“And how much do you want for it?”
“What would you offer?”
“Listen, I can make you a good offer but if you want friendly advice I suggest that you take gold instead of money. Who knows if Chinese currency is worth anything tomorrow? Do you know the story about the Mexican silver dollars?”
“No, I haven't heard.”
“Anyway, believe me – gold is much better. I can offer you 16 Dutch guilder coins, each about 0.21 ounce of gold.”
“But can I use them on the market?”
“Not to buy vegetables of course. Let's settle for 14 guilder and 250 dollars.”
“I agree.”
“Anything else you would like to sell?”
“No, thank you.”
“Sure. Just in case, you know where you can find me”.
On the one hand Voronov felt relieved since his monetary problems had been solved. On the other hand he was very uncomfortable with the situation thinking that actually he had sold stolen property.
Two days later the merchant visited the guest-house. He was accompanied by an older man.
“Were you able to solve your concerns?” he asked.
Voronov was amused with this art of the questioning. It sounded so much better than a blunt “Do you have the money?”
“Yes, at least two hundered are available.”
“Which languages do you speak?”
“Well, Russian of course and some English.”
“Hm, no Swedish?”
“No, but why Swedish?”
The merchant had a brief conversation with his companion for three minutes. Then he said:
“We may be able to arrange a Swedish document for you. But whatever the route, you will have to pass through Japanese check-posts. It is unlikely that an average Japanese soldier speaks Swedish but if they realise that your papers are not genuine and that you are actually Soviet Russian then your fate will be decided quickly. Do you understand what I mean?”
“This is clear. So, what are the alternatives?”
“I am afraid there are none. Another point is that travelling to Shanghai is out of the question at this time. We suggest bringing you to Guangzhou via Xian and Changsha. From there you can try to enter Hong-Kong with the Swedish travel documents. What do you think?”
“Looks like I don't have any other choice.”
“In this case please advance me 200 dollars now. The document will be ready in about two days. While you wait don't leave the guest-house unless it is absolutely necessary. Unlike in Urumqi, in Lanzhou a foreigner is easily noticed. And any unnecessary attention may cause trouble.”
In two days the merchant came back with a small envelope. He took something out of it and handed it over to Voronov. It was indeed a foreign passport but it was burned on two edges, the pages looked dirty and the whole document smelt of smoke and tar.
“Is this my passport?!” asked Voronov, incredulously, “Who will take it seriously? One third of the document is burned!”
“Listen, how do you think would it be possible to get your passport photo and the stamp of Swedish consulate here? We are in the deepest province and there is a war. Please try to understand that. Your story will be as follows: You have been working for a Christian mission here which supports a construction of the irrigation scheme in Gansu. The mission house caught fire in the night and you had to escape from your bed and let behind all the belongings. When the fire was extinguished you could recover some of your stuff including this passport, which however was rather damaged.”
“To whom does this passport belong to?”
“Don't worry about that. It belonged to a real Swedish missionary who has left for Sweden with a new passport three months ago. When anyone asks you en route to Hong Kong, you will tell them that you have tried to return to Sweden via the Soviet Union but the consulate in Urumqi had denied you a visa because your passport is damaged. That's why you had no choice than to go via Hong Kong passing a war affected area.”
“Well, thank you anyway. Those without choices shouldn’t bargain.”
“Be prepared to leave for Xian in two days. At first you will travel by truck then by train. However nobody can tell how far the train will bring you. I have heard that Japanese air force has destroyed some railway lines.”
Voronov used the remaining time in Lanzhou for some strolls, rebelling against the advice to stay in his guest house. In the morning Huang He River was covered by a thick fog so it was not possible to see the far shore. He climbed a hill in the southern part of the city and looked towards the north. The view was great. Not only the river but the whole city seemed to be covered by fog so the mountains in the north appeared to float above the clouds. The magnificent view could only partially distract him from his gnawing thoughts. Would this passport be accepted at all? And what if somebody asked him to say something in Swedish? He didn’t know a word. And generally all he knew about Sweden was that the capital city was Stockholm and that Swedish steam engines had a very good reputation. It would be good to read something about Sweden, perhaps even learn some words and phrases. But where to do it here in Lanzhou? He decided to look for a book shop. Eventually he found a small book shop in a small lane near the embankment.
Except for a brief but polite “Good morning” the elderly shopkeeper remained silent and left him to search through the shelves for half an hour. Then he stood up and asked something in Chinese. Voronov shrugged with his shoulders indicating that he didn't understand.
“You are Russian?” asked the shopkeeper in English. That wasn't good news. If his Russian origin was that clear, he could hardly expect that the Swedish passport would work.
“Originally from Russia but now on the move.”
“I see. How can I help you?”
“Do you have books in English or even better Russian about Sweden or Swedish language?”
“I have a brief history of Europe but it is in Chinese. Would you drink some tea with me?”
