Chinese New Year
2011
The Year of the Rabbit
China Daily Special
CCTV9 Special
The Day
Watch the CCTV Spring Festival Gala
Video: CCTV HOLDS FIRST ONLINE GALA
Hu calls for all-out efforts to combat drought
BAODING - All-out efforts should be made to combat drought for a summer grain harvest, said Chinese President Hu Jintao Wednesday in an inspection tour to north China's Hebei Province.
"We need to adopt comprehensive measures to ensure supply of capital, technologies, facilities and materials to enable winter wheat to safely grow through the winter," said Hu, when inspecting drought conditions at a wheat field in Xishanbei Township of Baoding City, Hebei.
Over the past three months, North China has been hit by severe drought, seriously threatening normal agricultural production.
Hu, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the inspection visit in Baoding from Tuesday to Wednesday, to welcome the Spring Festival, or China's Lunar New Year, with local officials and residents.
Hu beat a drum together with villagers during a new year celebration in Shijiatong Village, Xishanbei Township of Baoding.
CCTV VIDEO: Chinese President visits N China's Hebei to extend New Year greetings
Wen vows to control inflation in new year
BEIJING - China will fight to control inflation and crack down on property speculators in the year ahead, state media on Wednesday quoted Premier Wen Jiabao as saying, as the country readied to welcome the Year of the Rabbit.
In a speech marking the Lunar New Year holiday and carried in major newspapers, Wen said the government would try to keep overall consumer prices stable but cautioned China would have to deal with thorny problems in 2011.
"Our way ahead will still face many difficulties and problems," the People's Daily quoted him as saying.
"We must ... resolve the problems that the people most care about," he added. "We must resolutely prevent prices from rising too fast ... and unswervingly do a good job of controlling the property market."
Though inflation eased in December to an annual pace of 4.6 percent, economists warn price pressure will continue to mount.
Wen, who in previous years has spent the Lunar New Year holiday with everyone from AIDS patients to survivors of 2008's devastating Sichuan earthquake, this year visited an old revolutionary base in the central province of Anhui.
Premier Wen makes soup with villagers in Anhui province
Fireworks light up sky on Chinese New Year's Eve
Photo shows fireworks illuminating the sky over Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province. A firework gala was held here to greet the Lunar New Year.
CCTV VIDEO: Chinese welcome in the Lunar New Year
Chinese people toast for a better Year of the Rabbit
BEIJING - From dumplings in the north and rice cakes in the south, people across China Wednesday overloaded their tables with holiday foods, cheering for the Spring Festival family reunion and praying for a better life in the coming Year of Rabbit.
Migrant workers enjoy a grand feast at an enterprise in Zhuji, east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 2, 2011. Some 800 migrant workers and their relatives who did not return home for family reunion celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year's Eve together on Wednesday.
CCTV Video: Chinese New Year feast
New Year greetings for the lonely
Soldiers greet seniors at a community center in Shanghai, Feb 1, 2011. Officers and soldiers pay a visit to the widowed seniors ahead of the Chinese New Year.
Participants perform lion dance during the opening ceremony of a temple fair to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year at Ditan Park (the Temple of Earth) in Beijing February 2, 2011. The Chinese Lunar New Year begins on February 3 and marks the start of the Year of the Rabbit, according to the Chinese zodiac.
CCTV VIDEO: Spring Festival temple fairs begin
Chinatown gears up for New Year celebrations
People perform the dragon dance on the eve of a Chinese New Year along a main street of Chinatown in Binondo, metro Manila February 2, 2011. The Chinese Lunar New Year begins on February 3 and marks the start of the Year of the Rabbit, according to the Chinese zodiac.
CCTV VIDEO - Zhouqu County marks Spring Festival
Spring Festival is traditionally an occasion to get together with family and friends. But for people in northwest China's Zhouqu County, this year's holiday could be difficult as many lost their loved ones to devastating mudslides last April.
Nearly 10 months ago, CCTV NEWS sent our reporting team to this previously little known corner of Gansu Province to witness the calamity as it unfolded. Now my colleague Wang Guan returns, to see how much has changed, and learn what the Lunar New Year means for local residents.
Year of the lucky rabbit - VIDEO
The Chinese zodiac is like the Western world's horoscope. Everybody has his own zodiac sign, represented by an animal, and every one of these animals has its own story. According to the lunar calendar, 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit. The rabbit is the fourth in the Chinese zodiac's 12-year cycle.
