Episode 154 - Little Egret

The photos were taken by me whilst crossing a bridge over the Tai O Waterway.

When I was walking on the bridge, I noticed that there was a little egret sitting on the tower. As the bird had no intention to fly away, I had enough time to take some photos of it.

This appeared to be a good season to watch little egrets in Hong Kong, as I could see a lot of them during my journey. However, the threat of H5N1 avian flu might have been deterring birds watchers from getting too close to these beautiful birds.

Episode 153 - Long Island from the Great Wall

This photo was taken from the "Little Great Wall" of Cheung Chau. The Little Great Wall is a well paved uphill path along which the tourists can have a close look at various weathered granite.

The photo shows the two main beaches of the Island. The one on the right side is "Tung Wan" (literally the East Beach). Tung Wan is a good place for swimming. The sand is smooth and the gradient is gentle. The water quality is good. It is classified as a Grade One beach. The one on the left is "Kwun Yum Beach" (literally the Beach of the Bodhisattva of Compassion). It is the place where Hong Kong's first Olympic medalist Li Lai Shan practised windsurfing when she was young. The circular object which runs into the sea is a helicopter platform. Next to it is the Windsurfer cafe owned by Lai Kan.

Episode 152 - Sunny Side Up

This photo was taken at Tai O. The red rounded objects are the village's traditional produce - preserved egg yolks.

The egg yolks are first extracted from duck eggs. They are then dried under the sun with salts. The selling price is HK$1.25 each.

The easiest way to cook a preserved egg yolk is to steam it in a rice cooker at the time when the rice is halfway done - yummy!

Episode 151 - Pirate from the Long Island

This photo was taken at the entrance of the Cheung Po Tsai Cave at Cheung Chau.

Literally, Cheung Chau means long island. It is one of the outlying islands of Hong Kong, with a population of some 30,000.

This beautiful island has a number of spectacular points of interest of which the Cheung Po Tsai Cave is one.

Cheung Po Tsai was a pirate living in the 19th Century. It was said that Cheung had a strong team of pirates with over 600 ships. People believed that Cheung had stored some of his treasure in various secret locations - the Cave was supposed to be one of such secret places. Backed up by the legend, the Cave attracts a large number of visitors every day. As you can appreciate from the photo, there was a long line of tourists on the day of my visit.

Both the entrance and the exit of the Cave are very small, allowing only one person to pass through. The internal area of the cave is reasonably spacious. No light is installed inside the cave. If you are not comfortable with moving around in total darkness, you can rent a light torch from the local hawkers at a cost of HK$5. It would however be fun if you could manage to find your way out from the dark cave without a torch.

Episode 150 - Three Levels of Achievements in Taiji

Some notes from my reading of "On the Art of Taiji":

Upper-level: The practitioner starts with both the artistic (the conceptual, the body of the art) and the martial (the technique, the use of the art) from the very beginning and get the best of the art.

Mid-level: The practitioner starts from the artistic and develops the martial subsequently in accordance with his studies. Alternatively, he starts from the martial and works out the artistic from the applications. In both cases, the practitioner reaches a higher level through devotion to his art.

Low-level: The practitioner focuses on either the artistic way or the martial way only and manages to work out the best of either stream.

The distinctions are for illustration purpose. They are not in hierarchical orders as the emphasis is on the effort and achievement of the practitioner.

Episode 149 - Vegetarian Goldfish

A new photo of the Red Cap and the Tiger Head.

The goldfish has been growing well. The Red Cap has developed long tail fins. The Tiger Head has longer tails too but the head growth is yet to develop.

Last month, I discovered that the goldfish's appetite was bad and seemed to have got diarrhea. I changed the pellets and fed them with more vegetable leaves. It worked and the fish soon recovered.

I find that the fish loves vegetables with soft leaves. "Choy Sum" and "Pak Choy" are their favourites.

Episode 148 - Nei Gong - the internal power

Nei Gong is a mysteries subject in internal martial art.

For an internal martial art practitioner, power is re-acquired through awakening the sleeping parts of the body (See Episode Three for more), so that he can utilise coherent bodily force. To fine tune this re-acquired power, the awakened parts should be conditioned so the power transmission process can be maximized . This is where the Nei Gong Training enters into the picture.

Nei Gong Training looks like breathing exercise. However, Nei Gong Training emphasises full inhalation and full exhalation. This is done, and should only be done, on the basis that the sleeping parts of the body have been awakened.

