1 post tagged “red mountain”
“So why would people come here?”
We’re at Chifeng’s main natural attraction, a flat red mountain that looks like something straight out of Arizona. Not a little red. Not kinda red. Deep, rich, earthen red, fresh out of the planet’s Crayola box. Shrubbery dots the mountainside like little fuzzy pompoms. For the first time since I’ve been in China, the air tastes fresh and crisp.
The park warden strokes his curly mustachio, pondering Dr. Rose’s challenge.
“People will come to see where China’s first dragon was found.”
“And where is the first dragon?”
“Beijing. It’s on tour, at the request of the national government.”
Dr. Rose glares at him.
“Along with the other finds from the excavation.”
More glaring.
“But we can get it back whenever we want.”
Dr. Rose shakes her head in disappointment. The warden strokes his mustachio some more. I imagine him in a black top hat, tying some helpless maiden to the train tracks.
“OK, tell me why you come out to this mountain every day. Give me three reasons.”
“我需要红山。I need the red mountain.”
“That’s one.”
“他也需要我,” he says facetiously, laughing at his own joke. “It needs me too.”
“That’s two.”
He pauses.
“I can’t think of a third reason.”
“You get back to me tomorrow.”
We amble off the site. I think the real challenge in being a professional is drilling into operational details without losing sight of the bigger picture. China has manpower galore. Does she have the vision, leadership, and creativity necessary to take off into modern times the way we hope she will? And if they import their visionaries, like they’ve imported Dr. Rose, will it still be China?