Doing as the locals do to celebrate the New Year
Recollections of Chinese New Year through the eyes of a waiguoren (foreigner)
Just like Westerners, who usually go back home for Christmas and (Western) New Year, for Chinese, the Chinese New Year is the time when people take a long and a well-deserved annual leave.
However, while living in China as a waiguoren I have realized that we foreigners also end up going home at this time of the year because it is not easy to get annual leave or take a holiday during the Christmas or Western New Year period. Although officially there is a three-day national holiday, the whole country comes to a standstill for about 14 days at the end of January (or the beginning of February depending on the lunar calendar), as people go back to their villages and towns; families and friends meet up and feast on fine food; and streets are lavishly decorated in bright red, yellow and gold colors - colors meant to bring prosperity and good luck.
Chinese New Year is the longest and most significant festival in the Chinese calendar. This year, the New Year - the Year of the Rabbit - falls on Feb 3, 2011.
The author is a British freelance journalist and photographer based in Guangzhou.
Watch the CCTV Spring Festival Gala
Video: CCTV HOLDS FIRST ONLINE GALA
CCTV - VIDEO: More than 30,000 fireworks display staged in HK
CCTV VIDEO: Beijing international temple fairs feature foreign flavors
CCTV Video: Spring Festival Far Away
CCTV VIDEO: Traditional Spring Festival decorations
Giant rabbit lanterns with other lantern decorations are seen at Xinlei Park of Puyang City, Central China's Henan province, Feb 4, 2011 during the Chinese Lunar New Year. The Lunar New Year began on February 3 and marks the start of the Year of the Rabbit, according to the Chinese zodiac.
Railways carry 77m passengers in 15 days before festival
BEIJING - China's railways transported about 77.34 million passengers during the fifteen days (Jan 19 to Feb 2) before the Spring Festival, the Ministry of Railways said.
China's railways to embrace post-festival travel peak
Train passengers are seen outside Chengdu Railway Station in Chengdu city, Southwest China's Sichuan province.
'Empire' shines for Lunar New Year - VIDEO
The Empire State Building in New York lit up its tower red and gold to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year on Feb 2 and 3.
Since 2001, an annual lighting ceremony of the Empire State Building for the Chinese Lunar New Year has been held as a tradition.
After the Festival
Watch the CCTV Spring Festival Gala
Video: CCTV HOLDS FIRST ONLINE GALA
CCTV - VIDEO: More than 30,000 fireworks display staged in HK
CCTV VIDEO: Beijing international temple fairs feature foreign flavors
CCTV Video: Spring Festival Far Away
CCTV VIDEO: Traditional Spring Festival decorations
CCTV Cost of New Year burdens youngsters VIDEO
China's young generation have been hit hard in the pocket over New Year. Recent graduates and people leaving home are reluctant to spend the holidays with relatives as they face mounting financial pressures to provide more money and presents.
After graduating from college, Xiao Zhang and her boyfriend found jobs in Guangzhou.
For the first Spring Festival after graduation, they choose not to go back home to the north.
Ms. Zhang, working in Guangzhou said "If we went back home for the festival, it would cost over 6000 yuan. We can buy ourselves nothing, but we have to buy gifts for the family. My boyfriend and I are both fresh graduates. We don't have that much money."
CCTV Migrant travel in South China VIDEO
Getting back to the cities is the focus for many migrant workers Tuesday - the sixth day of the Chinese New Year. As the Spring Festival comes to an end, will it be chaos on the roads and rails? CCTV reporter Qu Shang is at Guangzhou Railway Station.
CCTV Events held across China to mark "Po Wu" VIDEO
Events are being held across China to mark the fifth day of the Lunar New Year - or "Po Wu" as it's known in Chinese.
Traditionally celebrations start on New Year's eve, and go on until the fifth day of the lunar calendar's first month. A big part of " Po Wu" is getting up early to clean houses and also to eat dumplings. Some are filled with nuts or candies, and it's believed whoever eats them will have good fortune for the year. It's also the birthday of the Chinese god of wealth, so businesspeople usually go back to work and let off fireworks to ensure prosperity.
"Po Wu" is extra special this year as it marks a celestial phenomenon - Jupiter and the moon have now moved to the same longitude creating the shortest distance between the two planets.
Fireworks during New Year
See Kaixin's - Firecrackers on New Years Day
Blazes reignite debate on firework ban
BEIJING - A rise in the number of fire accidents during the Spring Festival holiday has prompted a new round of debate over proposals to readopt firework bans in China's largest cities.