The rationale behind full inhalation and exhalation is to let the body go through a series of "high pressure" and "vacuum" conditions. The practitioner takes advantage of these conditions to direct / force the energy to break through the desired channels in his re-acquired "natural body".

Episode 147 - Bauhinia Blakeana (III)

My visit to the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence triggered this 3rd post on Bauhinia Blakeana.

Bauhinia Blakeana is said to be a mix of Bauhinia Purpurea and Bauhinia Variegata. It is a sterile plant which does not produce seed. Propagation of the tree is usually by way of adapting the branch of a Bauhinia Blakeana to the trunk of a Bauhinia Purpurea. Hence if you see a Bauhinia Blakeana, you will see a demarcation line in the stem of the tree. The upper part of the tree is a Bauhinia Blakeana and the lower part is a Bauhinia Purpurea. Sometimes, the lower part of the tree develops new sub-branches, creating an interesting phenomenon - you can see 2 different types of flowers in one tree.

The photo above, taken during my visit to the Museum, shows a Bauhinia Blakeana with flowers of Bauhinia Purpurea on the lower part of the tree. Note also the difference in colours on the lower part and upper part of the trunk.

Episode 146 - The Eight Banners

These photos were taken at the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence earlier today.

A special event of the Museum is exhibiting some cultural relics of the Eight Banners of the Manchu.

The "Eight Banners" was the military system of the Manchu. Each Banner had a strong team of army. With the powerful Eight Banners, the Manchu conquered the Ming Empire in the 17th Century and ruled China for nearly 300 years.

The exhibition introduces the "Eight Banners" military system, the army outfits and the weapons. The colourful clothes as shown in the photos above are the military outfits of the Eight Banners.

The Museum is located at the eastern coast of Hong Kong and was once a military fort of the British army.

Episode 145 - Beautiful Forest

This photo was taken from the Peak.

The city is always condemned by people as an ugly concrete forest. However, if you look at it from a distance, you will probably change your mind.

If we only pay attention to unhappy events, our mind will be occupied by sorrows, angers and hatred. We will then lose our ability to appreciate the beautiful aspects of those things around us.

Looking at the same thing from a different perspective defamiliarises stereotyped preconceptions.

Episode 144 - Bauhinia Blakeana (II)

These photos were taken at the podium of the Haking Wong Building of HKU earlier today.

It is flowering time for the Bauhinia Blakeanas. These Hong Kong Orchid Trees blossom in around October and November each year. Apart from HKU, there are quite a number of them in the Botanical Garden and the Harcourt Garden.

On my way home, I inspected the Bauhinia Blakeana which flowered in May this year. The tree is growing well but I cannot find one single flower bud on it.

You get it here, you lose it there.

Episode 143 - Birds of a feather

The first photo was taken at a lake in Luzern. The second photo was taken at the Northern Sea in Beijing.

Mallard is said to be the ancestor of domestic ducks. These migratory birds are often seen in ponds and lakes in many parts of the world. Apart from Switzerland and China, I have seen mallards in the UK and Japan.

The Luzern mallards appeared to be fatter and round in shape. The Beijing mallards had longer beaks and coloured tails.

Episode 142 - Fishing Birds

This picture was taken at Zhou Zhuang near Shanghai.

Common cormorant can be trained as working birds. The birds are captured and trained to fish for their masters. These birds are great fishermen. The bird keeper will install a ring around the bird's neck before setting it to work. The bird jumps into the water and catches the fish as soon as it identifies one. The bird will of course try to eat the fish but the ring around its neck prevents it from doing so. The bird keeper can then take the fish out of the bird's throat.

Nowadays, fishing by common cormorants has become a tourists attraction activity. The birds and their masters become performers of fishing shows.

Episode 141 - The Art of Chin Na

When I was young, I was facsinated by the arts of those sifus who could easily submit a big guy with chin na technique.

It looks as if the rationale behind a chin na technique is simple: You use the strength of your arms / body to control a weak point (usually his joint) of your opponent (the "Weak Point Principle"). However, you will soon find that this is not the case, as you can not do it as smoothly as your sifu.

Your opponent will never cooperate with you as your training partner does. Your opponent will move his limbs and body instinctively, and naturally, when he feels a pain in his joint. Once he changes his posture, the optimum position to control his weak point changes. Either you let your opponent go and you change to another technique. If not, you will find yourself end up locking horn with your opponent.

Ironically, the Weak Point Principle easily becomes another version of the Strong Man Principle.

