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.
People's Space
China’s urban spaces are used in a variety of ways. The usual activities of reading, eating and observing others are always visible. But local residents tend to use these spaces, particularly the urban parks, as places to relax and unwind after a long day. Sometimes the residents have so much liberty that some men are even half-naked walking around. Surprisingly, this liberty of walking around with no shirt can also be seen in subway trains. (Photos A,B,C - People's Park, Shanghai)
Chinese residents do know how to take advantage of their parks and plazas throughout the cities. For instance, in NCUT campus, the young ones love to use open spaces as playground for their favorite pass time activities (E); at several open plazas next to malls and in Summer Palace, middle-aged women love to follow their dance instructor for hours as their daily exercise (F); while older folks at Jingshan Park get their daily therapy by performing tai chi (D). (Photos C - Summer Palace; D - NCUT Campus; E - Jingshan Park -- all in Beijing)
Some of their urban spaces are places where old folks form groups to socialize. Women play friendly game of cards; while men are more incline to play different traditional board games. Most of these activities are tucked away from the busy crowd; while some are next to exit gates of these urban spaces like the long covered walkways located next to the east exit of the Temple of Heaven. (Photos G,H,I - east gate of Temple of Heaven, Beijing)
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/
China’s urban spaces are used in a variety of ways. The usual activities of reading, eating and observing others are always visible. But local residents tend to use these spaces, particularly the urban parks, as places to relax and unwind after a long day. Sometimes the residents have so much liberty that some men are even half-naked walking around. Surprisingly, this liberty of walking around with no shirt can also be seen in subway trains. (Photos A,B,C - People's Park, Shanghai)
Chinese residents do know how to take advantage of their parks and plazas throughout the cities. For instance, in NCUT campus, the young ones love to use open spaces as playground for their favorite pass time activities (E); at several open plazas next to malls and in Summer Palace, middle-aged women love to follow their dance instructor for hours as their daily exercise (F); while older folks at Jingshan Park get their daily therapy by performing tai chi (D). (Photos C - Summer Palace; D - NCUT Campus; E - Jingshan Park -- all in Beijing) 