From Feb 2 to Feb 8, 11,813 fire accidents took place across the country, causing 40 deaths, 37 injuries and more than 56 million yuan ($8.5 million) in economic loss, the Ministry of Public Security reported on its website on Wednesday.
Firecrackers explode on a street in Dalian, a coastal city in Northeast China’s Liaoning province, on Wednesday.
New Year's holiday sees spirituality in demand
BEIJING - Tens of thousands of people visited temples to burn incense and pray for good fortune during the Spring Festival holiday, amid a rising demand for spiritual comfort throughout the country.
On Feb 3, about 66,000 people went to the Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing. That was about 3,000 more than had gone on the first day of the holiday in 2010, and half of the visitors who came in 2011 were young , according to the temple's management committee.
Feb 3 marked the first day of the Spring Festival this year, officially starting the Year of the Rabbit, according to the Chinese Zodiac.
'Empire' shines for Lunar New Year - VIDEOThe Empire State Building in New York lit up its tower red and gold to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year on Feb 2 and 3.
Since 2001, an annual lighting ceremony of the Empire State Building for the Chinese Lunar New Year has been held as a tradition.
CCTV New York celebrates Chinese New Year VIDEO
Everything is big in New York. The Buildings, the cars, the roads and even the food is super sized and according to the Mayors office so is the population of Chinese that call NY york home. So it was these good folks, who Crystal Fisher went in search of, to celebrate the lunar new year...the Chinese way!
Glitter rain, dancing dragons and colorful traditions welcome in the Chinese new year in New York City....
"It's about bringing the family together, eating, playing and having fun." New York resident said.
And the fun's just getting started according to the Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for the New York City Mayor's office.
Bull fighting for Spring Festival
Villagers watch two bulls fighting during a holiday event in Huaxi district, Guiyang, Guizhou province, on Tuesday, Feb 8, 2011. Bull fighting is a traditional activity for local villagers celebrating the Spring Festival holiday
More spend Chinese New Year overseas
BEIJING - More Chinese tourists decided to spend their Spring Festival holidays overseas this year, despite a sharp rise in the cost of such foreign vacations.
Data released by the National Holiday Tourism Office on Wednesday showed that 67,500 people left Beijing for overseas trips during the holidays, a 60 percent rise year-on-year.
The spike came in spite of such trips costing more. Prices of vacations to Hong Kong, Europe and the Middle East rose by 15 percent on average, and excursions to Thailand's Phuket Island and Saipan Island in the western Pacific rose by 30 percent.
From Jan 28 to Tuesday, 40,243 people from the mainland traveled to Taiwan. The peak day was Feb 4 when 7,466 mainland travelers made the trip.
The Days leading up to the Festival
China's railway system is put to the test
As millions take to the rails, bad weather awaits
BEIJING - The national railway system is going through a harsh test, with increasing pressure from passengers who lined up all night for a train ticket and the icy weather in the southern part of the country that could disrupt transport at any time.
A flood of people have waited in line before ticket windows at Beijing's several railway stations over the weekend, and tickets for all trains leaving Beijing were sold out in only 30 minutes after being put on sale on Saturday morning, the Beijing Times reported.
Tickets sold over the weekend are for ordinary trains leaving in the few days before the eve of the Spring Festival, which falls on Feb 3 this year.
Disrobed, famed and stranded
SHANGHAI - A man who took his clothes off at a local railway station office in East China to express his anger at being unable to buy a ticket home remained stranded and anxious for help on Sunday.
Chen Weiwei, a migrant worker from Central China's Henan province, earned national attention and sympathy when a set of pictures depicting Chen, clad only in his underwear, and confronting an officer, circulated widely online.
He had lined up for 14 hours at the west Jinhua railway station in East China's Zhejiang province on Jan 17 and 18 only to find the tickets he wanted to buy were all sold out.
A report by a Shanghai newspaper said on Friday that Chen had received five tickets with assistance from staff members at Jinhua railway station.
But Chen Wanjun, spokesman with the Shanghai Railway Bureau, said on Sunday that the report was not true.
He said the tickets were sold out, and that there was no possibility to help him, though railway authorities went all out to help passengers home during the travel peak.
Chen Weiwei, dressed in his underwear, challenges a railway station official after he failed to get a train ticket home.
China begins annual Spring Festival travel rush
BEIJING-- China's annual Spring Festival travel rush began Wednesday in freezing weather, with some 700 million people, or half the nation's population, expected to travel within the country during the 40-day-long travel period. China's Ministry of Transport (MOT) estimates that 2.85 billion passenger trips will be made during the period, 11.6 percent more than last year.
The Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New year, is the most important traditional festival of family reunions. This year, it falls on February 3.
230 million expected to go home by train
BEIJING - The volume of China's railway passengers during the coming Spring Festival peak period is expected to hit a new high of 230 million, an increase of 12.5 percent over last year's figures, officials said on Saturday morning.
See Kaixin's - Chinese Folk Customs
Lunar new year merchandising market
A woman smiles as she shops at a Chinese new year merchandising market in Shanghai January 17, 2011. Hundreds of millions of Chinese geared up to welcome the Year of the Rabbit next February 3, packing temple fairs, entertainment parks, setting off fireworks and firecrackers and hurrying to train and bus stations to get home for the traditional holiday.
Writing Spring Festival couplets
A man (right) writes Spring Festival couplets for residents of a neighborhood in Yining, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Jan 23, 2011. Almost 100 calligraphers gathered in the neighborhood and wrote couplets for residents as Spring Festival gifts.
A child selects decorations for the upcoming Spring Festival which starts on Feb 3 at a market in Guiyang, Southwest China's Guizhou province
Chen Guangbiao, a famous Chinese philanthropist, shows checks and bank cards company owners donate during a ceremony in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Jan 23, 2011. An entrepreneur charity group led by Chen held a donation activity on Jan 23 to announce a 127-million-yuan donation for low-income residents and schools in Xinjiang, Tibet, Yunnan, Guizhou and Gansu.
VIDEO - Anhui eats up tofu feast to celebrate Spring Festival
Spring Festival is celebrated all around the country. And in central China's Anhui Province, the Tofu Feast is a traditional must. Chefs have come up with over 300 ways to use bean curd to tempt the palate.
Tofu, or bean curd, is a Chinese standard that's made its way to international tables. The southern region of Anhui Province is said to be the birth place of Tofu, which first appeared two thousand years ago.
Generations of chefs have used their imagination and taste buds to create various dishes. And it's natural that chefs in Anhui are among the experts.
Zhu Jianglong, Chief, said, "Tofu is an ordinary food in Chinese people's daily life. But it can be turned into many dishes with different shapes and tastes."
Tofu is favored by local residents also because it sounds like the word for happiness in Chinese.
Su Xinhua, Anhui Native, said, "Tofu, Tofu, mouthful of 'Fu'. We Chinese can't spend the Spring Festival without eating Tofu. The food can bring good luck to the whole family. "
Tofu is also winning over people's hearts and stomachs for its health benefits. The high protein and low fat make it a first choice for many modern people.
Going home for Spring Festival
Geng Libo, a migrant worker from Southwest China's Yunnan province, waits for his train at a railway station in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province, Jan 26, 2011. January 19 marked the beginning of the annual Spring Festival travel rush, with an expected 2.56 billion passenger trips in the coming 40 days.
Traditional paintings salute the New Year
A child plays at a nianhua (New Year picture) workshop in Zhuxianzhen near Kaifeng city of Central China’s Henan province, Jan 26, 2010. Dozens of workshops in Zhuxianzhen are busy making woodblock New Year paintings as the Chinese lunar New Year draws near. As a national intangible cultural heritage, the Zhuxianzheng woodblock New Year paintings first appeared in Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) and gained prosperity during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). According to traditional Chinese customs, the paintings are usually placed on doors and walls during the Spring Festival to prevent evil spirits and bring good luck to the family.
Rising cost of returning home for Spring Festival
Families discover that going to see relatives and friends comes at a high price. Cao Li in Beijing and Li Xinzhu in Shanghai report.
People traveling for the Spring Festival arrive at Beijing Railway Station with gifts for relatives and friends back home.
VIDEO - Spring Festival phobia
Spring Festival is supposed to be a time for celebration, laughter and cheers. But it seems nowadays some of our citizens have become afraid of the most important festival of the year. Check out their views, maybe you have had similar thoughts.
Yang Jiao, with a piece of paper saying "it is great to go back home" on his forehead, carries his luggage to a train at the railway station at Jiaxing city in East China's Zhejiang province on Sunday. Yang, a merchant from Chongqing in Southwest China, bought a standing-room ticket after spending three days lined up at the ticket office.
Fears about high ticket prices prove unfounded as passengers flock to take advantage of new services
BEIJING - Nearly 20 percent of Chinese train travelers have turned to high-speed lines during the Spring Festival peak travel period, Wang Zhiguo, vice-minister of railways, told a news conference on Sunday.