The reality is: Whenever a sifu perform a chin na technique, he will first do some tricks to destroy the balance of his opponent. Once the opponent's balance is altered, he loses his ability to adjust his body position and is easily submitted to the chin na technique of the sifu. The best sifu can do the unbalance together with the chin na at the same time - the chin na technique is also the unbalance technique.

The key is to control your opponent's balance, not just his joint or weak point.

Episode 140 - Museum memories

My family visited the Hong Kong Museum of Art today.

The Museum holds a number of important events this year. This time, it brings to us some interesting exhibits from the British Museum.

The exhibits are housed in two exhibition halls in the Museum. The Egyptian Section attracted the attention of most visitors. This section shows a mummy and many beautiful Egyptian artifacts.

I have been to the British Museum many times and this event only exhibits a small portion of the British Museum collection. Whilst it did not give me any surprise, it brought back to me many beautiful memories.

There are many great museums in the UK. Apart from the British Museum, I like the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the National Gallery. It's worth investing one whole visiting day for the collections in each of these museums.

A museum is a place where you can explore, appreciate, imagine and learn. I recall that I once saw a group of school children having a study tour in the National Gallery. The children sat in a circle in front of a painting. Out of curiosity, I and the other tourists gathered behind in the outer ring. The teacher stood in front of the painting and gave a lesson to the children (and the other museum visitors) on how to appreciate the artwork.

The painting was "Ulysses deriding Polyphemus" by Turner. It showed some Greeks ships sailing away from the coastal area. According to the teacher, they were fleeing from a giant's cave having hurt the only eye of the giant. The teacher then asked the children if they could see the giant in the painting. Everyone was quiet. The teacher then pointed to an upper portion of the painting. We were curious as we could not see any giant in the painting not to say that portion. A child then raise his hand and said, "I saw it! Here is his hand." I then realised that there was a hand image in the upper portion of the painting. It was merged with the cloud in the sky. It looked as if the hand was turning backward rather than outward for the escaping Greeks. The teacher then asked: "Why the hand is up there in that portion of the painting and in that shape?" The child answered: "The giant's eye is painful. He is soothing it with his hand."

The audience applauded.

Episode 139 - Body Bow - What Exactly It Is?

Taiji practitioners like to talk about the five bows in the body. It is said that "Fa Jing" is like shooting out an arrow.

However, very few know exactly how the bows operate. Without knowing how the bows operate, one can never shoot out an arrow successfully.

The most important member of the five bows is the body bow. Many contemporary writers say that the body bow is the spine. According to them, what you need to do is to curve your spine and make it straight again, just like pulling the string of the bow and release it, in order to send out the power.

It gets you nowhere if your follow this method.

It is true that you need to move your spine in order to send out the internal force. However, it cannot be done by curving and straightening your spine in the normal way. You need to activate your back muscles and the related power channels in the very first place in order to utilise the power of your body bow. Before your back muscles are activated and the related power channels opened, the purported curving and straightening of your spine is meaningless - You only curve / straighten your body by contracting / extending the muscles in the front part of your body. Your spine is still sleeping.

You need to think about "fa jing" from the perspective of exercising coherent bodily force. It is not just a matter of opening the bows (all five bows). It is the coordination of the whole body, whereupon the whole body contracts or extends coherently and in a very short slice of time, with your back performing the decisive role.

Assuming that you have activated your back muscles and opened the related power channels. The next step is to find out the way to pull the string of the bow. The method is to contract the back muscles and then extend it. It is the converse of opening the string of a physical bow where you extend the string first and then release it to let it contract again. The post on spherical power has already disclosed the secret of this mechanism. It is the expansion of power that send the power arrow out. You cannot send out the arrow by the other way round.

Episode 138 - Money Toad

Remember the post on Princess Frog?

The gold toad in the Liu Hai folklore has been depicted by artists of different generations in various forms and shapes. However, regardless of the forms and shapes of these gold toads, they have two common features - (1) the toad is three legged; (2) the toad has a coin with it.

The object in the photo above is a Yixing purple clay teapot modelled on the mythical Liu Hai gold toad. Yixing is situated in the Jiangsu Province of China. It is the home of the unique red/ purple clay, from which clay the famous teapots are made.

I purchased this teapot from a shop in Beijing many years ago. I was attracted by the appearance of this strange teapot and decided to bring it home as soon as I saw it. I was curious about the identity of the animal but the shopkeeper was not able to tell me what the teapot denoted.

