French in Old Peking 
Locate 1300 temples on a 300-year-old map! Are you crazy? For Victoire, it鈥檚 her job.
In this small area, which is now overwhelmed and surrounding highrise buildings, she hopes to find three little temples.
Only a five minute walk from the crowded and noisy street and you find your self here. Time slows down here. Watch closely, pieces of memory can be easily found and reveal to you the changes of life through the years.
We can guess that ancestor of this house took home the stone monument, which should have stood in front of a temple. Since it鈥檚 so heavy, the base must not be too far away. Is this the base?
No. It isn鈥檛. The flat face can鈥檛 possibly support the statue, but it looks like a license desk, where people offered their tributes.
With the monument and desk, the temple should somewhere nearby. Where is it? Is it among the crowded houses?
Victoire thinks she has got the answer.
But why is this house, instead of the similar looking neighbors, fits Victorie鈥檚 map? The answer lies on the roof.
The ancient Chinese believed that emperor was a descendent of God. So, only his residence, and temples, places to house gods, can use the kind of round tiles. Other people, no matter how rich or important they were, could only be sheltered by ordinary tiles.
In China, temples used to serve as community gathering place, where men and women danced, chatted and held ceremonies. It was vital structure in their daily lives. When clean water was hard to find in Beijing, a city close to no rivers or lakes, the people cherished every well they could find. Those wells were usually located in temples. So for Gods, water, leisure and a lot more, people would go to temples.
Having finally found the temple, Victoire鈥檚 work is still far from finished. What鈥檚 even harder, is to discover its history and stories. Her sources are the people still living in the area, especially the old women.
Unfortunately, her interview subjects are passing away, as are their memories.
Temples, the lunar calendar鈥 those subtle points of Chinese philosophy and thinking have attracted French researchers since 16th century. France boasts as being the leader of Chinese studies overseas for years. French accounts of Chinese history may not have much influence on the fates of cultural relics, but they can preserve some of the images and stories before they are reduced to ashes.
Victorie happened upon another temple which is not registered on the Qian Long map. It鈥檚 called Zhen Wu temple, a nunnery which currently houses two families.
Two hours later, at a construction site, a stone flag base is discovered by an old tree. An advertisement of cool water is scrawled on the once sacred stone.
That鈥檚 no longer the case. Here a temple called San Yi Miao was destroyed last week. In the rubble there is a 300-year-old stone monument. The dragon carving and name of the temple are still clear, but the writing is unrecognizable.
Wrapping up a busy morning, Victoire marks the four temples on her map. According to the local government鈥檚 plan, this area will be leveled in one month鈥檚 time and a public garden will be built. At that time, Victoire鈥檚 record may be the only proof of those former temples鈥 existence.