The holiday period, known as the chunyun period, sees massive numbers of travelers return to their hometowns for family reunions during the Spring Festival.
"The high-speed railways have played an important role in the chunyun period as more than 1 million people are being shipped (by high-speed trains) every day," Wang said.
This year's chunyun period started on Jan 19 and will end on Feb 27, with Chinese New Year falling on Feb 3.
By Saturday, 837.8 million travelers had been transported in China by means of trains, buses, ships and planes in the chunyun period, according to figures provided by the ministries of railways and transport and the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
Wang also specified the current transport volumes on several main high-speed railways to dismiss doubts on such railways' roles in the period.
The number of people taking the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway connecting Wuhan, the capital of Central China's Hubei province, and Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong province, had exceeded 100,000 every day, said Wang.
This year, the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway handled its second chunyun since it started operations in December 2009.
The number "accounted for half of the volume of all train passengers traveling along the railway", Wang added.
For the high-speed railway linking Wuhan and Shanghai, the proportion is 86 percent, with 107,000 travelers being shipped every day, according to Wang.
The public had feared that the high fares for high-speed trains might turn travelers away as ticket prices for slower trains have remained unchanged for more than a decade.
Wang also predicted that the high-speed lines will have an even bigger role in 2012's chunyun, because their mileage will increase by 4,715 km by the end of this year.
The new high-speed railways will include three lines that link Beijing and Shanghai, Beijing and Wuhan, and Beijing and Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province.
However, the peak level of transport has yet to come for this year's chunyun, officials at the news conference said.
The number of people traveling by bus and ship will reach a peak in the next three days, Feng Zhenglin, vice-minister of transport, said on Sunday.
He estimated the daily number of people traveling by bus will exceed 75 million.
The peak period for railways will come between Feb 8 and 12, with the average number of train travelers reaching 6 million a day, Wang said.
Chinese Spring Festival around the globe
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Set in Zanzibar in 1910, it is the story of two people from different worlds falling in love. Susan immerses herself in Zanzibar. Asim falls in love with this woman from the nation that killed his wife. Susan is a spy. Asim is the chief advisor to the Sultan of Zanzibar. Germany and France are holding secret negotiations to form a Pan European alliance, which would isolate Britain and destroy her power. Susan and Asim are caught up in all this and their love is finally dashed on the cold, hard reality of international high politics.
Available on Amazon's Kindle $4.99 - Over 400 Pages
Chapter One
Zanzibar
'A maharaja’s ruby cast on a Persian carpet by the blackest of hands'
Their souls danced, honouring his promise.
The ancient dhow stirred in the soft morning breeze. Like a sleepy lion, it began to move through the water, snuffling about the other boats on the harbour; some scurrying, some at anchor, some darting before a brief gust of wind. The lateen sails a bustling panorama of blood-red and sun-bleached white.
Aft, the woman's eyes searched the skyline, drinking in the architecture of Stone Town, the heart of Zanzibar; its jagged, cluttered silhouette so familiar, so much a part of her soul.
Abruptly, her eyes ceased their restless searching, jagged by an invisible hook, transfixed by the grand buildings on the northern shore, Beit-al-Ajaib, the House of Wonders, Palace to the great Sultan of Zanzibar. The distinctive architecture captured in the tropical light: coconut white outlined by contrasting shadow plays of pepper black.
A smile, ever so slight, started to play on the edge of her mouth then disappeared. A memory that should have been fond instantly turned to sharp unbearable pain. Her eyes hardened and moved on.
Without warning the captain threw the rudder over. Stumbling, the woman barked her shin on a wooden box, a rough-hewn coffin. She recoiled, knocking over an untidy stack of cane baskets. Imprisoned in the baskets, rusty cockerels, their scruffy heads straining through the latticework, snapped at her, cried out to her; their raucous din overwhelming her, drowning her.
Dimly, through the fog of noise, the strident swearing of the sailors in Kiswahili seeped into her conscious. Understanding, she smiled mirthlessly.
The coffin had been carelessly stowed, a chore, rather than a labour of respect or love.
London 1910
“Hello, who are you? I am Oliver, is Edward at home?”
The words were spoken by a tall, impeccably dressed young man as he rushed into Edward’s flat shaking off surplus water and calling for whisky while shoving his umbrella into a stand. It was a blustery, grey, bitterly cold February afternoon in the heart of London. He brushed a curl of soft auburn hair from his forehead and smiled charmingly.
