1982 and contributes frequently to China National Geography, Asahi Evening News/International Herald Tribune, The Voice of Dharman Beijing This Week, and Women of China.