If you have not been to the capital city of a country, I don’t admit that you have visited that country, which is my definition of travelling one country. The capital city is very important for a country, which is the political center, and had a symbolic value of the country. In English, the capital city is often used to stand for the country and in Chinese, it is also very conventional, a rhetorical device, namely metonymy.
In April, 2010 we arrived in America for the first time. In order to finish writing the book about public English signs, we travelled in the eastern parts of America and Canada in May, touring eight cities of the two countries. It was a pity that we did not pass by the capital city of the US. I hinted to Liangliang Song, our second son in America, making him understand my wish, who asked for a leave and led us to Washington DC and Philadelphia.
On the early morning of Aug. 6, Lei Meng, Liangliang Song’s wife and our daughter in law, sent us three to the O’Hare Airport of Chicago and only through a security check could we take the domestic flight. At 9:01, the plane took off, flied in the sky for almost two hours and arrived the DCA Airport of Washington at 11:53. Leaving the airport, we took the metro and directly got to the Pentagon and the Arlington National Cemetery. The Pentagon, where United States Department of Defense(USDD) is located, is looked from the sky just like a regular pentagon, so Pentagon is often used to stand for USDD. The Pentagon was built up on Jan. 15 of 1943, and in May of the same year was put into use, where 23,000 people can do their office work. On the south and north side there is a large park each, permitting 10000 cars to park. In Sept. of 1947 the USDD established by the 33ird president Truman began to work here.
Pentagon photoed from the above
In the terrorist attack of Sept 11 in 2001 a Boeing 767 aircraft of American Airlines Flight 77 impacted the Pentagon, causing 184 people to lose their lives. The Pentagon Memorial was constructed in memory of these 184 victims, which is located in the southwestern corner.
Pentagon Memorial
Pentagon Memorial
Some American journalists revealed recently that some leaked videos showed that on the date of Sept. 11 Incident it was a cruise missile not an airplane that attacked the Pentagon. Dependable piolets of airlines indicated that any top piolet of America including the air force, was not able to control an airplane to impact the Pentagon. “The engineers of the Boeing Co. also expressed their views that the airplane cannot fly so fast, so low and do such turn round actions” The Pentagon is only 77 feet (23 meters) high. There were media workers who were on the spot of Sept. 11 Terrorist Incident disclosed that in the close-up photos when the Pentagon was hit there were no signs of the plane wreckage, which was usually distributed within the extent of one mile.
Arlington National Cemetery is a United States military cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., which has a history of more than 140 years and lies not far from the Pentagon, and the the Lincoln memorial is looking at it across a river. Arlington National Cemetery has become a symbol of the US and a microcosm of the American history, which has witnessed the disaster brought by the war. Although it is a cemetery it is beautiful and peaceful as a park. Arlington hillock as the center, the graveyard spreads over the slope and plain, green grasses and trees being everywhere. Here were buried about 300,000 bodies, including those dying in the recent Iraq and Afghanistan War. In addition, deceased presidents and important members of the government are also sleeping here. From so many gravestones we can conclude that the historical wars have brought traumas and the costs paid. The gravestone of President Kennedy made of black marble is lined with other common gravestones, only with an always burning torch in front of it, symbolizing his working spirit of always working for the benefit of the country. On green grass stand snow-white mast-shape gravestones, one after another. Although they are small, simple and crude, their arrays are particularly orderly, looking grand and sublime.
Arlington National Cemetery
On the second day, i.e. Aug. 7, after the breakfast we went from the Marriott Hotel we stayed in on foot to the White House, visiting Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam and Korean War Memorial and Thomas Jefferson Memorial, walking by the Commerce Department, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, and making us very tired. I couldn’t imagine that a photo can conclude several feature spots, but the distance between them is very very far. I had thought that just like the Tiananmen Square, several feature spots are linked one after another. Back in the hotel I looked at the map, discovering that the short cut we chose caused us to lose to have a look at the Department of State. What a pity it was!
The White House doesn’t look so grand and magnificent
Washington Monument (just like a pencil reaching up into the sky) ；
In the front is the Lincoln Memorial; the background is the Capitol
On the third day, i.e. Aug. 8, we took a coach in China Town of Washington to Philadelphia, lasting almost two hours. Philadelphia was the capital when America just became independent. In the middle period of 18th century, Philadelphia was where the Declaration of Independence was drafted and signed and the first and second Continental Congress was held. The draft constitution came into being and signed also here. Betsy Ross designed and raised the first national flag of America and the Father of the US Washington stayed here for years. Philadelphia is the place where American democracy was born. Philadelphia is Greek, meaning “brothers’ love”. We visited the downtown skyscrapers, the Independent Hall, the Liberty Bell, the former residence of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and etc. It was 21:30 when we returned to the Marriott hotel in Washington.
Skyscrapers in Philadelphia’s downtown
On the fourth day, i.e. Aug. 9, we took the metro to the Capitol, getting there on the appointment time. We entered and paid a visit to it and also had a tour in the Library of Congress. We came out, sat outside of the Capital, and enjoyed the grand and magnificent building. American Indian Museum attracted us and we stayed in the National Air and Space Museum for all the rest time, felt the time was too short and had to leave to catch the flight.
At our scheduled time we entered the Capitol
At 5:50 p.m. the plane took off and arrived at O’Hare Airport of Chicago at 6:59. Lei Meng picked us up after she finished her work in her office. How great it was! We finally satisfied our long-cherished hope.
Oct. 13 of 2018
Proofreading on Jan 3 2019 in Xuzhou
Uploading on Aug. 9 2023 in Xuzhou
