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land, sea and air 28 May: Woke at 5.00am to the sound of vehicles sloshing through watery roads. A wet start to the day but I brought my waterproof jacket - and a rain hat! I didn't need them today though as the rain stopped and the sun even shone for a time late afternoon. (Although not the wettest city in Canada, Vancouver is known for its rain. There is a local saying that if those driving over Lions Gate Bridge can see Vancouver Island, it’s going to rain; if they can’t see it, it’s raining.) Early breakfast and took taxi to the campus of the University of British Columbia to visit the Museum of Anthropology, arriving before opening time. UBC is sited on the Point Grey cliffs so, to pass time, followed a steeply stepped trail down to Tower Beach through lush greenery. Peaceful sand and pebble beach with seals playing just off-shore. It was a delightful start to the day. Returned to the cliff top and the Museum of Anthropology, which included a fascinating collection of First Nations art in a very modern building. Wonderful totem poles displayed in large hall, its glass walls looking out at Haida houses and more poles. (Poles are carved from red cedar with stylized human and animal forms. The figures on the pole represent the ancestry of a particular individual or family, and usually each image has a story connected to it. Different poles are created for different reasons. When the Chief of any family dies his heir is responsible for erecting a memorial pole which displays the crests and important events in the deceased's family. In older Haida villages it was common to have house portal poles which were built right into the front of the house, often with an oval doorway cut into the pole itself which acted as special entrance for certain ceremonies. More information on totem poles is available on a website at http://collections.ic.gc.ca/time/galler07/ frames/totems.htm ) The centrepiece
of the contemporary collection is a sculpture by Bill Reid, ‘The
Raven and the First Men’. (According to Haida legend, the first Haida
people came from a clamshell. At the beach one day, the Raven saw an unusual
clamshell with people sticking out of it. He persuaded them to leave the
clamshell and join him in the world. These people became the first Haida.) Caught the sky-train (a fully-automated mini-metro linking Vancouver city with Burnaby and New Westminster. Apart from a 1.6km city centre section in a tunnel, Sky Train is largely on elevated sections to minimise conflict with roads) part way to Dr Sun Yat-Sen’s Chinese Garden. Spent a long time just sitting, enjoying its tranquillity. Busier site than the Japanese garden though, both in visitors and vistas. Lots of water, bridges, holey limestone rocks, bat motifs on roof drip tiles, beautifully carved wooden teak windows, all different. (The first full-sized classical Chinese garden outside China and, though it was built in 1985-86, it employed the ancient techniques of the original Ming dynasty gardens. Originally designed by Taoist poets, classical gardens were meant to create an atmosphere of tranquillity for contemplation and inspiration. The Chinese calligraphic inscription above the entrance to the Garden means “Garden of Ease”. There are four major elements in the Garden: water, rock, plants and architecture. The relationship of these four elements reflects the Taoist belief in Yin and Yang - opposites that must be in balance to create harmony. Serenity is only the first of infinite layers that reveal themselves. The object of the garden is to capture all the elements of the natural landscape - mountains, rivers, lakes, trees, valleys, hills - and, by bringing them together in a small space, to concentrate the life force, the qi that animates them. More information can be found at www.vancouverchinesegarden.com.) Walked back to the hotel via the large Chinese supermarket - first amazed by the variety of fish, shrimps, crabs, lobsters swimming in holding tanks waiting to be bought, then by the choice of other foods for sale, many things I’d not seen before. Dinner at the hotel. If I include walking, used 5 different forms of transport today. Saw a lot too, and this is only Day 1. What a great start to the holiday! First published in VISA issue 69 (October 2006) |