Where we were when we heard
May 1 is International Labor Day, a legal holiday in China. Since it fell on Sunday, today was a vacation day. We arranged to meet another family and their friends at a part of the Great Wall we have never previously visited, Jinshanling. East of Beijing in Hebei Province, it was about a two-hour drive, but so worth it. Beautiful (rare) blue skies, amazing vista, great friends--all the makings for a fantastic holiday.
On a breather break midway through our morning walk along the wall, my friend Jacqueline checked the news online and the twitter feed. She relayed the news about Osama bin Laden which we received with shock and disbelief. It took a while for it to sink in, for it feel true. We were walking the Great Wall with hundreds of other day-trippers and tourists, and not many seemed to have received this news yet. Listening to her reports of the spontaneous celebrations in places like DC and New York, I could not help but consider our immediate surroundings were nothing like those at all. It was like being in a Breughel painting/Auden poem.
Post-script: For a sample of the reaction in China, Evan Osnos' piece today is quite good.
On a breather break midway through our morning walk along the wall, my friend Jacqueline checked the news online and the twitter feed. She relayed the news about Osama bin Laden which we received with shock and disbelief. It took a while for it to sink in, for it feel true. We were walking the Great Wall with hundreds of other day-trippers and tourists, and not many seemed to have received this news yet. Listening to her reports of the spontaneous celebrations in places like DC and New York, I could not help but consider our immediate surroundings were nothing like those at all. It was like being in a Breughel painting/Auden poem.
Post-script: For a sample of the reaction in China, Evan Osnos' piece today is quite good.
Comments
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course