347
As can be imagined, this news was met with somewhat derisory comments. To give due credit to the long-suffering guides, permission was eventually obtained (thanks to a half-hour conversation on a mobile phone) for our bus to travel through the town and past the railway station, but we could not take any photographs. I somewhat facetiously asked if the four of us who looked the part could take pictures, and the answer was that they could! Well, this was China, after all!
The first attractions of the day, however, were a couple of hill-top forts. Not only were these open to all and sundry, but they were also very well maintained and signposted. It seems that every hilltop around Port Arthur had a fort or gun emplacement on its summit. The first we visited was the North Fort on East Cockscomb Hill, to the north-east of the town. This features a very extensive fort (dilapidated rather than ruined, but very clean and well looked after) and a small Museum of the Japanese-Russian War. A good view could be had from here over the bay in which Captain Arthur moored and of the rest of the town of Lushun. Most of the hills around have some sort of monument or obelisk on the top, and this one is no exception. Strangely, however, the obelisk here was erected by the Japanese and has a long Japanese inscription, all of which is intact. No surprise, therefore, that there were coachloads of Japanese tourists (from the Imperial Asiatic Society, no doubt).
The second hill was the famous 203 Hill, so named because it is 203 metres high. This hill is a bit nearer to the town, and so a clearer view could be had of the forbidden territory. Atop this one was a 20-foot high metal obelisk resembling a rifle bullet. The inscriptions here were Chinese, but there was a fair amount of graffiti including some in Russian. Also on view was an anti-aircraft gun (our so-called experts had not even heard of the Russian air attacks in 1894!) and well-preserved assault trenches.
Next came the hard-earned whizz through the town, with the four of the party designated as photographers for the rest of us. The sole object of this foray was the railway station, the actual end of the line that linked this extreme end of the Russian empire to Moscow. More symbolic than beautiful, the station was well worth the trouble it took just to see it. Very small and twee, it is only about the length of two modern-day railway carriages, but the small hall is topped by an onion
347
As can be imagined, this news was met with somewhat derisory comments. To give due credit to the long-suffering guides, permission was eventually obtained (thanks to a half-hour conversation on a mo- bile phone) for our bus to travel through the town and past the railway station, but we could not take any photographs. I somewhat facetiously asked if the four of us who looked the part could take pictures, and the answer was that they could! Well, this was China, after all!
The first attractions of the day, however, were a couple of hill-top forts. Not only were these open to all and sundry, but they were also very well maintained and signposted. It seems that every hilltop around Port Arthur had a fort or gun emplacement on its summit. The first we visited was the North Fort on East Cockscomb Hill, to the north-east of the town. This features a very extensive fort (dilapidated rather than ruined, but very clean and well looked after) and a small Museum of the Japanese-Russian War. A good view could be had from here over the bay in which Captain Arthur moored and of the rest of the town of Lushun. Most of the hills around have some sort of monument or obe- lisk on the top, and this one is no exception. Strangely, however, the obelisk here was erected by the Japanese and has a long Japanese inscription, all of which is intact. No surprise, therefore, that there were coachloads of Japanese tourists (from the Imperial Asiatic Society, no doubt).
The second hill was the famous 203 Hill, so named because it is 203 metres high. This hill is a bit nearer to the town, and so a clearer view could be had of the forbidden territory. Atop this one was a 20- foot high metal obelisk resembling a rifle bullet. The inscriptions here were Chinese, but there was a fair amount of graffiti including some in Russian. Also on view was an anti-aircraft gun (our so-called experts had not even heard of the Russian air attacks in 1894!) and well-pre- served assault trenches.
Next came the hard-earned whizz through the town, with the four of the party designated as photographers for the rest of us. The sole object of this foray was the railway station, the actual end of the line that linked this extreme end of the Russian empire to Moscow. More symbolic than beautiful, the station was well worth the trouble it took just to see it. Very small and twee, it is only about the length of two modern-day railway carriages, but the small hall is topped by an onion
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