This teapot has been sitting in my cupboard for many years. It was not until I conducted some researches on the Liu Hai folklore, after a visit to the Temple of the Deity of Matchmaking in Hangzhou, did I finally discover the true identity of the creature.

A typical gold toad model has a coin in its mouth - superstitious people like to keep one at home with a view to attracting fortune.

My teapot toad is obviously not so money-minded. The coin is on its back, with a lovely baby toad sitting on the coin.

I don't mind if it does attract fortune.

Episode 137 - Seals of the Emperors

These are the impressions of certain imitation seals of some of the late Qing Emperors.

I obtained these impressions during a recent visit to the Hong Kong Museum of Art.

It is a Chinese art tradition that an owner, or an appraiser, of a painting used to affix his seal to the artwork. If it is a famous artwork, you will usually find a large number of seal impressions on it. If the artwork had once entered the royal palace, you can even find the Emperor's seal impressions as well.

I am not particular attracted by such practice of affixing one's seal to a great painting, as the seal impressions unnecessarily occupy a portion of the painting surface.

Having said that, I do agree that these seal impressions have their own artistic qualities.

Episode 136 - Dayang Yihao

Dayang Yihao (Great Ocean No. 1), China's deep-sea research ship, is visiting Hong Kong and mooring at the Ocean Terminal.

Judith read the news about the visit a few weeks ago and noted that the ship would open to visitors during her stay in Hong Kong.

Each of Judith and I sent a letter to the University of Science and Technology, one of the sponors of the event, to apply for the visiting tickets. Each letter applied for 2 tickets. According to today's newspaper, there were 5,000 tickets for the public, but the University received over 50,000 applications. So the University drew lots. We were lucky and got 4 tickets!

As we got one extra ticket, we invited one of Chiu Yin's classmates to join us today.

I know very little about deep-sea research, but I believed that it would be an enjoyment to board a ship and have a look at something unfamiliar to me. The doctrine of "Defamiliarisation", which I learned from my literary theory studies, has always been a golden guideline that brings live water to my heart.

The beautiful white ship, the long boarding ladder, the crew's rooms, the research centre and the various strange equipment knitted together in an orderly manner. Together with the friendly crew members, they presented before me a new horizon of life, a different view of looking at our beautiful planet, and gave me the chance to see, talk and listen to people from different walk of life. Judging from the environment of the ship, the life of a deep-sea researcher must be interesting, rewarding and relaxed without work pressure.

The pressure, if any, can easily be washed away by the great ocean.

Episode 135 - Balance, Unbalance

Remember the discussion on TADB?

At the beginning of the taiji martial art training, a practitioner learns how to maintain his balance. At the later stage of the training, it is the reverse. A senior practitioner should learn how to make use of the force generated by the lose of balance. This is not a situation of really losing one's balance. The unbalanced position is somewhat "intentional". It is "created" as a result of "following, sticking, adhering and connecting" to an opponent to such an extreme that one's balance can no longer be maintained.

A skillful practitioner can, however, make use of the power produced by such an "unbalanced" position to uproot his opponent and, through uprooting the opponent, maintain his balance again. It's just like holding the hand rail in a moving train to maintain one's balance. The power as generated by an unbalanced body is not enough to move a train, but it is more than sufficient to uproot an opponent.

This is the conversion of balance and unbalance, the conversion of Yin and Yang.

Episode 134 - Puppet Play of a Skeleton

I visited the Hong Kong Museum of Art today for Phase II of the "Pride of China" Exhibition.

Phase I of the Exhibition ended on 22nd July. It exhibited the original of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" plus 15 great paintings and calligraphy.

Phase II also features a "Qingming River" painting, but this one is an imitation of the original Song painting, which imitation is attributed to Qiu Ying. The Museum also exhibits another 15 paintings and calligraphy.

Whilst the Ming Dynasty version "Qingming River" is also a masterpiece in itself, my heart turns to the other 15 paintings and calligraphy this time. They are housed in another exhibition hall in the Museum. Unlike the "Qingming River", there is no visiting time limit for these 15 artwork.

I believe many visitors were interested in the "Puppet Play of a Skeleton" (see above) by Li Song. It is a strange painting with a skeleton man performing a play of a skeleton puppet!. Many commentators tended to look at this painting from a philosophical perspective of "Life and Death". I do not find this approach attractive. I would rather view the plot of this artwork as a magic performance. The painter, like the girl on the right side, was probably doubting whether the magician (the skeleton man) was in fact a demon, while watching the performance.

