When we arrived at the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the tour guide explained the history of the Hall of Supreme Harmony to the foreigners. Unfortunately, the tour guide was in English and was not available.

Lin Chaoyang could only tell it to his parents by himself. Lin Erchun didn't know what Taihe Palace was, but when he mentioned Jinluan Palace, the two of them immediately became excited.

"This is the Jinluan Palace!"

"Yes, look at the chair on the Xumi throne in the middle. That was the throne of the emperor in the past. When the emperor ascends to the palace in the future, the incense burners on the left and right are burning with Tibetan incense, and the whole palace is filled with incense, solemn and solemn."

"You still burn incense, isn't that the same as in the temple?"

Zhang Guiqin said without any awe, but her eyes were still wandering on the dragon chair. The dragon chair is an armchair with four columns supporting three dragons in an arc. The front is high, the armrests on both sides are gradually lowered, and the two columns on the front are on each side.

Yilong. The back of the chair is carved with a yang pattern of clouds and dragons. The seat surface is connected to the base. The base is the Xumizuo.

"It's really a dragon chair, full of dragons." Zhang Guiqin muttered again.

After walking around the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the three of them walked inside, passing by the Hall of Zhonghe and the Hall of Baohe, and then went to the Fengxian Hall where the clock collection was displayed.

After leaving the palace gate, there happened to be a seller selling a large bowl of tea. The three of them took a rest and drank a bowl of tea each.

"If this business is doing well, how can you make hundreds of dollars a day for just a dime for a bowl of tea?" Lin Erchun made some calculations in his mind while drinking tea and said.

At this time, the commercial service facilities in the Forbidden City are very simple. They mainly sell food and beverages, provide introductions to the Forbidden City, and take photos and deliver them.

Because the place is so big, service points are scattered in several squares and at the entrance of the main hall.

Basically, they only use a parasol in the open air. They set up the stall at work and clear it out after get off work. They are even simpler than the canteens outside.

But despite being humble, the business is still very good. Just like Lin Erchun said, just selling a big bowl of tea can earn at least 1,800 yuan a day.

After drinking tea, Lin Chaoyang continued the tour with his parents. When they reached the Imperial Garden, the foreigners walked to the southwest corner under the guidance of the tour guide.

Lin Chaoyang's family also followed the crowd and saw a two-story pavilion-style building with a corner veranda and roof facing east and west with yellow glazed tiles.

Nourish your nature.

The name of the building was written on the plaque at the door, but Lin Chaoyang was more interested in the plaque on the right side of the door.

"Foreign Guest Service Department?"

Lin Chaoyang came to Yanjing in 1978. At that time, he and Tao Yushu visited the Forbidden City and never found such a place.

Yangxingzhai is the original name of the building, and the Foreign Guest Service Department is its current function.

There are seven rooms in the front of Yangxingzhai, three rooms are connected to the left and right, and it looks like a concave shape when viewed from the air. A plaque on the door of the east room hangs "Foreign Currency Exchange Office".

Lin Chaoyang stood at the door of Yangxingzhai. He heard the voice of the tour guide introducing the foreign tourists to his ears, and a series of English words were automatically converted into Chinese by him.

“The Forbidden City is a famous place of interest all over the world. Many international friends and overseas Chinese buy some items with the characteristics of the Forbidden City as souvenirs or as gifts to relatives and friends after sightseeing.

Therefore, in order to better serve our international friends and overseas Chinese, our Palace Museum established a Foreign Guest Service Department in the past two years.

Here you can choose a variety of exquisite handicrafts, reproductions of ancient calligraphy and painting, and appreciate the exquisite skills of ancient Chinese calligraphy, painting and handicrafts. You can also take a break here and enjoy the poetic garden scenery around you."

After listening to the tour guide's introduction, Lin Chaoyang understood. It was estimated that the foreign guest service department should have been opened after he and Tao Yushu visited the Forbidden City.

Lin Chaoyang watched the tour guide leading the foreign tourists into the Foreign Guest Service Department. He wanted to join in the fun, but unexpectedly he was stopped by the security guard at the door.

"Comrade, I'm sorry, this is the Foreign Guest Service Department. We only accept foreign guests and overseas Chinese."

The security guard stopped the family, but his attitude was very polite, and Lin Chaoyang couldn't say anything.

He turned to chat with the guard, "Comrade, your accent sounds Northeastern?"

"No, I'm from Yanjing, but I worked in the Northeast."

"Oh, that's half a fellow countryman!"

Lin Chaoyang chatted with the guard for a few words and learned the information he wanted to know.

The guard was named Li Tianbao. He returned to the city the year before last and was assigned to the Park Service Management Office of the Second Commercial Bureau. At that time, the Forbidden City was about to establish a foreign guest service department, so he was transferred here.

In the past two years, several foreign guest service departments have been established in the Forbidden City, but their functions are different. For example, the Jiangxue Pavilion in the southeast corner of the Imperial Garden is similar in architectural style and scale to Yangxingzhai. It is used as a reception room for foreign guests, and it provides

Tobacco and alcohol service.

Yangxingzhai basically sells handicrafts, ancient calligraphy and paintings.

"There are some handicrafts in here, as well as calligraphy and painting."

"The calligraphy and painting? Are they all authentic?" Lin Chaoyang asked in surprise.

"No way! They are all replicas and imitations produced by our Forbidden City replica factory, as well as some stone carvings and rubbings."

It turned out that all those sold were replicas, and Lin Chaoyang was a little disappointed.

