Into the Museums: A Trip to Washington D.C. (2)

II. Nature, History, Culture

As the capital, most museums in Washington are prefixed with the word "National," much like many in Beijing are called "China XXX." Another point is their concentration—almost all are located along the famous "The National Mall." Don't misunderstand: this "Mall" is not a shopping center, but a long green belt stretching from the Washington Monument to the Capitol Building. Before our trip to Washington, my spouse kept insisting that we must visit the National Museum of History, the National Archives, and the Air and Space Museum. Unfortunately, when we went, the National Museum of History was under full renovation and wouldn't reopen until the summer of 2007. However, we did visit the other two, as well as the National Museum of Natural History, the National Gallery of Art, the Capitol Building, the Library of Congress, and the new branch of the Air and Space Museum near Dulles International Airport. We gained a lot and learned a great deal along the way. Let me start with the National Archives. This institution houses precious documents, photographs, and audiovisual materials from various periods of American history. Among its most famous holdings are the three original founding documents drafted on parchment at the nation's birth in 1776: the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Also present are the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which Lincoln issued during the Civil War to free the slaves, the German surrender document ending World War II, and the Watergate tapes that exposed Nixon and ultimately brought him down. Among the many exhibits, I saw something very familiar—a photo of Premier Zhou Enlai receiving visiting U.S. President Richard Nixon, accompanied by a menu from the banquet hosted for Nixon. It was extremely simple, just a piece of white paper printed with the national emblem, featuring the famous Peking duck as the main course, along with a few other simple dishes. This menu, brought back by American guests, became a true reflection of China's national conditions at the time. The National Museum of Natural History is one of my favorite museums. Its exhibits are divided into sections on flora and fauna and on geology. The flora and fauna section is arranged chronologically, with halls for the Ancient Oceans, Ice Age, Fossils, Mammals, Insects, and more. The Mammal Hall is further divided by region, such as the Australian Hall and the African Hall. Children can be seen everywhere in the museum, many of them preschoolers, and some are even babies in strollers, sucking on pacifiers. I think parents don't necessarily expect these children to truly understand or learn much; rather, they want to cultivate a love and interest in nature from an early age. Many halls feature educational films shown in loops, with lively and innovative formats, content that is deep yet accessible, blending education with entertainment—suitable for all ages. For example, we watched a film about mammals that, through the adventures and perspective of the earth's oldest mammal—a little mouse—explains what mammals are and their evolution. The language was vivid and humorous, showing that acquiring knowledge can indeed be relaxed and enjoyable. The National Gallery of Art's vast collection is astonishing, spanning from European classicism of the 15th and 16th centuries, the Impressionist movements of the 18th and 19th centuries, to modern abstract and contemporary paintings, and encompassing artworks from China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. To fully appreciate each piece would take a whole day, but we only had half a day, so we could only glance at most collections. However, at least I got to see a large number of works by Impressionist masters such as Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, and Pissarro—more, I felt, than the Impressionist works exhibited at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing during the Sino-French Cultural Year a few years ago, especially many more masterpieces. Other museums like the National Postal Museum, the Spy Museum, the African Art Museum, and the National Museum of the American Indian we missed due to time constraints.

(Photo of Zhou Enlai entertaining Nixon, collected by the National Archives)