Apart from the "Skeleton", I also like the paintings "Emperor Taizong Receiving the Tibetan Envoy" and "Vimalakirti Preaching the Doctrine" - I saw photos of these 2 paintings many times in the past. It's great to be able to have a close encounter with the originals of them. As to calligraphy, I was touched by the strokes of Wang Xun and Zhao Mengfu.

Episode 133 - Gogo's trip to the UK

While I am writing this post, Gogo is on the way, having landed safely, to his aunt's home in the UK.

Although Gogo travelled a lot previously, this morning he flied for the first time in his life without a companion.

I was a little bit nervous this morning but I pretended to be calm so as not to make Gogo nervous too. I was not sure whether Gogo could manage passing the immigration / custom counters and found his way to the boarding lounge. I had decided to wait outside the restrictive area with my mobile phone turned on in order to provide on the line advice to Gogo if required.

The flight time was 8:40 so we had to get up very early in the morning. We took a taxi to the Airport Station in Central and checked in there. The airline staff was very helpful. When she discovered that Gogo was to travel alone, she arranged for another colleague to assist Gogo at the airport.

We took the Airport Express and arrived the airport at 7:00 a.m.

We planned to have our breakfast at a restaurant next to the departure gate. To our disappointment, the restaurant had closed. We therefore had a brief breakfast at a fastfood shop nearby.

After finishing the not so tasty fastfood, we went to the airline counter. The staff there were waiting for us and one of them then accompanied Gogo to pass the immigration / custom counters and board the plane through the staff channel!

I was quite relief when I saw the airline staff leading Gogo into the restrictive area. Many thanks to the helpful staff of New Zealand Airline.

Episode 132 - The Five Elements

The "Five Elements" is another basic principle in the Taiji martial art system which has always been misinterpreted by contemporary writers or practitioners.

Some people simply consider these elements as moving forward / backward or taking care of left / right. Some go too far to equate them with the skills of "Sticking, Adhering, Connecting and Following" and adding the "non contentious" as the "Five Inside Elements".

To better understand the nature of the Five Elements, we have to consider them from the perspective of "Turning Yin and Yang Upside Down".

According to "On the Art of Taiji", "Forward and Backward" are the steps of "Water and Fire"; whereas "Left and Right" are the steps of Metal and Wood. The Earth "Centre" is the centre of the dynamic.

If you look at the Five Elements in accordance the rationale behind the principle of "Turning Yin and Yang upside down", you will know that you need to use backward to support forward and vice versa; and you will need to use your left side to support your right side and vice versa - Regarding the importance of centre, please see previous postings.

That's the essence of the 13 forms - We manipulate the application skills by adopting the 8 directions principle (the 4 squares and the 4 corners) and we move around (or unmove) by adopting the principles of the 5 elements.

These 13 forms are inborn (but lost) abilities. They can be revived through the "Know your ownself" training. It is a mistake to confuse them with the "Sticking, Adhering, Connecting and Following" - the latters are the basic skills required in the stage of the "Know Others".

Episode 131 - Night Fishing Light

This photo was taken at Bikuni Port during my 2002 Hokkaido journey.

I was amazed by the large light bulbs hanging across the top of the fishing boat.

Whilst these bulbs made the white fishing boat look artistic (and probably charming at night) they were not hanging there for decoration purpose.

Fishing boats like this will turn on those bulbs at night. The purpose of this is to attract fish, which has a tendency to swim towards a light source at night. The fishermen can then catch the fish gathering near the boat.

The Chinese characters for Bikuni is the same as "USA" in Chinese. That's the reason why I was attracted by the road sign whilst driving along the coastal area in Syakotan Peninsula and stopped at Bikuni to take a short break.

I recall that the roads along the coastal area of Syakotan were finely paved. However, there were quite a number of road tunnels along the coastal line. These tunnels were probably built many years ago and the roads inside these tunnels were not wide enough to provide comfortable driving. The degree of closeness between my car and the cars in the opposite lane astonished me.

Episode 130 - Along the River During the Qingming Festival

[The Rainbow Bridge and a closer-look of it: portion of the Qingming River as reproduced in the museum brochure]

My family visited the Hong Kong Museum of Art and saw the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" (the "Qingming River") today.