"Oh, by the way, there are also authentic paintings. There are many paintings by Li Keran, Wang Xuetao and others, but they are not valuable. They cost dozens of yuan a piece, and some are as cheap as ten or eight yuan."

Um?

Lin Chaoyang feels that this world is a bit magical. Are Li Keran and Wang Xuetao's paintings valuable?

But then he thought about it, it was only the early 1980s, and the domestic art collection industry had not yet emerged. As for foreign guests, they had little interest in traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting, which led to the fact that the works of many contemporary calligraphers and painters basically had no premium.

Many of the reproduction works produced in the Forbidden City Reproduction Factory are even the work of contemporary famous artists. They painted imitations of famous ancient paintings, but they sold them at higher prices.

"RMB?"

"That's not so, it's a foreign exchange certificate." Li Tianbao pointed to the foreign exchange exchange office next to him, "Do you see it? That's a branch of the Bank of China. If foreigners want to buy something, they have to go and exchange foreign exchange for foreign exchange certificates.

, to come in and buy something.”

Lin Chaoyang nodded, saying this was quite credible.

Foreign exchange certificates are nominally equivalent to RMB, but in fact the purchasing power of foreign exchange certificates is lower than that of RMB. First of all, this thing cannot be exchanged for RMB, it requires foreign exchange. Secondly, you can buy a lot of things with foreign exchange certificates without the need for tickets.

Supplies in short supply and imported goods.

Lin Chaoyang thought about his family's situation again. He didn't have the conditions before, but now that he has some spare money, he seems to be able to invest in art appropriately.

He looked around at the Foreign Guest Service Department, but unfortunately only foreign guests were accepted here.

Li Tianbao said: "The things here are not for eating or drinking, and only those stupid foreigners are willing to spend real money to buy things."

Lin Chaoyang looked at him deeply, the young man was still too young!

Although he really wanted to go into the foreign guest service department and have a look around, Lin Chaoyang was neither a foreign guest nor had foreign exchange coupons, so he could only shelve this idea.

He chatted with Li Tianbao for a while, then took his parents towards the Shenwu Gate.

The Imperial Garden is the last attraction on the Forbidden City tour. After walking around for a while, you have to leave the Forbidden City through the Shenwu Gate.

After leaving the Forbidden City, it was already past one in the afternoon. Lin Chaoyang took his parents to Quanjude again, preparing to eat roast duck.

As a result, when Zhang Guiqin came in and saw the prices on the menu, she pulled him out and said, "I won't eat it, I won't eat it, it's too expensive!"

"fine."

Lin Chaoyang pressed the old couple on the seats and said: "Your son, I bought a courtyard house worth several thousand yuan as soon as I asked for it, but you can't afford a meal? You have been in Yanjing for several months, and we haven't eaten out.

Let’s take this as a farewell treat for you two today.”

"If you don't have enough food, you won't have enough clothes. If you don't calculate it, you will suffer from poverty." Lin Erchun muttered, "Everywhere in Yanjing is good, but everything costs money, and eating is so expensive."

"Dad, people in Yanjing call this place the 'No. 1 restaurant in China'. It's a century-old restaurant. Comrade Wu Hao has received countless foreign heads of state here. When we eat here, we enjoy a state banquet."

Hearing Lin Chaoyang's words, Lin Erchun and his wife were in awe, and he looked at the prices on the menu again.

Well, it's quite approachable.

When ordering, Lin Chaoyang ordered a roast duck, a dish of sliced ​​meat and tofu, and a dish of braised sea cucumber. Lin Erchun and his wife were frightened when they saw it. Seeing that he wanted to order more, they quickly stopped him.

"Okay, okay, that's enough."

"One meal is almost enough for us rural people to do two months of work..." Lin Erchun muttered something in his mouth, just like the expression of a monk who wants to save the souls of the dead.

"This Yanjing roast duck is really delicious. No wonder Comrade Wu Hao loves it." After the roast duck was served, Lin Erchun forgot about the "transcendence" just now and ate more happily than anyone else.

After dinner, Lin Chaoyang planned to take the old couple to buy some specialties. Zhang Guiqin said: "No, Yushu bought so much yesterday, I can't even take it."

She rejected Lin Chaoyang's idea of ​​buying specialties, but said, "Take me and Dad to the bookstore."

"Why are you going to the bookstore?"

Lin Erchun snorted, "What else can I do? It's a shame!"

Zhang Guiqin wanted to go to the bookstore, of course, to buy books.

In the past, Tao Yushu would always send her a copy of every work written by Lin Chaoyang. Now that she has been staying in Yanjing for several months, she has to bring back some of Lin Chaoyang's books. This is the best thing about Yanjing.

specialty.

"Isn't it different when I go back to the county town to buy something?"

"No, the Xinhua Bookstore in the county town doesn't have all the books. Some books are not available."

Zhang Guiqin had obviously already passed the point, so Lin Chaoyang had no choice but to take her to Wangfujing Bookstore. This is now the bookstore with the largest business area in Yanjing and the most complete range of books available.

"This is too much, can you handle it?"

Zhang Guiqin and Lin Erchun had arms full of books, at least forty or fifty.

"Not many. There are only a few copies of one book. It will be gone when you go back and share it with everyone."

Zhang Guiqin ran to the counter to check out. These books cost a total of thirty-one-two dollars. She didn't blink, and even Lin Erchun, who had always been a scheming person, didn't say anything.
To be continued...