About this Blog
This blog is one of the requirements for Cal Poly Pomona's College of Environmental Design - 2011 China Summer Abroad Program. This annual summer program is in partnership with North China University of Technology (NCUT) in Beijing and was held this year from June 28 to August 1. The program is an intensive interdisciplinary studio of students of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning of both Cal Poly Pomona and NCUT.
By using photos and sketches as my visual communication media, accompanied with written components, this blog is meant to challenge my convention way of representation and recording. Rather than recreate the typical post card images that we always see about China (though sometimes it's unavoidable), each photograph shown here focuses on a detail that often missed by many visitors of China. This blog became my personal sojourn through the Chinese urban landscape.
Around the Clock
While constructions everywhere else in the world had slowed down due to global economic meltdown, China on the other hand has not shown any slowing down. When I was there, it seemed to me that everywhere I went there were constructions going on - particularly in Beijing where new developments and subway lines are being built. The fascinating side of their construction is that some of these projects are being built continuously around the clock – that, I am sure is one that cannot be found in the U.S. (Photos A - new constructions in Beijing; B & C - new constructions in Shanghai)
With all the contemporary developments that are being built in China, juxtaposed with traditional Chinese buildings, you can’t help but wonder if China is beginning to blur their cultural identity as well. The challenge for the Chinese in today's demanding society is how to inject contemporary architecture and planning styles without sacrificing their traditional and culture means of life. (Photos D & E - Jin'an Temple, Shanghai; F - Temple of Heaven, Beijing)
For an instance, air conditioning units are very prominent feature on their building facades. While their main purpose is to cool buildings, they also identify social status: the bigger air conditioning unit or the more air conditioning units, the higher the social status. As China starts to use less wall units and more of other practical and more efficient systems of cooling, what then becomes the social status indicator on their building facades?
These air conditioning units might be providing comfort to the Chinese, but we all know that they have negative effects to the environment. These units are big contributors to China’s infamous status of having some of the most polluted cities in the world. But as China starts to adopt new technologies and systems, sooner or later these air conditioning wall units will soon fade out on China’s building façades.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
Overall, my trip to China was one of the greatest ones. With a culture that is so complex, China’s urban landscape provides the most interesting stories that only Chinese can offer.
The city of Beijing is a mixture of everything China can offer: the overwhelming crowd; the air that some say it’s the summer gloom while others think it’s the pollution; the subways where passengers turn into sardines; the street carts where scorpions and other bugs are served; the street shopping where the skills of bargaining can either bring you new friends or create more enemies (with the store owners); the forbidden place that is not so forbidden; the bird’s nest where mythical Chinese dragons can lay their eggs; the giant cube that cannot make up its mind on what color to use; the enormous square in the center where a red canvass (with prints of 4 little yellow stars and one big yellow star) is waving continuously; and the wall that looks like the spine of a dragon on a hazy day.
South of Beijing, with its many gardens, Suzhou is where serenity hides: its canals make the city the Venice of the East; and traffic is almost nonexistence. Shanghai, on the other hand, is a play of western and eastern architecture styles. Their buildings are seemingly non-stop reaching for heaven and the long corridor of Nanjing Road provides a good pedestrian shopping experience. Additionally, Xi’an’s Terracotta Soldiers Museum was impressive and the hike to Mount Hua Shan was an experience of a lifetime in which the saying “the journey is more important than the destination” is manifested.
After five weeks in China, I firmly believe that the Great Wall is not the greatest thing the country has, but its their culture.
For more information on Cal Poly Pomona's China Summer Abroad Program visit http://www.calpolypomonachina.blogspot.com/
While constructions everywhere else in the world had slowed down due to global economic meltdown, China on the other hand has not shown any slowing down. When I was there, it seemed to me that everywhere I went there were constructions going on - particularly in Beijing where new developments and subway lines are being built. The fascinating side of their construction is that some of these projects are being built continuously around the clock – that, I am sure is one that cannot be found in the U.S. (Photos A - new constructions in Beijing; B & C - new constructions in Shanghai)
For an instance, air conditioning units are very prominent feature on their building facades. While their main purpose is to cool buildings, they also identify social status: the bigger air conditioning unit or the more air conditioning units, the higher the social status. As China starts to use less wall units and more of other practical and more efficient systems of cooling, what then becomes the social status indicator on their building facades?