Bride of the Moso Prince (30 page)

“What’s wrong? Do you know him?” Sharon noticed his raging eyes.

Her sweet voice soothed his irrational emotions instantly. “Not really.” He mumbled, “He looked like uh, some kind of a thief.”

“Really?” Sharon looked concerned. She knew that thievery was a big problem in tourist cities in China. She clutched her shoulder bag tightly, and then relaxed.

“I wouldn’t worry.” She smiled, “I have a bodyguard, don’t I?”

“Yes sweetheart,” Nobul grinned, “I’m more than willing to
guard
your
body
.”

His emphasis on the last three words set her body on fire.

             
Just as Nobul had promised, t
he roasted bamboo nymphs were irresistible. They looked very much like the shrimp flavored rice crispy that she had liked as a teenager, and tasted like them too, even the texture was similar. Soon Sharon forgot that she was eating worms.

             
“See? I told you!” Nobul watched her appetite with satisfaction on his face.

             
“I’m only doing it for the discount dinner she promised you.” Sharon teased him.

             
  He laughed heartily. His laughter attracted attention from passers by and from other diners. Sharon noticed that the women’s faces lit up when they saw Nobul.

             
When all the dishes were brought to them Sharon realized that they were having a bamboo feast. The table was so full that there was almost no place for the last dish. All the dishes were quite good. The bamboo partridge soup was delicious and the ginger gave it a flavor that was indeed invigorating. Both the bamboo shrimp and the bamboo fish were tender and sweet. The bamboo rice turned out to be rice cooked in bamboo tubes and it was a specialty of the region.  It was served in the bamboo tubes and it had the aroma of bamboo.  They ordered a small cup of bamboo wine as well. It had little to do with bamboo except the color was green as the young bamboo leaves.

             
After lunch they walked along the river towards the heart of the town where the cultural museum located.

             
On their way to the museum they passed quite a few hotels converted from traditional Nakhi houses. Some features of the Nakhi houses were similar to that of the Moso. For example, the squared yard in the center, and the chiseled balcony banisters and the carved doors and windows.

             
Sharon noticed that there was a stone fish hanging from the ridge in every house. In Han Chinese culture, fish was a lucky symbol for abundance. “May your household have fish (surplus) every year,” she recalled the New Year’s greeting, as fish and surplus shared the same pronunciation.

             
Was the fish intended for the same thing here? Sharon asked Nobul and he confirmed.

             
“Exactly. Although Nakhi and the Moso share the same ancestry, the Nakhi was more influenced by the Han than the Moso. A Nakhi’s house has a combination of Han and Moso styles.”

             
As they were standing in the courtyard of a house that had over a hundred years history, Nobul took on the role of a tourist guide, “You see? The enclosure of a Nakhi house is mainly built by grey bricks and often painted white. The main house has three parts according to materials: the foundation is made of rocks, the walls are bricks, the pillars, beams and the roof truss on the top are made of timber. It’s warmer than a Moso house that’s solely made of wood, and better ventilated than a house made of entirely bricks. Besides it’s safer in case of an earthquake. The 7.0 earthquake in the region ten years ago caused relatively little death because of the light roofs. Also Nakhi architecture adopted the Han’s Fengshui for locating rooms, for example, the living room and the gate of the yard faced south for auspice. The plan of the house, however, is indistinguishable from the Moso houses. This square courtyard is called the
sky well
, enclosed by the connected buildings so that each household has a piece of the sky.”

             
“Oh!” Impressed by his knowledge, Sharon nodded and smiled to her prince.

             
In the center of the Ancient town was the Mu clan mansion, also called the Nakhi Cultural Museum. The Mu clan had ruled the Nakhi for five hundred years, from Yuan to Qing dynasty. Being a subordinate of the Han emperor, the Mu clan adopted the architecture styles of the Chinese ruling class. In fact, the Mansion was a miniature of the Forbidden City, with its peony gardens, lotus ponds, bridges with nine curves, the tiled roofs and curl up eaves, and the white stone walls. Although it still isn’t comparable to Forbidden City in style and workmanship, it’s still a marvel.

“Amazing!” Sharon exclaimed as they stepped into a room on the second floor of what used to be, a door was opened to the full view of the ancient town.

Nobul nodded in agreement. “I come here whenever I’m in Lijiang. The first time I saw it was when I was twelve. I think I got the dream of being an architect then.”

Nobul again played tour guide and told Sharon everything about the Mu Mansion. It had every important features of the classic Chinese architecture: the pavilions, the terraces, verandas, and the pagodas. Not to mention gardens, streams, bridges.  The multistory buildings had double eves and curved roofs. The upturned eaves were not only for artistic effect but also have a practical purpose. It was said that the shape would ward off evil spirits. Same for the large overhangs of the roofs, they also had the function of guarding rain and sunlight.

Nobul then wondered off to observe the architecture of the house in details. Sharon however, was attracted by the objects in display and the pictures hung on the walls. Those were historical pictures of the cities and towns along the Silk Road. Among them were pictures of the Lugu Lake, taken by the American explorer Joseph Rock. She couldn’t contain her excitement when she called to Nobul’s attention. “Come here, quick!”

Nobul went to her swiftly. “Oh yeah, these pictures are awesome. I like especially the one of the market place. Look at the people. How little we’ve changed.”

“Yes.” Sharon nodded excitedly, and pointed to him the pictures taken around the Moso region, “Imagine having these photos like this in our…your museum!”

Nobul’s eyes beamed, “You’re absolutely right!”

They wasted no time to look for the people in charge of the place. After a great many referrals, they found an office on the first floor, at the end of a long hallway.