The Qingming River is a painting of over 5 metres in length. It depicts in details what's happening in the Bian City and the outlying areas along the Bian River during a Qingming festival. It was drawn at the time of the Song Dynasty in ancient China.

The Qingming River exhibition is one of the hot events in town in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Reunification of Hong Kong with China.

It is said that the Qingming River will only be available for public viewing once every 10 years. Further, it is the first time the painting is displayed in Hong Kong. Hence, the ticket office of the Museum is always line up with people.

My family have the Museum annual passes so we did not need to buy tickets. We arrived the Museum at 11 a.m. but were not able to view the painting immediately. As there were too many visitors, we only managed to get registered for a time slot at 4 pm.

In addition to the Qingming River, there are 15 great paintings being exhibited in another exhibition hall in the Museum. We took advantage of the time in between to visit these paintings and have a lunch as well.

As there are too many visitors, the viewing session in respect of the Qingming River is limited to 5 minutes for each visitor. We were only able to view the painting for one and a half round within these 5 minutes. To my and Judith's surprise, both Gogo and Chiu Yin were excited to see the painting.

I have seen a copy of another version of the Qingming River. Such version was an imitation drawn at the time of the Qing Dynasty. The Qing version is more colourful. However, there are a number of differences between the two. The major difference is the "Rainbow Bridge" (see above) which flies over the Bian River in the middle of the painting. The Song version features a wooden bridge but the Qing version features a stone bridge. Further, the positions and conditions of the boats near the bridge and the body languages of the various characters around make the Song version a more attractive piece of work.

Outside the viewing room is a large hall displaying detailed explanations on various portions of the painting to enable visitors to have a deeper understanding of this great artwork. The brochure provided by the Museum also gives a good briefing on the contents of and background information in relation to the painting.

The Museum did a very good job. Although the viewing time was limited, the arrangement was good and the staff were helpful.

We received a small souvenir before leaving the exhibition hall. It is a miniature scroll of the painting!

Episode 129 - Sword Play

The taiji sword is an advanced level training tool.

One has to consider the taiji sword from 2 different perspectives. The sword as a weapon and the sword as an extension of the limbs.

I shall write something on the weapon aspect in the future.

The second aspect relates to empty-hand combat. It can further be sub-divided into 2 sub-headings:

1. Power enhancer: A sword used for power training is different from a demonstration sword. A "real sword" (like the one in the photo) should be used for the purpose of power training. A "real sword" is much heavier than a demonstration sword. Manipulating and making use of the weight of a "real sword" requires specific technique.

In a taijiquan form, it is the body that leads the limb. In a sword play using a "real sword" it is the limb that leads the body - the purpose is to enhance the flowing of power like "mercury in a bamboo pipe".

Apart from facilitating the power flow, the taiji sword form is designed to enhance the opening of the "Gate of Life" and the wrist joints. In most time of the sword play, the "gate" is opened. It also demands high flexibility of the wrist joints.

2. Application Techniques: The sword form embodied the advanced level application techniques in the taiji martial art system. Apart from the hand techniques, it has many complicated footworks.

Looking at the sword form from a different angle, you will have many interesting discoveries.

The sword play is not equal to sword dance.

Episode 128 - Sunset Danshui

This photo was taken at the coastal area of the Danshui River.

Apart from offering a spectacular view of the Danshui sunset, the coastal area has a number of sovenair shops and restaurants.

The restaurants along the coastal line offer Chinese style seafood and Western food. The Western styled restaurants are mostly located in an area covered by some huge banyan trees. I tried one of them and was happy with the service and the food offered. The prices of the food are very reasonable in the light of the quality of the food and the location of the restaurant. Enjoying the delicious food in front of the beautiful Danshui River is a double treat.

Episode 127 - Food, Inns and Tradition

This photo shows part of a full Japanese traditional dinner set my family had during our 2003 Hokkaido journey.

Japanese hotels or ryokans usually provide dinners to their guests. At the time a reservation is made, a guest will be asked whether he wishes to have 1. "pure staying" - means a guest room only; or 2. "one stay one eating" - means a guest room plus dinner; or 3. "one stay two eatings" - means a guest room plus dinner and breakfast.

In western style hotels, dinners or breakfasts are usually served, in the form of buffets, in the main restaurants of the hotels. However, in traditional Japanese ryokans or hotels with Japanese style rooms, the dinners as provided can be very special.

1. The dinner time is decided by the guest;
2. It is served inside the room of the guest.
3. As you can see from the photo, a traditional dinner set is really great and you can enjoy the best food of the season in one go.

