Shamian 沙面

Zupełnym przypadkiem tuż po skończeniu lektury opisującej chińskie przygody Wallis Simpson mieliśmy okazję wybrać się do Kantonu, a ZB, zdający sobie sprawę z moich inklinacji, zarezerwował dla nas hotel naprzeciwko Piaszczystej Powierzchni 沙面. 

Shamian, dawniej po angielsku romanizowana Shameen zgodnie z kantońską wymową znaków, była kiedyś położoną nad Rzeką Perłową piaszczystą łachą wielkości 30 hektarów. W latach 1859-1943 była podzielona na dwie koncesje: francuską i brytyjską, a dziś pozostaje pamiątką po kolonialnej przeszłości Kantonu. Kolonialnej zabudowy nie wyburzono; wyspa składa się więc głównie z historycznej zabudowy i alej ocienionych starymi drzewami. Obecnie znajdują się tu przede wszystkim hotele, restauracje, kawiarnie i sklepy z pamiątkami, wśród których dumnie prezentuje się... polski konsulat. Jest to zapewne najpiękniej położony polski konsulat na świecie. 

W czasach przedkolonialnych była ważnym portem handlu międzynarodowego; już wówczas mieszkali i prowadzili tu biznesy liczni obcokrajowcy. Wtedy była jeszcze półwyspem; dopiero Francuzi na spółkę z Anglikami wykopali kanał, który zmienił ją w wyspę będącą strategicznym punktem w trakcie wojen opiumowych, a także bezpiecznym schronieniem dla obcokrajowców w niespokojnych latach końca cesarstwa i Republiki. Mosty prowadzące na wyspę zawsze były świetnie strzeżone, a także zamykane na noc; w wyjątkowo niebezpiecznych czasach (jak właśnie w trakcie pobytu Wallis) nikt nie mógł bez oficjalnych rozkazów ani pójść do miasta, ani wejść na wyspę. Oto, co pisze o wyspie French, posiłkując się naocznymi relacjami ówczesnych podróżników: 

When the early foreign China traders returned to Canton after the First Opium War (1839-1842), they found their factories and residences burned down. Under the unequal postwar Treaty of Nanking (Nanjing) between the defeated Qing dynasty and Great Britain, Shameen was forcibly ceded as a place of foreign residence, a so-called treaty port. In reality, it was little more than a sandy mud flat separated from the western suburbs of Canton by a narrow canal. Indeed, Shameen literally means "sandy surface." Occupied by the foreign traders and new consulates, Shameen soon developed. Wooden piles were driven into the river and filled with sand. On these foundations was constructed an embankment of solid granite, which eventually developed into the island's recreation ground with a few streets laid out surrounding it. Tiny Shameen became Canton's only defendable foreign enclave. If times were calm, it was quite a pleasant location of tree-lined shady streets. But when riots and strikes in Canton confined foreigners to the island, it could feel claustrophobic. One-third of the island was controlled by the French and two-thirds by the British. The concessions were really only two main thoroughfares with a half dozen narrower cross streets. There were two pedestrian bridges to the mainland - the English Bridge, and the French Bridge - as well as some open land for a soccer field, which ran down to a sampan landing stage, several tennis courts, and a public recreation park with spreading trees for shade and benches between bright flowerbeds. Shameen's streets were planted with banyan trees to provide shade for the island's residents as they made their way from the small consulates to the customs house, a couple of banks, a police station, and a post office. A number of decent-size merchant residences had been built, often in the Italianate style, with deep, shady verandas. There were some lodging houses for the mostly single foreign men who worked for the local hongs [...]. 

Shameen was car-free and the preserve of pedestrians, rickshaws, bicycles, and the occasional donkey-drawn cart. There had been tense times. In September 1883, a demonstration against a European customs officer suspected of killing a local Chinese man had descended into a full-blown anti-foreign riot. The few foreign troops guarding Shameen proved inadequate against the crowd, who began burning foreign residences. In a few hours, the rioters destroyed one-third of Shameen's private houses. Since then, the foreign powers had beefed up their military presence with regular naval visits as well as a police force made up of British coppers, French flics, and Sikh constables recruited from India. By 1924, at least in shape and form, Shameen hadn't really changed since the Reverend B.C. Henry of the American Presbyterian Church mission in China had visited around 1886 and seen the newly rebuilt structures on the island after the troubles of a few years before: 

Formerly a mere sandbank in the stream, it has been surrounded by a strong wall, and elevated above the reach of the highest tides, and shut off from the native town by a canal spanned by two bridges. Elliptical in shape, and evergreen in its grass and foliage, it presents a perfect ideal of retirement and comfort. Park Avenue runs through the centre from east to west, shaded by rows of noble banyans. The bund [raised waterfront] on the riverside is the favourite promenade, being open to the south, whence it receives the full benefit of the refreshing south-east monsoon through the summer. The consulates, each with its ensign floating, the church with its bell and spire, the merchant houses, spacious, comfortable, and richly furnished, the flower-gardens, tennis-lawns, and shady walks combine their varied interests and charms.

Shameen appeared a natural haven in the midst of this cacophonous, dynamic metropolis [Canton]. Hervey had visited in 1924 during a period when the situation was somewhat calmer. 

From the wharf ... I was rickshawed violently over the bridge and upon Shameen, an island southeast of the old and new cities, where the Europeans live. There I found myself in another world, a pleasant if somewhat conventional sphere of brick houses, sidewalks, and lush camphor-trees and banyans that cast a green dusk. The quiet of Shameen, after the confusion of the riverfront, gave me an opportunity to recover my equilibrium, and by the time I reached the hotel I was in the mood for exploration. 

Just a few weeks later, Wallis arrived by the same route and checked into the same hotel - the island's only one - as Hervey, the Victoria.

mapa Shamian

Nieprawdopodobnie się cieszę, że miałam okazję tam pojechać i nacieszyć się tym miejscem tuż po poznaniu go w lekturze. Tak właśnie powinno się podróżować!