The person in charge of the site, Comrade Liu, was a friendly looking guy. When he found out the purpose of their visit, he nodded at once. “We acquired the photos from the Southwest University in Chengdu, they have the negatives. I’m sure they’ll be willing to supply the same things to you with a reasonable price.”

“Thank you. I’ll contact them at once.”

Before they left Comrade Liu said to them, “What a great plan you have, Mr. Zhaxi. I wish you success with your Museum.”

“Thank you!”

As soon as they got outdoor, Nobul called his assistant in Chengdu and told him to contact Southwest University for the photos.

The fortuitous find delighted them both. They spent the rest of the afternoon in town visiting souvenir stores. Sharon got a pair of earrings made of peacock’s feathers for Charlene and a silver bracelet for Sadama, since she had noticed that the Moso women loved silver adornments. In a shop specializing on elephant tusk artifacts, Nobul bought Sharon a necklace made of chiseled beads, and put it on for her in the store. They also purchased hand-dyed table cloths that would be used to decorate the museum; and bronze and silverwares for the hotel. Nobul got a piece of yak skin and a pair of yak horns.

After that they sauntered out of the ancient town and into the clamor of the modern town. Almost immediately after they had exited the gate of the ancient town they were besieged by supermarkets and fashion shops, sentimental shouts of popular singers and impatient barks of Taxis and buses.  Out of curiosity Sharon went into a supermarket and was impressed by the size and abundance of merchandise. She found everything from traditional Chinese ingredients to imported western snacks. It was silly of her to send Charlene items that she could easily get from a neighboring city.

             
For dinner they didn’t go back to the bamboo restaurant but went to Pierre’s Café, a French restaurant. The owner of the café was a handsome man with mustache in his forties. He greeted them as soon as they went in.

“Good evening, Nobul, how have you been?” Pierre’s Mandarin without accent surprised Sharon.

“Good evening, Pierre! This is Sharon from the United States. Actually, you’ve met Charlene, Sharon is her sister.”

“
No wonder.
” Pierre looked at Sharon up and down quickly and said, “
I was thinking that I have seen the pretty girl somewhere.
Nice to meet you and welcome to Lijiang, Sharon!”

“Thank you!”

“How is Charlene? When is she coming to Lijiang again?”

“She is fine. Thank you for asking. I’m sure she’ll be here soon. She loves this town.”

The moment they entered, Sharon had recognized that the interior of the restaurant was a mimic of the town itself. There was a stream running through the center of the restaurant, and lanterns hung above the stream. Two rows of booths lined each wall, separated from each other with carved wood partitions, and above each booth was a slanting tiled roof. Pierre took them to the booth next the fountain of the stream. There were impressionist oil paintings of the ancient town hanging on the wall. Nobul said it was done by Pierre himself. Pierre was a French artist who had traveled to the city ten years ago, but fell in love with the place and a local girl. They got married and he settled down.

“Looks like you’re a regular customer here.” Sharon said to Nobul when they were left alone with menus.

“Yes, it’s my favorite foreign restaurant here in Lijiang. I like the interior design. The fountain and the stream really calm you.”

“Let me guess. You designed it?” Sharon looked at the partition of their booth. It was a bird-flower pattern instead of Nobul’s favorite geometric figures.

“Not really. Pierre is an artist himself. But I did suggest the partitions.”

“How did you two meet?”

“We met one day while he was painting by the river. I stood watching him and talking to him. And then we had lunch together. He goes to Lugu Lake often after that.”

             
Sharon ordered braised chicken with mushrooms and Nobul ordered lamb cutlet with herbs. Nobul also asked for the best French wine that was in the restaurant.

             
While their food was being prepared, Pierre brought them bread and wine, and stood next to them to chat.

“How do you like Lugu Lake, Mademoiselle?” Pierre asked Sharon in English.

“Very much. It’s the most beautiful place on earth.”

“Yes. It’s a paradise. Every time I go there I don’t want to leave.” Pierre said dreamily, as if to savor from his memory the feeling of being in Lugu Lake. “I like Lijiang too, but it has been much corrupted by modernization.”

“When are you planning to go again?” Nobul asked.

“Not until fall. Tourism starts early here. There will be a French tourist group here next week.”

And then Pierre looked at Sharon and spoke something to Nobul in French. To Sharon’s surprise, Nobul answered in French. And the conversation lasted for a couple minutes.

“I’m sorry Sharon. I was just checking on Nobul’s French. Ah, let me see whether your diner is ready.” He left promptly.

Sharon smiled to Nobul. “I didn’t know you spoke French too!”

“I don’t really. I learned a few words from Pierre, that’s all.”

“What do you mean ‘that’s all?’ You sounded awfully fluent to me. What other languages do you speak? German? Russian?”

Nobul shook his head, “Nope. But I do understand a bit Tibetan. When I was a kid I studied in the temple and learn
ed
to read the Buddhist scripts in Tibetan.”

Sharon’s mouth fell opened, “You know Tibetan? Charlene told me it was the most difficult language to learn. She took classes for three months and only got pass the alphabets.
But
she had no problem learning other languages, like Japanese, Korean, and French.”

“Yes it isn’t easy. But it helps to have a good teacher.”

“Are you a good teacher?”

“I could be.” Nobul grinned.

“I’ll let Charlene know.”

Pierre came back with two plates of food.

While they were munching, two children, a girl and a boy ran in the hotel.

“Papa, papa!” they shouted.

Pierre came quickly, “Yes my darlings, how’s school and where is Mama?”

“Mama is in auntie’s shop.” The boy said.

“They’re gossiping again.” The girl followed.

“Go say hello to uncle Nobul and Aunt Sharon.” Pierre pointed to their table.