A dinner set like this is quite expensive but it is worth trying if you have not had one before.

Traditional Japanese breakfast is, however, not very much impressive, unless you love to have rice in the morning.

Episode 126 - Bridge of Love

These photos were taken at the Fishermen's Wharf at Danshui, Taipei.

Danshui is an old town in Taipei. If you take the subway at downtown Taipei, you will arrive here within half an hour's time. Danshui is the terminal station of the subway line so you will not miss the station.

The Fishermen's Wharf is not located at the town centre. However, it's worth taking a leisure walk in the Danshui Old Town, tasting the delicious local food before boarding a bus or a steamboat to the Fishermen's Wharf.

The Fishermen's Wharf features a beautiful white bridge and a long boardwalk (see photos) along the coastal line.

Whilst lovers like to walk along the boardwalk to enjoy the beautiful sunset of Danshui, the "Just Married" couples like to take photos on the white bridge.

Episode 125 - Fish from the Sea

This photo was taken in Tai O in 2003.

A hawker was selling "sea fish" near the footbridge.

I did not verify the position on that day, but the "sea fish" as sold by hawkers in circumstances like this is usually a little bit tricky.

The fish as sold is sea water fish. There is no doubt of it.

What is misleading is that the "sea fish" on sale is, in most circumstances like this, raised up in a fish farm, instead of caught by fishermen in the open sea.

If you have ever tasted a fish caught in the open sea, you will not enjoy eating a farm fish again. The meat of a farm fish is simply dry and tasteless.

Having said that, it should be noted that the selling price of a farm "sea fish" is competitive - the selling price of a fish caught in the open sea is much much higher.

Episode 124 - Artefact in Time

This is another exhibit in the Clock Hall of the Forbidden City at Beijing.

When the minute hand of the clock reaches twelve, the doll will wave her fan. When I visited the Clock Hall in 2005, this doll clock was placed at the demonstration corner. The demonstrator turned it on together with other beautiful clocks at the designated time slot and the clocks sang together like a musical symphony.

Episode 123 - The Four Corners

The Four Square Forces are the four main forces in the Taiji martial art system.

Some contemporary writers consider that the Four Square Forces can only be used in 4 straight forward directions. Hence, according to these writers, the Four Corner Forces were introduced to make up the balance such that a practitioner can deal with his opponents from all directions. Such view is not attractive and is a departure from what has been set out in various Taiji classics.

Four Square Forces can be applied in a circular manner. There is no difference between a "Square" force and a "Circular" force, if you know how to do it. Likewise, there is no such distinction between a "Square Form" and a "Circular Form" if you know the essence of the art. Hence, there is no need to introduce to the system "new " measures to "make up the balance".

What then are the Four Corner Forces?

According to "On the Art of Taiji", the Four Square Forces provides a Taiji practitioner the ammunition required in action. However, a practitioner, unless extremely skillful, will inevitably alter his best positioning in action. What can he do then? The answer is in the Four Corner Forces.

The Four Corner Forces are remedial tools available to a Taiji practitioner when he loses his optimum position. Hence, they are supplemental to the Four Square Forces and the practitioner should recover back to the Four Squares after regaining the optimum position. When a practitioner uses the Four Corner Forces, he is in the recovery mode.

The Four Corner Forces are not higher level forces.

Episode 122 - The Athena

This picture was taken in front of the Parliament Building of Austria at Vienna.

The statue which has a long spear in the left hand is the Athena.

Vienna was the starting point of my 2004 journey.

The old buildings in Vienna are artistic and well maintained. Apart from the Parliament Building, other impressive points of interest include Schonbrunn Palace, Stephandom and the Twin museums. It is easy to travel around the city by trains or by trams.

Episode 121 - The Four Square Forces

The Four Square Forces are interrelated. The "Peng" and the "Lei" form one pair. The "Ji" and the "An" form another pair. You need the "Peng" to do the "Lei", and the "Lei" to do the "Peng". They are "two in one" and which forms "three". This is the "Harmonization of Water and Fire". The same holds true for the "Ji" and the "An".

Each of the Square Forces has its own power generating points. These power generating points are located in such a way that they form an imaginary "cross sign" in the body. Further, "Peng", "Lei", "Ji" and "An" each represent a direction in the I-Ching system, and which 4 directions form a "cross sign". Hence, we have the Four Squares.

Many people (not only the morning exercisers) mistakenly equate the postures in "Grasping the Bird's Tail" with the Four Square Forces.