Susan laughed, her hazel eyes dancing with the exhilaration of the new. “Yes, he is having a bath. I think he is trying to get warm. I’m Susan, Susan Carey, his sister.”
“Ahhh yes, from Australia. How do you do?” said Sir Oliver, smiling broadly and offering his hand. He noticed the laughter in her eyes, and the depth, particularly the depth, intensified by jade flecks that made them striking and alluring. “So, you have arrived, good trip I trust.”
“I am very well thank you, and yes, it was a good trip,” replied Susan.
He laughed and glanced at the sitting room, “whisky?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, please come in…….. that was silly of me, after all, it is your flat.”
Oliver smiled and gestured for Susan to lead the way. He followed her into the room, and after helping himself to a generous portion of whisky, walked over to the fire.
Shortly after, Edward, wrapped in a huge ruby-coloured dressing gown and wiping soap from his ear strode into the room. He was of similar age to Oliver, late twenties, well built, if slightly podgy, with dark auburn hair and a full moustache. Susan looked up and smiled to herself, she could see now where he had picked up some of his new mannerisms.
“Thought I could hear voices. I see you two have met, no need for introductions then.”
As he was speaking, Edward walked to the side table and grabbed a whisky decanter by the neck. He glanced at Oliver who nodded. A long finger snaked into one of the tumblers followed by the distinctive clink of crystal. He swept the decanter off the table and carried it to where Oliver was sitting. After pouring the whisky, he sank into a lounge chair and sipped from his glass, enjoying the warm glow as it spread through his body.
Suddenly he sat up exclaiming, “Sorry sis, would you like something to drink?”
“Kind of you to remember, but no thank you, and yes, Oliver has already inquired.”
Edward nodded and sank back into his lounge chair.
They chatted, tentatively at first, getting to know one another. Edward had not seen Susan for two years and was unsure how his sister would take his new relationship. Oliver was intrigued by Susan. An attractive, self-assured young lady of high intelligence with a degree was a rare find. And, as fate would have it, she was also a trained and experienced teacher. He suggested a picnic at Oxford, which was met with ready acquiescence. Arrangements were made for the following Sunday.
“I’ll see if the Rolls is available,” mused Oliver. “Must ring father, haven’t spoken to him in ages.”
Oliver, Sir Oliver Marchmaine, was an unaffected young man of intense intelligence who saw life as a great adventure to be lived to the full. He was also unyieldingly loyal to his country, England, which is why he had joined Military Intelligence on leaving Oxford.
It was 1910 and Europe was stirring. It was a time full of interest, intrigue and danger. The European chessboard was becoming increasingly complex, the moves more subtle. A time when an unexpected move or feint could have profound consequences.
Regaining her balance, the woman’s eyes were drawn, hesitantly at first, resisting back to Beit-al-Ajaib. She wondered if it was still the same. Still the same centre of power and intrigue that had been so much a part of her life all those years before; that had defined her life.
She remembered those first few moments, remembered standing in the foyer of the palace, .………… remembered the breathtakingly beautiful Persian tapestry ........
The sea breeze stirred her clothes. She smiled a little sadly, and in her mind the tapestry gently swayed. Two small apparitions ran giggling up the stairs: two small exquisitely rich burkas disappearing along the first floor landing. Childish squeals of mischief and joy left in the air.......
“Move to seaward, you accused of Allah! Move!”
Her thoughts were clawed back to the dhow, the captain crashing the tiller over to avoid another boat on the crowded harbour. The woman instinctively ducked her head to avoid the heavy boom as it swung over her, the rusty cockerels squawked their raucous indignation, their heads straining through the latticework, relentless.
The collision avoided, the dhow continued on its way. The cacophony dying down to the occasional command by the captain or the cry of a seagull.
The woman's thoughts returned to Beit-al-Ajaib
…………. laughing and giggling, girls of seven or eight. A door on the first floor slammed and all sounds of them disappeared. Silence. The woman smiled. She could see herself, a young woman, dressed plainly, unselfconsciously, her sexuality tantalisingly just out of reach, hidden beneath the thin veil of her clothing. She remembered standing alone in the foyer, looking around, perplexed. Asim came through a door to the left of the tapestry.
“Salaam.”
The woman started and looked around. Then, realising, was cold again. Alone again. Alone, rocking to and fro to the rythm of the sea. Alone, beside a rough-hewn coffin.
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