Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 200 Foreign Guest Services Department

When we arrived at the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the tour guide explained the history of the Hall to the foreigners, but unfortunately it was in English so we couldn't hear it.

Lin Chaoyang could only tell his parents about it himself. Lin Erchun didn't know what the Hall of Supreme Harmony was, but as soon as he mentioned the Golden Palace, they immediately became excited.

"This is the Golden Palace!"

"Yes, look at the chair on the Sumeru pedestal in the middle. That was the emperor's throne in the past. When the emperor ascended to the palace, the incense burners on the left and right were burning with Tibetan incense, and the whole palace was filled with smoke, solemn and dignified."

"You're still burning incense, isn't that the same as in a temple?"

Zhang Guiqin said this without any awe, but her eyes were still wandering around the dragon throne. The dragon throne was a round chair, with four round columns supporting three dragons in an arc shape, high in the front, with armrests on both sides gradually lower, and a dragon on each of the two front columns. The back of the chair was carved with positive cloud dragons, and the seat was connected to the base, which was the Xumi pedestal.

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

After taking a tour around the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the three continued walking inside, passing the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony, and then went to the Hall of Fengxian, where the clock and watch collections were displayed.

When they walked out of the temple gate, they happened to see a vendor selling large bowls of tea. The three of them stopped to rest and each drank a bowl of tea.

"This business is doing well. A bowl of tea costs one cent, so I can make several hundred dollars a day, right?" Lin Erchun said as he calculated in his mind while drinking tea.

At this time now, the commercial service facilities in the Forbidden City are very simple, mainly selling food and beverages, introductions to the Forbidden City, and photo delivery.

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

Basically, they just set up a parasol in the open air, set up the stall during work hours and close it down after get off work. It is even more rudimentary than the convenience stores outside.

However, despite its simplicity, business is still good. Just like Lin Erchun said, just by selling big bowls of tea, he can earn at least 1,800 yuan a day.

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

Lin Chaoyang and his family followed the crowd and saw a two-story pavilion-style building with yellow glazed tiles and a hip roof, facing east and west.

Yangxingzhai.

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

"Foreign Guest Services Department?"

Lin Chaoyang came to Yenching in 1978. At that time, he visited the Forbidden City with Tao Yushu, but he never discovered such a place.

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

There are seven rooms in the front of Yangxingzhai, with three rooms on each side. Looking down from the air, it forms a concave shape. A plaque with the words "Foreign Currency Exchange Office" is hung on the door of a room on the east side.

Lin Chaoyang stood at the door of Yangxingzhai and heard the tour guide introducing the foreign tourists. A series of English words were automatically converted into Chinese by him.

“The Forbidden City is a world-renowned historical site. Many international friends and overseas Chinese buy some items with the characteristics of the Forbidden City as souvenirs or gifts to relatives and friends after sightseeing.

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

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

Listening to the tour guide's introduction, Lin Chaoyang understood that this foreign guest service department should have been opened after he and Tao Yushu finished visiting 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 he was stopped by the security guard at the door.

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

The security guard stopped the family, but his attitude was very polite, so Lin Chaoyang didn't know what to say.

He turned to talk to the guard, "Comrade, from the sound of your accent you speak from the Northeast?"

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

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

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

The security guard was called 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 going to set up 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 Jiangxuexuan in the southeast corner of the Imperial Garden has a similar architectural style and scale to Yangxingzhai. It is used as a reception room for foreign guests and provides tobacco and alcohol services.

Yangxingzhai mainly displays handicrafts, ancient calligraphy and paintings.

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

"Calligraphy and paintings? Are they all authentic?" Lin Chaoyang asked in surprise.

"How can that be possible! They are all replicas and imitations produced by our Palace Museum Reproduction Factory, as well as some stone carvings and rubbings."

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

"Oh, yes, if you want to talk about authentic works, there are also quite a few paintings by Li Keran and Wang Xuetao, but they are not valuable, only a few dozen yuan per piece, and some are cheaper at ten or eight yuan."

Ok?
Lin Chaoyang feels that this world is a bit magical. Are the paintings of Li Keran and Wang Xuetao worthless?

But he thought again, it was only the early 1980s, and the art collection industry in China had not yet emerged. Foreign guests had little interest in traditional Chinese calligraphy and paintings, which led to the fact that many contemporary calligraphers and painters' works had basically no premium.

Many of the reproductions produced by the Palace Museum's reproduction factory are even the work of contemporary masters. They paint imitations of ancient masterpieces and sell them for even higher prices.

"RMB?"

"That's not the case. It's foreign exchange certificates." Li Tianbao pointed to the foreign exchange exchange office next to him. "See? That's the business branch of the Bank of China. If foreigners want to buy things, they have to go and exchange foreign currency for foreign exchange certificates before they can come in and buy things."

Lin Chaoyang nodded, thinking that this made it more reliable.

