EAST SIDE GARDEN

Olfactory memory

Old Wang

It is strange how the Chinese can live in a chaotic world by constantly working like bees in a hive and at the same time living in harmony with the spirit and nature that surrounds them.

It was the end of July, I was west of Shanghai, in a geographical area full of lakes, it was early morning and the heat was unbearable, so I decided to go out and take a walk. The humidity had formed a thin haze that hung over the lake outside my hotel, which soon gave way to a beautiful sunrise. On the shores of the lake there were elderly people who practiced Tai Chi at sunrise, not far away some old men in costume, were bathing tied to a red buoy.

The environment of the lake with the light of the rising sun was the setting for a fuchsia pink lotus flower carpet and everything transmitted a great serenity and inner peace. An elderly gentleman a bit stunned by my presence, perhaps by seeing a Westerner in that context, approached and with a welcome gesture handed me a cup of oolong tea that had a slightly citrus note.