Friday, September 5, 2008

Ibn Battouta in Hangzhou

Ibn Battouta (Ibn Batota, Ibn Batuta) is the name of a traveler back on the 14th century. He started his journey from Tanger (Tangier) and allegedly reached Beijing.
My secondary school back home (in Tanger) was called Ibn Battouta. The classical ferry from Tanger to Alegecias is named Ibn Battouta. But once I left Tanger, this name just disappeared from the common vocabulary.

As I was preparing for a trip to Hangzhou, I searched internet and discovered that Ibn Battouta was there about 700 years ago.
Back then, Ibn Battouta liked the silk, porcelain, and even the plums, watermelons, and huge chickens of Hangzhou. But he praised the artists and performers the most: "The Chinese are of all the peoples the most skillful in the arts." He was displeased with ""The Chinese themselves are infidels who worship idols and burn their dead like the Hindus... eat the flesh of swine and dogs, and sell it in their markets." ".
Hangzhou is about 10,000 Km away from Tanger.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Shams ad-Din Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Luwati at-Tanyi (en árabe, شمس الدين أبو عبد الله محمد بن محمد بن إبراهيم اللواتي الطنجي), más conocido como Ibn Battuta (ابن بطوطة), fue un viajero y explorador marroquí de la época de la dinastía Meriní, nacido en Tánger el 17 de rayab del año 703 de la Hégira, correspondiente al 25 de febrero de 1304, y muerto en 1368 o en 1377 .
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