Michael Wood’s Yangzhou Dream

r. Michael Wood is a well-known British historian and documentary maker who has produced more than a hundred documentaries on various national histories and cultures exemplified by The Story of India. They enjoy wide popularity in more than 150 countries.

I met him in February when he took his film crew to Yangzhou to shoot The Story of China documentary for the British Broadcasting Corporation （BBC）. It was a snowy day， cold and wet， but Michael said happily that the climate in Yangzhou was similar to that in his hometown of Manchester. Upon learning I was his local companion， he held my hands and said excitedly： “Yangzhou Dream”. “Du Mu”.

His strong emotion for Yangzhou really surprised me. Of all the foreign friends I had met， it was rare to find one so fascinated by the city. He explained he had first learned about it from a book Tang Poems that he had bought in Manchester， an industrial city in north England while studying there in his teens.

The poetic descriptions of Yangzhou gave him an image of a city of unparalleled prosperity that he had never imagined before.

He was deeply moved in particular by one of Du Mu’s poems—My Lament.

Forever roaming amid rivers and lakes with a bottle of wine，

Many a king and hero indulged in women of delicate waist and feather-light， so did I.

A pipe dream it had been， ten years in Yangzhou， a fool’s paradise，

Infamously unfaithful was my claim to fame in districts of red lantern lights.

Since then， Yangzhou has been a city in his dreams.

He described it as a sleepless city with Arabs， Persians and Syrians weaving in and out of crowded entertainment blocks and streets. Poets in bustling liquor stores are feverishly writing poems and verses amid an aroma of nectared wine.

Encountering his “dream city” in reality， he couldn’t help but be happy.

The first schedule shoot was Yangzhou opera. It was arranged for Michael and his crew to film the show given by Yangzhou Opera Troupe in Dinghuo， a small town in Jiangdu District. Looking at the falling snow， Michael was worried that there would not be many people in the audience as it would be performed in the open air. However， as show time drew near， the place was packed with hundreds of opera fans. Some villagers， unable to get in， climbed onto the balconies of the houses nearby.

The opera performed that day was Love Between Li Weixian and His Sister-in-law， a tragic love story happened in an ancient Chinese family. The show started. The audience was drawn so deeply into the moving story with beautiful music and excellent performance that their emotions went up and down as it unfolded. They sighed at every tragic moment. All this—the wonderful opera， the intoxicated audience， as well as the actors and actresses putting on make-up and costumes before the show—were recorded by Michael and his crew. He was surprised to see that the traditional local opera was still so appealing after hundreds of years.

The task for the following day was the filming of Yangzhou Gardens. Michael did not choose famous gardens such as Slender West Lake， Daming Temple and Ge Garden， nor He Garden， but opted for Wangs’ Garden， the former residence of a salt merchant in late Qing Dynasty. Perhaps he felt only this tranquil and comfortable retreat in the bustling city center could best represent the features of salt merchants’ households in that period.

Upon entering the garden， he marveled at the superior workmanship of these well designed grey bricks， roof tiles， gables， delicate cornices and windows with floral pattern. He showed me a book， Building Culture in Early Qing Yangzhou after looking around the garden and told me that he had heard of the art of Yangzhou gardens long ago. He was so excited that the garden had been perfectly preserved.

As a historian， Michael has long studied China， and Yangzhou in particular. He believes that Yangzhou played an important role in the development of paintings， opera， publication and novels in the Qing Dynasty when the Chinese culture was reviving from the destruction of various wars. In the Qing Dynasty many famous salt merchants lived in Yangzhou， the best examples being Ma Yueguan and Ma Yuelu， who organized various cultural activities such as opening their private book collection to book lovers， hosting regular literati gatherings and making friends with talented people. They could be compared with those great figures of European Enlightenment.

Michael’s experience at the storytelling house was also impressive.

He had planned to listen to Yangzhou Storytelling before coming to China. “Yangzhou Storytelling is very famous in Europe，” he explained.

The filming of Yangzhou Storytelling took place in Pi Wu， a well-known local storytelling house where Master Ma Wei performed one of his most representative pieces Wu Song Fights the Tiger. Sitting at a table nearest the stage and enjoying a cup of local green tea， Michael watched the show attentively. He was intoxicated in the story and burst into laughter from time to time. I wondered how a man who could not speak a word of Chinese understood the story.

“This story is very well-known in Europe. I’ve even heard about it in Denmark and Norway，” he told me. Upon learning that Ma was the only Asian storyteller who had participated in Fblah Storytelling Festival in Stockholm and the Oriental Voice — the International Storytelling Festival in the UK — he shook hands with Master Ma as if meeting an old fellow countryman in a foreign land.

During the six days after the Spring Festival， Michael and his crew searched for the “Yangzhou Dream” around the city.

Michael visited all the places he thought could be symbols of our city including Wangs’ Garden， Dongguan Street， Guazhou Ancient Dock， the Grand Canal， Shi Kefa Memorial Hall， Puhaddin’s Tomb， Dual Museums and the Guangling Block Printing Press. Yangzhou local opera， storytelling， block printing and local cuisine really impressed him.

“I’m pleased to see that Yangzhou’s ancient buildings have been well preserved， so have the local traditions and cultures，” he often repeated.

Michael and his crew were put up in Chang Le Lodge in Dongguan Street， a protected ancient block. After dinner he would take a stroll along the old stone paved lanes between antique buildings that seemed to carry him back to ancient times. He would stand on the balcony of his room before going to bed， enjoying the sight of the illuminated East City Gate beyond while imagining scenes of the bright moonlight， the bustling evening market， flourishing downtown life and elegant ancient beauties described in Tang poems.

Michael was satisfied with the arrangement of his trip， but I seemed to see from his eyes a hint of disappointment： the heydays of this prosperous cosmopolitan city have gone and can only be found in poems and songs of the Tang and Song Dynasties； they still exist only as they are turned into extensive history and culture of today’s Yangzhou.

I asked Michael： “Now you’ve seen your dream city in person. Is there any change in your Yangzhou dream？”

“In Du Mu’s poem， Yangzhou was a prosperous and comfortable city，” he replied， “It is still charming today， but this trip did change some of my views on this ancient city.” He didn’t talk about them there and then， however.

“My first impression of today’s Yangzhou is of a city of prosperity and diversity， a city seeking to protect its treasury of relics and its history， and a city of ancient culture and modern tempo.” This was the answer he gave me when he returned to the United Kingdom.