“It would be my pleasure.” Voronov was bored and more than a little lonely by this point of his escape and on this frosty morning a cup of hot tea was quite welcome.
While sipping from his cup the shopkeeper seemed to be thinking intensively about something. Then he started to talk very slowly, as if weighing each word on a scale prior to speaking it.
“Have you seen the Great Wall?”
“I have seen some remnants around Jiayuguan but not the real one yet, unfortunately.”
“Perhaps you will have an opportunity later. The fact that this is a masterpiece of construction is only one part of the story. Have you ever thought about its purpose?”
“Well, a sort of defence line, to protect the country from the North.”
“But as you know the effort did not pay off. Actually this is a testimony about the Chinese mentality engraved in stone”
“Do you mean...”
“China sees itself as being the centre of the Earth since a long time ago. All other countries and people were considered as benefiting from the divine benevolence of the heavenly emperor. But concerning China proper, their main and only wish was just to be left in peace. That's why this was the first clearly demarcated boundary in the history. The major blunder was the failure to recognize that however strong the walls are, it’s of little use if the pillars are rotten. During our history there were some highlights and some dark periods. Since we have the longest recorded history, we have learned to understand that these changes between ups and downs are normal. This can hardly console somebody who has the bad luck to live during a dark period but nobody can change that. You Europeans are different.” He walked to a shelf and took a book from it.
“This is the book on modern European history which I have mentioned before. It was written by an American author in 1929 and translated into Chinese in 1933. Here he writes: “The positive aspect of the World War was that the nations were reminded about the horrors of the armed conflict in the modern era. Despite all the grief about the millions of victims
and many destroyed cities we can reasonably hope that the mankind has learned the lesson. Never again will the nations allow such carnage to happen again.”
“Isn't it laughable? Based on the experience of a few years and only 10 years after the end of the war they say that now they understood the lessons of the history and will never repeat previous mistakes! Do you think that the Chinese never analysed their past. They did, but learning the lessons also means accepting inconvenient facts, seeing the brutal reality. Now look what is happening right now. Who could have dreamed that the mighty China would suffer one defeat after another from small Japan? I have seen the Japanese army in Tianjin, you know. They are tough and capable, no question about that. But this is not the main point. The main reason for Chinese poor military performance is not their strength but rather our weakness. The whole country is divided and its parts are ruled by greedy egoists only thinking how to fill their pockets as quickly as possible. But that is no surprise at all. We Chinese are quite egoistic. At first we think about ourselves then about the family or clan. The nation, the state, are only respected and supported if there is any gain. At this time Chinese state cannot offer anything except misery so who will be willing to sacrifice anything for it?”
“So do you see any hope for the future?”
“One day the country will return to normality. But nobody can predict when this day will come and what the price will be. Now to come back to your question. What sort of books about Sweden are you looking for?”
“Ideally an English-Swedish dictionary and something about the country in general.”
“Do you have plans to go to Xian?”
“Yes, in two days.”
The shopkeeper took a piece of paper and scribbled something on it.
“Here is the description how to find Mr. Zhang’s shop. He is a good friend of mine. I have written some directions for you, it's about 20 minutes’ walk from the railway station. Perhaps he could help you to find what you need.”
2
Voronov’s journey continued on to Xian. The more he advanced towards the East, the gloomier the picture. The only positive change in comparison to Western China was there was at least a sense of law and order. Voronov became used to countless check-points manned by different armed groups. Though they all wore Kuomintang uniforms, they were the armies of local warlords. As in Urumqi, some of them looked like road brigands and in fact their only task was collecting “passage fees” from the travellers. In Xian the Kuomintang soldiers looked like a regular army, there were police and even functioning post. Searching how to continue the journey towards Canton he stayed in Xian till January. There he met some other foreigners; Frenchmen, Americans and Brits. The news he heard from them was quite sad. First of all about the battle of Nanjing and the gruesome massacre that followed. The combats between the Japanese and Kuomintang troops appeared to reach a stalemate however in the south it looked like Canton would soon be in jeopardy. While in Xian Voronov was surprised to see the Soviet airplanes I-16. They had been leased to the Kuomintang air force together with their Soviet pilots. He knew the planes very well. They were designed by one of the leading engineers Polikarpov. Having seen them in the air Voronov felt a sting in his heart. He would so much like to go to the airfield and have a chat with the pilots! But he knew that the squadrons were usually accompanied by somebody “from the department” and those people were definitely not anyone he would like to encounter.
He left Xian at the end of January. The region was located further to the South compared to Urumqi let alone Almaty, however it was still very cold. The advantage of the bad weather was that the sentries at the check-points were not very motivated to perform thorough checks. Most of the time they were sitting around camp fires and, if at all, made random checks. After passing Changsha the temperatures became relatively mild, at least always above 0°. Perhaps due to this reason or maybe due to the proximity to the front-line the checks became stricter. In Chenzhou Voronov underwent a sort of interrogation. He was on board the train from Changsha to Canton when a group of Kuomintang soldiers and police entered the carriage.
