{"id":5230,"date":"2025-07-21T19:39:35","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T19:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afflatuscreations.com\/?page_id=5230"},"modified":"2025-07-21T19:42:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T19:42:17","slug":"snow-falling-on-the-forbidden-city","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/afflatuscreations.com\/index.php\/snow-falling-on-the-forbidden-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Snow Falling on the Forbidden City"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Snow Falling on the Forbidden City <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ma Di\u2019er [China]<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the second snow falls,<\/p>\n

I begin to visit the Forbidden City.<\/p>\n

The light remains faint.<\/p>\n

I am just a tourist,<\/p>\n

Looking around and closely following the guide.<\/p>\n

I take a few photos hastily as a memento<\/p>\n

So my colleagues could know<\/p>\n

I have also visited the emperor’s office.<\/p>\n

But that guide, a young lady,<\/p>\n

Keeps praising the emperor’s dragon throne,<\/p>\n

Making me somehow fed up with<\/p>\n

The entire Forbidden City.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The moat outside the city has already frozen;<\/p>\n

It is difficult to measure the thickness of ice.<\/p>\n

All the fishes must be hibernating.<\/p>\n

Several boys and girls<\/p>\n

Put on ice skates in bright colors,<\/p>\n

Like butterflies flying back and forth on the ice.<\/p>\n

The Forbidden City in the snow<\/p>\n

Is swaying in their eyes.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Sketch of the National Bank<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yesterday, the wind was piercingly cold.<\/p>\n

I wore shabby clothes<\/p>\n

Marching to the National Bank<\/p>\n

With a sack of Renminbi on my back.<\/p>\n

The female manager in the lobby who thought<\/p>\n

I was a rubbish collector from the countryside<\/p>\n

Immediately called a male security guard<\/p>\n

To drive me out.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today, the sun is like a ball of fire.<\/p>\n

I am in a suit and leather shoes<\/p>\n

Stepping into the national bank.<\/p>\n

The female manager in the lobby who thinks<\/p>\n

I am a tycoon back to the hometown<\/p>\n

Immediately greets me with a smile,<\/p>\n

And takes me to the VIP window.<\/p>\n

Actually, in my pocket<\/p>\n

There is not a single coin.<\/p>\n

I enter the national bank<\/p>\n

For a loan.<\/p>\n

(Translated by Wu Minyu\\)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

About the author:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"\"Ma Di\u2019er<\/strong>, an outstanding contemporary Chinese poet, birthnamed Ma Yong and pennamed Gu Hanshan, was born in 1966 in Fuqing City of Fujian Province. He majored in international finance and economic management and now is a financial worker. He is now a CPPCC member of Fuqing City and chairman of Fuqing Writers\u2019 Association. He won the art award at the first Fuqing Art Awards, the first prize in the article contest of \u201cNational Social Documentary Problem Novels by High-school Students\u201d sponsored by the Fujian Youth Journal.<\/p>\n

The new star award in the \u201cSecond China Star New Poetry sponsored by Xingxing Poetry Journal, the best poet in the 21st century sponsored by the American International Poet Association. He published poetry collection Rain Fall at Qingming Festival, A Scholar in the Snow and a collection of essays On the Mountain: Hidden or Bright, etc.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Snow Falling on the Forbidden City \u00a0 Ma Di\u2019er [China] \u00a0 \u00a0 When the second snow falls, I begin to visit the Forbidden City. The light remains faint. I am just a tourist, Looking around and closely following the guide. I take a few photos hastily as a memento So my colleagues could know I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5230","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nSnow Falling on the Forbidden City - Afflatus Creations<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When the second snow falls ,I begin to visit the Forbidden City. The light remains faint. 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