My love for trains and railways finally brought me to my new residence inside the "Iron Circle", in Chinese "Huan Tie". Black Bridge village is surrounded by a perfectly round shaped railway track; it is used by the ministry of transportation to test trains before they are put into commercial use. Inside the "Iron Circle", we have a big farmer's market, corn fields, wheat fields, prune trees, many factories, art supply stores and everything that you can think of for living. The path to the outside world is often interrupted by this scene "The train is arriving, please stop and be careful...." ; there are 4 or 5 entrances/exits like this on the perfectly round circle. Security guards stand at the gates 24 hours a day.This morning as I was waiting for my turn to cross one of these exits on my electric bike, I suddenly remembered these words repeated way too many times:
Mariage is a like a fortress besieged, those who are outside want to get in and those who are inside want to get out. * Isn't it true with life in general?
I wonder if I am protected from the rest of the world or prisoned inside my own castle of "Iron Circle". Is my new residence helping me to live more truthfully as a human being or merely putting me inside this big fortress besieged!?
* supposedly a French proverb, used as a title of Qian Zhongshu's novel - Fortress Beseiged published in the 1940s.