Foreign exchange certificates are nominally equivalent to RMB, but in reality, their purchasing power is much higher than that of RMB. First of all, they cannot be exchanged with RMB, and foreign exchange is required. Secondly, when buying things with foreign exchange certificates, you don’t need tickets, and you can buy a lot of scarce materials and imported goods.

Lin Chaoyang thought about his own situation again. He didn't have the conditions before, but now he has some spare money, so it seems he can make some appropriate investments in art.

He looked into the foreign guest service department, but unfortunately it only received foreign guests. Li Tianbao said, "The things here are not edible or drinkable. Only those stupid foreigners are willing to spend real money to buy things."

Lin Chaoyang looked at him deeply. The boy was still too young!
Although he really wanted to go into the Foreign Guest Service Department to take a look around, Lin Chaoyang was neither a foreign guest nor had foreign exchange coupons, so he had to put this idea aside.

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

The Imperial Garden is the last attraction in the Forbidden City. After a tour, you have to exit the Forbidden City through the Shenwu Gate.

After coming out of the Forbidden City, it was already past one in the afternoon. Lin Chaoyang took his parents to Quanjude to eat Peking duck again.

As a result, Zhang Guiqin walked in and saw the prices on the menu and wanted to pull him out, "No, no, it's too expensive!"

"fine."

Lin Chaoyang pushed the old couple to their seats and said, "Your son and I bought a courtyard house worth thousands of dollars, but you can't even afford a meal? You have been in Yanjing for several months, and we haven't eaten out. Today is a farewell party for you two."

"You won't be poor if you don't eat well and wear well, but you will be poor if you don't plan well." Lin Erchun muttered, "Everything in Yanjing is good, but everything costs money. Even eating is so expensive."

"Dad, the people of Yanjing call this place 'China's No. 1 Restaurant'. It's a century-old brand. Comrade Wu Hao has received foreign heads of state here countless times. Eating here is like a state banquet."

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

Well, quite approachable.

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

"Alright, that's enough."

"One meal is almost equivalent to two months' work for us country folks..." Lin Erchun muttered to himself, with an expression similar to that of a monk who is about to pray for the souls of the dead.

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

After dinner, Lin Chaoyang planned to take the old couple to buy some local specialties, but Zhang Guiqin said, "No need. Yushu bought so much yesterday that we couldn't even carry it all."

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

"What are you doing in the bookstore?"

Lin Erchun snorted, "What else can I do? Show off!"

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

In the past, Tao Yushu would always send her a copy of every work of Lin Chaoyang that was published. Now that she has been in Yanjing for a few months, she must bring some of Lin Chaoyang's books back with her, as these are the best specialties of Yanjing.

"Wouldn't it be different if we go back to the county town to buy it?"

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

Zhang Guiqin had obviously already gone to the bookstore, so Lin Chaoyang had no choice but to take her to the Wangfujing Bookstore, which is the largest bookstore in Yanjing and has the most complete selection of books.

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

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

"Not much. There are only a few copies in one book. I'll be gone after I share them with everyone."

Zhang Guiqin ran to the counter to pay. The books cost a total of thirty-one dollars and twenty cents. She didn't even blink, and even Lin Erchun, who was always calculating, didn't say anything.

When I returned home in the evening, Tao Yushu had just returned from school.

Talking about the day's itinerary, Zhang Guiqin smiled and said, "We went shopping, played, and ate."

"Mom, there are so many fun places in Yanjing. I will take you out when you come back." Tao Yushu said.

"Good girl!" Zhang Guiqin held Tao Yushu's hand, full of joy.

Before going to bed at night, Lin Chaoyang asked: "How much savings does the family have now?"

“It’s more than 21,000 yuan, but I have to give Lin Fugui 3,000 yuan in a few days, so it’s more than 18,000 yuan.

Why do you ask this? Do you need money?

"Nothing. We're going to the Forbidden City today..."

Lin Chaoyang recounted what he saw and heard in the Forbidden City today. Tao Yushu asked, "Do you think the prices of antiques and calligraphy and paintings will increase in the future?"

"Antiques are valuable in prosperous times, and gold is valuable in troubled times. As long as our country's economy continues to develop steadily, the value of artworks will continue to rise in the future."

Tao Yushu knew nothing about antique calligraphy and painting and art collection, but he felt that what Lin Chaoyang said made some sense.

"So you want to buy some and keep them?"

"I'll study it later."

"it is good."

The next morning, Lin Chaoyang sent the old couple to the train.

It was Sunday. In the evening, Lin Chaoyang and Tao Yushu went back to the Tao family for dinner. When they heard that Lin Erchun and his wife had already left for their hometown, Tao's father said, "Why didn't you tell them? Have dinner with your in-laws before you leave."

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "Dad, they are not coming just this time. There will be plenty of opportunities to eat with us in the future."

Father Tao nodded and stopped dwelling on the topic.

Tao Yucheng asked at this time: "Chaoyang, I heard that you had a conflict with the people from Yanying Studio?"

(End of this chapter)