One early summer, in the late afternoon sun hit a castle-like gray edifice standing on the bank of a river in southern Beijing. This was the replica of the Jin Dynasty's(1115-1234) south water gate that had once stood at that very spot eight hundred years ago. This place marked the south wall of the ancient city of Jin Zhongdu.Today this building is the Liao Jin City Wall Museum that was built over the ruins of the ancient water gate in 1995.

　　It was at this site in 1998 that Ms. Virginia Anami, the wife of the present Japanese ambassador and Ms. Kosima Weber-Liu, a German photographer, two friends who have been exploring Beijing since the early 1980s, held a photography exhibition. It was called "on 1,000 Year's old Paths: Finding Liao and Jin Dynasty Buddhist relics in Today's Beijing? ".Later they held similar exhibitions many times in Japan and Beijing. They also made this themesintosa documentary film and plan to publish a book.

　　How is it that these foreigners living in Beijing were able to learn so much about Beijing culture? What was it that led them to this interesting topic? First of all, they started wandering around the ancient temples inside Beijing. Later, they moved outsintosthe rural areas and explored all the places with old sites. They found many interesting places not mentioned in the usual guidebooks, heard stories from the local people and took many photos. When they put thissintosan exhibition with a focus just on the Liao and Jin periods of Beijing, spanning from the mid-10th c.to the early 13th c., they presented a very unique show, which was both historical and artistic. Chinese leaders and experts highly praised the exhibition. Ms. Anami and Ms.Liu were also very excited about the fieldwork they had done and were inspired from the research to continue investigating even more.

　　One well-used map of Beijing

　　Beijing today is already an open and international metropolis. Foreigners no longer get curious glances as they did in the 1970s. Many foreigners have lived in Beijing for a long time and are used to living here. They can speak fluent Chinese and even chat with you in idiomatic Beijing dialect. They've managed to blend with the ancient city. For more than sixteen years, Ms. Virginia Anami and Ms. Kosima Weber-Liu have keenly explored the ancient sites of Beijing. They love the unknown and with their big map of the metropolitan area they take on their challenge of steppingsintosall of the ancient Buddhist temples in and around Beijing.

　　In a light tan jeep, a German woman wearing a traditional Chinese print blouse is sitting in the driver's seat. She can speak Chinese fluently. She looks very young even if she's already a mother of four children. That is Kosima weber-Liu. Next to her sits an American woman who is a little plump and has green eyes and wavy hair. That is Ms. Virginia Anami. She speaks four languages and is a researcher of East Asian history and Buddhist studies. There is a giant map on her lap. You can see lots of patched-up holes and tears on the map. The edge of the map is stuck together with tape. And there are lots of red marks all over it.

　　"This map should be sent to the museum!", said Kosima Liu.

　　"Oh! It is my old friend!",said Virginia Anami.

　　"We are going to the area around Dajuesi temple today."Ms. Anami looked down and searched the route on the map. She then made another red mark on it.

　　When the car ran out of the congested city, fields and mountains camesintosview.When we passed along the Yongding river, Ms. Anami took out a map of Beijing in French. She told me that the former Belgium railway expert, Mr. Brouillard, drew this when he was helping build the Beijing railways over eighty years ago. According to his map, there were the remains of more than twenty temples in the region of the Dajuesi temple. When we passed by the stop "Zhaikou zhan" we could vaguely see a few of the ruined temples mentioned on the map. Ms. Anami seemed to jumpsintosthe old map and walk in its path finding her position. With clues along the way she seemed to just feel the presence of the ancient sites even though the temple buildings have already faded. But with small clues, she and her friend always find some old stones that confirm their intuition. Thus, in this way, they find the original positions of the old temples sites. Then she draws her own sketch map to remember the exact locations of the ancient relics that they have just discovered. Many people look over her shoulder as she does this. They all seem interested in this sketch map of places they had never heard about. Anami's rough maps show that they have visited this area often and have had many earlier explorations. For example just take Dajuesi temple. They not only studied the special architecture and ancient trees of the temple, but they also went searching for the places in the vicinity marked by Mr. Bouillard on the old map. There they found some forgotten stone tablets and the original source of a spring that few people know about. Each excursion is a very happy occasion. They are not in a hurry and investigate each site very thoroughly. They want to be satisfied that they have done their utmost to learn and photograph as much as they could.

　　Meeting an old man

　　The winter in Beijing is very cold and there's often a strong wind. In the mountains and rural valleys bared branches stretch disorderly against the deep blue sky. Ms. Virginia Anami and Ms. Kosima Weber-Liu especially like this season to explore the outskirts of Beijing. That is because photographing the ancient temples is much easier without the leaves on the trees. Also the ancient sites and old trees show up better at this time of year. They like to have photos of the various places in all four seasons and to show the ancient temples in their contemporary setting.