The saying that "10 out of 10 Taiji practitioners do not know what Peng, Lei, Ji, An actually are" may be an exaggerated statement, but the secret of the Four Square Forces is always jealously guarded and kept away from those outside the door.

"On the Art of Taiji" considers that the abilities to generate the Four Squares (and the Four Corners) Forces are inborn. We lost these abilities because of "civilization".

Episode 120 - Where the deities walk

This photo was taken at the entrance of the Ming Tombs, where the late emperiors of the Ming Dynasty of Ancient China were buried.

The entrance path is guarded by a number of stone craved animals and officials. I do not like to visit the tombs as I consider it very impolite to disturb the peace of the deceased. However, I do like this path as the stone craves and the setting of the place are really attractive.

As you can see, the path is divided into three sections. The outer sections were built for the humans to walk on. The middle section was for the deities. Probably the caskets of the deceased emperiors were carried along this middle section, in order to obtain the blessing of the deities, before resting in their final destination.

Episode 119 - Cool Plants in Hot Weather

The weather is unusually hot this year but, to my surprise, the plants outside are growing well.

The flowers are blossoming and some trees are bearing fruits.

Global warming does not appear to have adversely affected the greens here.

Episode 118 - Turning Yin and Yang Upside Down

The principle of "Turning Yin and Yang Upside Down" involves the harmonizing of two antagonistic forces so that they give rise to a new force.

In the book "On the Art of Taiji", the benefit of this harmonization is explained symbolically: Water and fire are two antagonistic elements, with fire burning up and water wetting down. Putting the fire on the bottom and the water on the top is like turning Yin and Yang upside down. However, it requires special treatment to deal with the new position. The method is to put a bowl in between. The water cannot go down and the fire has a ceiling. We can then have warm water. This is the harmonization of water and fire.

"Turning Yin and Yang Upside Down" is the key to decipher the real meaning of the Eight Forces (The Four Squares and the Four Corners). Each of the Eight Forces is the result of harmonizing two antagonistic power generating points from within the body. These Eight Forces are not to be used separately. They are interrelated and complementing each other in pairs like the Water and the Fire.

Episode 117 - Another Spectacular Sunset

The sky remains clear in the past few days. I took advantage of this and took some more pictures. Here is one of them.

Episode 116 - Looking Out of the Window

photo taken by Gogo Tsang

Hong Kong is always clouded by polluted air emitted by the factories in the Pearl River Delta.

The rain in the past few days cleaned up the dust in the air. Looking out of the window, we can see the beautiful sunset again.

This picture was taken by Gogo using a digital camera.

Episode 115 - Books on Taiji

I have a good collection of martial art books on Taiji.

These books were purchased by me in the past 30 years or so. The best book appears to be "On the Art of Taiji", a Qing classic, a photo copy of which was reproduced in a book published in early 80's. "On the Art of Taiji" discusses in depth on the importance of getting back to the "original body condition" through martial art trainings. It also talks about the stage of "Know your own self" and the stage of "Know others". It is a directional book and not an instructional manual. You need to learn the details (on basic trainings and application skills) from a teacher who knows the art.

Another book I like most is "A Collection of Taiji Classics" published in the mainland in early 90s. It includes the texts of most well known Taiji classics. It is a documentary textbook and does not include commentaries of contemporary writers (that's why it is good).

The classics provides:

1. The definitive principles on the art - what the art is about, what to learn and what the goal is.
2. Guidelines for the students to follow so that they will not depart from the basic principles in their trainings.

No matter how good a book is, it cannot replace a teacher - the classics do not teach you "how" to do it. A good teacher should be able to demonstrate to his students in action the taiji principles and provide the right training methods to the students so that they can do the same thing within a reasonable period of time. It is foolish to believe in the saying that "it takes at least 10 years to become a good taiji practitioner."

I also have a lot of books published by contemporary Taiji practitioners. I regret to say that many of these books are not up to standard. It may be that some of these writers are skillful (giving them the benefit of doubt), they did not disclose any valuable information to the public in their books.

Some of these books usually include a set of photos (covering more than 2/3 of the book) with the writers practising the form, plus a reproduction of a few pieces of Taiji classics (covering 10 more pages), plus some simple (or intentionally complicated) explanations from which you cannot improve your skill.

I wish I could find out some positive methods to get rid of these books on my bookshelf. I of course wish to have all my money back - together with interest!