The hotel where I stayed was also an international chain, but only the trademark belonged to the "international" - whether it was the appearance of the building, the carpet of the bar, and even the hot water pipes and curtain hooks in the room, all of which were Moscow's own. Moscow is casually walked, separated from the contemporary by a whole time and space carriage.
A lot of people don't see Russia as a European country, in experience. Me too. Moscow got off the plane and looked all the way, and the city deepened my "prejudice".
Snowy Night + Wine Mask = Great Danger.
What should Europe look like? Choose a few delegates: run out of London, Paris, Rome. Of course, this is indeed a simple way to say of Europe, but it is not without reason that it has been regarded as a more recognized symbol of Europe; moreover, these three cities are not simple, and perhaps they are extended enough to be infinite spheres, and the so-called "Europe" is nothing more than the sum of the intersection of the longitude and latitude lines on their bodies. Back to Moscow, which has a little bit of London's stay, Paris's hustle, Rome's old? It is also old, but not quaint, and the city is full of buildings from Stalin's and Khrushchev's era – compared to the ancient ruins of Rome – a mixture of old time and space. Rome is old from the line of time, Moscow climbs the horizontal and vertical axes of time, fan-shaped old, musty smell is very fresh. Although there are historical entanglements, national pains, and cultural consciousness, they are placed together with Rome: it is still in the kaleidoscope of fading years, constantly climbing towards the light of the future.
The "Khrushchev Building" at night.
Moscow is really clean, maybe there are too many trees, there is a little moisture in the air, and the whole city seems to be thrown into nature, empty and bushy.
Moscow Vorob'evi Park: full of real mountains and water.
The capital of Russia, which has been divided by the weight of the forest, the great rivers, and the clear sky, is not as clean as the Swiss Bern, which is clean, and everywhere does not penetrate the cultivation of civilization; the cleanliness of Moscow is the original cleanliness of nature, which should have been defiled and modified into the appearance of Bern, but it was not defiled, and there are real mountains and real waters everywhere.
Moscow is full of real meadows, not narrow, delicate lawns.
Here's the big interesting thing, moscow is rough on both ends: the natural environment — as it has been said, the real nature that has not been overhauled, the past and present lives - those in the Soviet Union, those in Tsarist Russia, and their historical texture is also different from That of Paris and London. No matter how bloody the latter has been, its history is still worn in a marble-colored mop robe, graceful and eloquent; Moscow, even if it is quiet today, everything is normal, smells and looks like a piece of bronze: and it is the kind of bronze raw material that does not necessarily make anything, existence, that is, everything.
Darcy Namdakov's "Mother of victors", located inside the Patriot Park in Kubinka, Moscow Oblast, commemorates the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Moscow basically has no contemporary, old buildings put a SONY, SAMSUNG and other billboards, just make up to announce to you that this is the 21st century. The hotel where I stayed was also an international chain, but only the trademark belonged to the "international" - whether it was the appearance of the building, the carpet of the bar, and even the hot water pipes and curtain hooks in the room, all of which were Moscow's own. Moscow is casually walked, separated from the contemporary by a whole time and space carriage. In this respect, it is neither like Western Europe, which is far from contemporary convenience, nor like China, where many cities generally do not remind you of what happened five years ago. It is quietly galloping on the track of history, and Western Europe and China are separated by such an empty space-time carriage, although they move forward together - drive together, to the station, but it is blocked by the vacuum of history before and after, as if it is dedicated to pulling its handle - the outsider who intends to walk in to find out what weightlessness is first.
Beijing friends, this building is familiar with it? In fact, it is the main building of Moscow University.
In addition, Moscow has the Kremlin complex, there is Red Square, there is politics, there are large oil paintings, there are not too many or too few Russians... In this regard, it is as compatible as Beijing. There are two kinds of Beijing: abstract Beijing – that is, for Beijing, which is located in the Imperial City, the Yongding River, the Hutong Beijing Opera, and the Great Wall lined up on the top of the mountain. What about Beijing specifically? Take away its history and cut it out of the tired symbols: Beijing is home to small white-collar workers, couriers, foreign executives, yard farmers, shopping guides and snakeskin bags at the West Railway Station. Moscow is simpler to put it in: take out the Red Square, it is the specific Moscow, is the big forest moscow, the hometown of Moscow. Which Moscow is real? Outsiders like me happen to be on the trestle, and neither side can reach the truth.
Russian Army on Red Square.
Perhaps the cultural background is really different: europe in the traditional understanding, that is, Europe in the Catholic framework (plus an English), and Europe on the Moscow side where orthodox blood is circulated. Not quite: I've been to Tallinn in Estonia, which is not the same as London and Paris, but the european meaning is very strong (it is said that St. Petersburg is like this). In Moscow, except for the trees and the sky that breathe the golden dew of "God" like Europe, the lines of the buildings and expressways are too stiff, too arbitrary, and the alleys are not long enough, the grass is too square...
I was carrying the aesthetic experience of the whole of Europe to mark the city, and carrying the large pocket of Beijing, putting it in and taking it out, and the result was a very surprise - a surprise that completely confirmed my former "prejudice".
Oops, thank you for being so.
St Basil's Cathedral.
First draft written at Best Western-Vega Hotel Moscow, Sunday, June 7, 2014
The second draft was compiled at home in Beijing, Friday, November 26, 2021