“Huzhao! (Passport)” the police officer asked brusquely, glaring at Voronov sternly.
“Please sir.”
The police officer looked at his passport incredulously and handed it over to the military officer.
“Is it your travel document Mister Holmlund?” asked the officer in very clear English. “It looks quite damaged.”
“Sir, unfortunately our mission house caught fire. We had to escape as quickly as possible. Later I was able to recover whatever was left but the passport has been damaged.”
“Oh, really? Was it a Japanese air raid? Where did it happen?”
“In Lanzhou. No air raid sir, apparently just an accidental fire.”
“What were you doing there?”
“I was an engineer at the local irrigation improvement project.”
“And what is the purpose of your journey now?”
“At first Canton, then Hong-Kong and from there back to Sweden.”
“In which city in Sweden do you leave?”
“I am originally from Norrkoping but currently live in Gothenburg.”
“Gothenburg? Never heard about it before. Only about the capital city, what is it again…?”
“Stockholm.”
“Right, Stockholm. Do you have luggage with you?”
Voronov’s heart sank
“Yes, these two bags.”
“Watch your luggage. Canton can be dangerous and the thieves are also operating on the trains.”
“Thank you sir, I will be on high alert.”
“Have a safe journey,” the officer paused. “It’s a real pity that you see my country under these circumstances. Maybe you will have a chance to visit China after the war.”
“I hope so. And I would like to tell you that I really enjoyed my stay here. Despite all these troubles”
This detailed check did raise some concerns. It could happen that the checks in Canton will be even stricter. And on the border to Hong-Kong he will have to convince the British to let him in and they could not be easily fooled. Sweden is not that far from England. What if they can speak some Swedish? Then the whole story will be blown up in a few minutes.
Canton looked like a city preparing for a siege. The prices for food were much higher than in Xian and the military omnipresent. Without knowing anybody in the city it was difficult to figure out the modalities of crossing the border. During his second week in Canton he decided to go to the harbour. There he has seen a small restaurant which however had only noodles and tea to offer. A foreign gentleman entered the restaurant and greeted Voronov.
“Good afternoon. I have not seen you before in this place. You are in transit I presume?”
“Yes, indeed, heading for Hong-Kong. I am Mikhael Holmlund by the way, from Gothenburg”
“Gothenburg?! My goodness! That’s far away. But I assume you do not miss the January temperatures in Sweden? I am John Bealey, currently from Manila. Nice to meet you”
“Nice to meet you. Right, at least in winter the climate over here is better. But to be perfectly honest I prefer the Swedish cold but peaceful winter. All this war going around, I have enough of it.”
“How true. I am commuting between Manila and Chinese ports since seven years. Tianjin, Shanghai, you name it. Have you been there?”
“Unfortunately not”
“Especially Tianjin is amazing, you know. Some areas look so European! Sometimes I had a feeling I am walking through the streets of Manchester. Really! I have been to Manchester some years ago. Actually I am from Atlanta. Now it breaks my heart to imagine that these cities are ravaged by war. And talking about the business, don’t even ask!”
“That bad?”
“A whole scale disaster!”
“May I ask in which branch are you running your business?”
“Electrical equipment. Since the Koumintang government has started to receive Ger
man military advice, the German companies managed to snatch a lot of business in telecommunications and electricity. But this is not the point. There is a market for our products but they pay in local currency. In a few months it may be not worth the paper on which it is printed. And it is going like this since years. Plus the question of supplies and maintenance. Nowadays I cannot get a technician to come over here without him asking for exorbitant hazard pay.”
“Are you based here in Canton?”
“No. Usually I spend several days here or in Shanghai and then return to Manila”
“Is there a sea line from Canton to Manila?”
“Not at this time. But from Hong-Kong there is one.”
“I am also planning to go to Hong-Kong and then continue to Sweden”
“Have you visited Hong-Kong before?”
“Not yet.”
“Then I would like to give you an advice. There is a rail link to get there but it is crowded, irregular and the checks last very long. A private transportation is quite expensive but it will save you from all this hustle. I can give you an address of Mr. Wong and he will arrange everything. He can also help you to change the rest of Chinese currency into foreign one. The best would be to fetch some US dollars or British pounds. Now Hong-Kong has its own currency but it will be of little use outside.”
“Thank you so much, I will definitely contact this Mr. Wong. Please give me the address”
Voronov went to look for Mr. Wong the next day. He was surprised to see find him in a tiny confection shop selling cheap clothes. He was not sure if he was not mistaken.
Mr. Wong looked like in his late sixties, had dark leathery skin but extremely vivid eyes. His English was bad, with short telegraphic-style sentences.
The treasure of Galdan Page 12