There was a friend I hadn't caught up with in a while, and he has encyclopaedic knoweldge of Chinese history, so I thought it'd be an apt time to go an visit Matteo Ricci's tomb.
Got off at Fuchengmen and asked directions for a while, and finally turned up at a governmental office which looked more like a university campus. It was quiet, and you wouldn't know that there was a graveyard there, hidden behind the drab main building. But there is; Ricci died about 400 years ago so it's quite amazing that it's still standing.
There was a small group of Chinese Christians there when we arrived, standing by Ricci's tomb snapping photos while doing peace symbols. I thought that was a bit odd, but then again there's something a bit odd about Christianity in China anyway*.
Anyway, I took a photo as well, though more for the sake of reading the inscription later on.
There a lot of other graves there as well, all missionaries.
Anyway, I got a message from my parents saying they were driving around St Vincents Gulf in South Australia, and had just lunched at the Star of Greece.
I suspect the weather there would be slightly better than that in Beijing today (taken from my balcony):
All part of the deal I guess, though it certainly makes one consider finding a prettier city to study in! I just saw an ad for Dalian on t.v. Looks very nice there.
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