　　One time in early spring, they took their daughters to Sanhe Zhuang of Shidu in Fangshan District. There they walked up an old pilgrim path led by a local shepherd. They climbed up the worn steps covered with sheep dung. They kept going up a deep valley until they finally found the Xinjian nunnery statues, relics from the Ming Dynasty. They had learned about this place from the book "Beijing Ancient and Famous Places".The shepherd said that it needed only a half hour to go up this mountain, but they used over an hour. Not because they were slow, but because Ms. Liu takes photographs left and right. What possibly could have attracted them to visit this place and not be afraid of the hardship to get there? Originally, there was a temple that the locals called "Fuoye dian" on a precipice high above this mountainous gully. Five stone statues made five hundred years ago are still left at the temple site. Behind the statues, they found the Garuda mythical bird and celestial beings flying above in cloud motifs that are very similar to those carved in the Yuan Dynasty at the Juyong Guan pass and those on the exterior of Beijing's Five Pagoda Temple. It was very rare to find this kind of Buddhist art so deep in the mountains of rural Beijing.

　　The setting sun was shining on the mountains and as they descended they passed an old spring with water running endlessly. But asgroupsof sheep came to drink the water and soon the smell of urine predominated the environs. Local children loudly sang folk songs and their voices reverberated in the valley. Writing vigorously with a pen hung round her neck Ms. Anami jovially asked the shepherd a continuous barrage of questions. When they got down the mountain, they then said they wanted to interview the village head. And they also found and asked questions of the eldest man in the village.

　　At first the village head was confused. He said, "I know almost everything about this place." He meant that he could handle it. Nonetheless, Ms. Anami still insisted on talking to the older man of eighty-years. From the wrinkles on the old man's face one could almost track his history. He was very happy to tell the stories of the village and the old temple which he had inherited from elder generations to the two spellbound foreigners. When Ms. Anami heard his stories, she told the old man proudly, "How could I have heard so many stories if I hadn't insisted on talking to you!" I was so surprised about their enthusiasm. These two ladies were so conscientious about what they thought was significantnot.

　　In their sixteen years of such wandering in Beijing they have interviewed more than one hundred similiar old men and women. When they visit the oldsters for the second or third time, they always bring small gifts and photos that they had taken the previous time. "Old friend!" It is the greeting words they like best when they meet these people again. They think that these elders are the eyewitnesses and keepers of history. Their stories are precious and Ms. Anami has written them down and has even published some of them in various articles abroad using Japanese, Chinese and English.

　　Their Dream

　　Wherever their exhibitions have been held, whether at the Liao Jin museum, or at the commercial center in Wangfujing street or at the People's Palace (the former Taimiao), Ms. Anami's husband, the Japanese ambassador to China, despite his busy schedule, would always visit the exhibitions of his wife and Ms. Kosima Weber-Liu. Ms. Anami has been married for over thirty years with two grown up children. Her happy family has an unseparable relationship with China, living in Beijing already three times. Ms. Anami recalled when she first met her husband in Taiwan, Chinese was the only language they used to communicate. As an American girl marriedsintosa traditional Japanese family, she treated her mother-in-law respectfully. Her mother-in-law believed deeply in Buddhism. Thus she became interested in searching for the old Buddhist sites.Ms. Kosima Weber-Liu, whose Chinese name is Liu Xiao Dao, is a foreign lady who also had a destiny with China, living here since 1984. Her father-in-law was one of the earliest Chinese aviators. He is now over eighty years old. He and his family of three generations have been living in a traditional "siheyuan" in Beijing for more than ten years. The local citizens give the house a very fairytale name, "the Gray House"("hui fang zi").

　　Ms. Kosima Weber-Liu's four children are all studying in Beijing. They also go on outings with their mother and hike the neighboring mountains. She teaches them German and English. At the same time, she asks her children to communicate with their Chinese friends in Chinese. Her husband is an environmental journalist and is very concerned with teaching about environmental protection. Ms. Liu Xiao Dao has an inborn artistic sense. Ms. Anami said, "most of the pictures that have special feelings and artistic styles are Kosima's."

　　Stretching across the Yongding River is the famous Jin Dynasty stone bridge Lu Gou Qiao built eight hundred years ago which is often called the Marco Polo Bridge. "The moon of Lu Gou" is one of the eight famous sights from ancient Yanjing, one of Beijing's earlier names. One autumn night when the wind blew over the river, the yellow moonlight reflected on the many carved lions on the bridge's marble balustrades. It was also easy to see the traces of the ancient ruts carved deepsintosthe surface of the bridge. There was even an inverted reflection of the lions in the water. As we were walking on the bridge on this moonlit evening, Ms. Anami told me, "I love this old city. I hope the government will protect the ancient buildings. We don't like to see only skyscrapers left in Beijing. We like to see the ancient temples, local neighborhoods and old hutongs alongside the new Beijing. I also hope old buildings and important sites in Beijing's countryside will also be protected from manmade and natural destruction."

　　That is why they chose the ancient history of Beijing as the topic of their photo exhibition, to let people reflect on the rich heritage of this city.