Chapter 79 National wonders

Not far east of Lahore is India.Now Pakistan and India are in a serious military confrontation. The two countries have conducted nuclear test explosions again and again, making the whole world sweat. So, what will their borders look like? Originally it was just a small curiosity, but unexpectedly, what I faced was a real wonder of the world. When we got close to the border, we gradually felt that something was wrong. Just now it was dusty and the vendors were messy. How come it is so clean all of a sudden?It's like entering an exquisite national park, with beautiful flowers and trees, fountains and lawns, and the road leading to the border is getting smoother and smoother.

Finally arrived at the border, there are many guard posts and many gates. We were blocked and could only stand on the lawn to watch.What are you looking at?Said for an hour, there was a flag-lowering ceremony.We saw that the time was 3:15 p.m., so let’s wait. It might be interesting to take a shot of the lowering of the flag on the border. Only then did I realize that there were three gates at the border.The red gate on this side belongs to Pakistan; the white gate on the other side belongs to India; between the red gate and the white gate there is a yellow gate, which is very exquisitely made and is shared by the two countries.There is a national flag on the left and right post of the shared gate, the Pakistani flag on the left and the Indian flag on the right, with the same height and size.The three doors are all hollowed out. At a glance, the Indian side is also beautiful with flowers and trees, fountains and lawns.

Presumably, the two sides want to make a close comparison of the national image. As long as the other side does something, the other side will definitely catch up, and it will not be stable until a tie is reached. The soldiers on both sides were tall young men over 1.9 meters tall.Bafang’s black robe and black trousers, a woolen black pullover on his upper body, a pair of red belt, and a red headscarf, red and black, are very eye-catching; Bafang is brighter. When we looked at the soldiers from both sides, we found that groups of students and citizens had gathered around us, and they seemed to have come to watch the flag-lowering ceremony.Surprisingly, the Indian side also gathered, and the number and composition were basically the same.

At a quarter past four, a loud and long password sounded.There seemed to be an echo, but after listening carefully, it turned out that the Indian side was also shouting the password, with the same loudness and the same tone.They are enemy countries, so of course they never discussed these details, they just compare each other every day, no one wants to lose to anyone, and the result is exactly the same. The place where the password sounded was still a little away from the country gate where we were, where the ceremonial troops for lowering the flag were gathering, and they were walking here after the gathering.Since both India and Pakistan have to walk to the shared gate at the same time, the distance they walk must be the same.What is more important is the posture, every step is related to the national prestige, and there must be no sloppy.The soldiers on both sides walked with the same exaggeration, the same force, and the same vigor.

Cheers came from every step, and it was only then that I realized that those students and citizens did not come to visit by themselves, but organized to cheer.The same is true in India, where the military competition brings out the civilian competition.We stood in the front, surrounded by crowded citizens. The guard of honor had already walked in front of us, and suddenly stopped. The soldier in the lead saluted a middle-aged officer with a big movement. I guess it meant that the preparations were ready and waiting for instructions.The middle-aged officer looked reserved, turned around abruptly, ran a few steps, and walked up to a young baby-faced officer, saluted him and asked for instructions. It turned out that this baby-faced officer was of a higher rank.

It suddenly occurred to me that this baby-faced officer had hinted at his identity before the ceremony started. When he arrived, he walked up to Li Zhaobo, the tall driver who stood outside the row of us, clasped his hands tightly, and said: wrote a long speech.He thought Li Zhaobo was the first one, so he must be the leader of our party. Zhao Bo also had a smile all over his face, shaking hands with him for a long time and exchanging greetings. Looking at him from a distance, it was really a happy meeting and a happy chat.But I have already heard that the baby-faced officer speaks the local Udu, which none of us understand, while Zhaobo speaks Shandong dialect with the demeanor of a diplomat: I can’t understand, how do I know what you are muttering?

Zhaobo asked me after he left: What is he talking about?I immediately translated: He said, I don’t know if your old man is visiting our country and you have time to sit in the humble house, so you don’t need to bring too many gifts.Everyone laughed at that time, but he has a baby face but has a lot of official positions, commanding the national guards. We were looking at him differently, but we didn't expect strange things to come to me.After accepting the salute and asking for instructions from the middle-aged officer, the baby-faced officer turned around and played some complex movements, then took a few steps towards me, and actually respectfully saluted and asked for instructions!

I panicked for a while, and I didn't know what to do. I turned my head left and right, only to find that behind me, there was a short young man in an old blue suit, squeezed among the crowd, and nodded to the baby-faced officer.Alas, this is the real boss here.He found that we were all paying attention to him, smiled shyly, and was buried in the crowd again. The ceremony reached its climax when the baby-faced officer received orders to lower the flag.Looking up, the Indian side is also working hard. A soldier walked out of the guard of honor here, and used the way of Chinese opera to complete the circle on this border avenue. The speed can be described as flying on the grass.After turning around and returning to the team, a soldier walked towards the border gate with extremely exaggerated steps.

To what extent?When he walked with bent legs, his knees reached his chest, and after taking a few steps, he swung his legs and kicked his feet over the top of his head.What's even more astonishing is the weight when each step hits the ground. It's like gnashing your teeth to smash the leather shoes and smash your joints on the spot. Walking towards India at such a pace, it seems that India must be flattened.The opponent also came out with a soldier, and his footsteps seemed to be crushing Pakistan flat. The two finally got closer and closer.The eyes were full of anger, and each refused to give in, which made us nervous for a while, because from the posture, the two of them were going to eat each other whole.

However, at the moment when their limbs were connected, the distance between their hands and feet was less than half an inch, they suddenly turned and walked towards their own national flags, which made us breathe a sigh of relief. One just stands under the national flag, the second soldier walks out of the guard of honor, and repeats the first action completely, smashing the leather shoes, smashing the joints, smashing the enemy country, eating the opponent, and then When we suddenly turned around half an inch away, we were not nervous. The photographer Yuan Bai couldn't help laughing while holding the camera, but I couldn't change my habit of watching old movies.The atmosphere on both sides was so solemn, only we Chinese kept covering our mouths for fear of laughing out loud.

Well, now there are five people standing on one side, and they stomped each other's feet for a while, and then each soldier took out a trumpet and blew.What is puzzling is that it is the same song, so I hurriedly asked someone to ask, saying it was the song of lowering the flag. The two national flags follow the curve and descend in a diagonal line that meets at the bottom of the line.The guards of honor on both sides took back their national flags and walked back to the barracks holding goose steps. With a bang, the gate was closed. After watching this ceremony and returning to the hotel, a friend on the way asked me how I felt, and I said: complete convergence in confrontation, just like secret hostility in intimacy, it is worth pondering. December 10, 1999, Lahore, overnight at Avari Lahore Hotel