Geographical Association

Welcome to China!

Diary compiled by Sarah Maude with photos by herself and husband Angus.

Our first GA Study Tour to China took place in 2000, with a similar itinerary.

Download: China 2007 Itinerary

It was two years since a GA tour had been in Beijing and Shanghai and five years since we last sailed through the Yangtze Gorges - the changes since then have been astonishing.

Apart from the appearance of new tall buildings and increase in traffic, three things impressed me most...

1. Rapid development of transport infrastructure, roads, railways(and new stations), ports and airports.
   
   
2. The willingness of people to discuss openly things that they had avoided in the past.
   
   
3. The 'greening' of China. There have been enormous efforts to cut down pollution, make urban parks and plant trees everywhere.

Countdown to the Olympics in Tiananmen Square

29 July to 1 August - Beijing

Beijing is obsessed with the forthcoming 2008 Olympics, which has mostly positive effects for visitors - cleaner air, more open green spaces and real efforts to welcome visitors with a smile.

We saw many of the stunningly original buildings under construction but could not get access for good photographs. However, we did see the models in the Beijing Urban Planning Hall.

Our hotel was wonderfully located, close to Tiananmen Square. We 'did' the main tourist sights, including the Great Wall at the quieter Mutianyu site (with cable car for ascent and toboggan for descent).

Barnaby and Kate Russell on the Wall

En route we visited one of the growing number of countryside restaurants being set up by farmers in peri-urban areas.

A excellent lecture and frank discussion with Hu Hongtao of the National Population and Family Planning Commission of China brought us up to date on the re-orientation of the family planning and reproductive health program and its future challenges and strategies.

At the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Dr. Jiang Yun gave a presentation introducing us to the Yangtze River.

Our old friend and ex geography teacher, Bruce Connolly of Radio Beijing, spent two days with us, enlightening us about his adopted city in a very entertaining manner. He took us to some remaining hutongs, on and off the tourist track.

The photograph on the left shows a less spoilt hutong, though everywhere gentrification is evident, and some streets are now lined with bars. The photograph on the right shows the new CCTV tower (or 'Z' building), towers on the slant under construction in the CBD to the east of the historic core.

2 August - Chonqing

After the flight from Beijing, feeling apprehensive as to how storms and recent flooding might affect us, we drove to Pipa Mountain Park to look down on the CBD and docks. Comparisons were made with photos from our 2002 visit.

The photograph to the right is Jialing River - edited to reduce the murk! Many new buildings and roads were noted.

In 2000 the GA group participated in local democracy, voting for which design we liked for the new Three Gorges Museum to be built in Peoples' Square. This year we visited the impressive building itself, with its well presented and informative displays.

Larger vessels could not berth at Chonqing because of the high water levels so after a 'hotpot' dinner we had a hair-raising four and a half drive in the dark on a new road, perched above the river, to join our cruise ship at Fengdu.

The photo below shows how the new city of Fengdu on the south bank has replaced the old city which was in the foreground. Our Cruise Ship, The Victoria Star, is shown in the centre.

Ongoing destruction & construction

2 - 5 August
Cruise through the Three Gorges

Though the water level upstream of the Three Gorges Dam has risen considerably the scenery is still stunning and we were blessed with unusually clear weather... until we reached the Dam itself.

We saw evidence of ongoing destruction and high density development in the new cities above the predicted water line (maximum 175m above sea level; the water level has risen in planned phases).

From the very comfortable boat we went on excursions to visit Fengdu City of Ghosts (popular with Chinese tourists) and the stunningly beautiful Lesser Three Gorges.

On board the Victoria Star we attended very informative and well presented lectures on the river, the Gorges, the Dam and its impacts, given by Jeff Wu. During visits we had the opportunity to have discussions with local people who were very positive about the benefits of the enforced move and their new live styles in modern towns.

Unfortunately the problems with water levels after the rains caused us to miss one tour highlight - passage through the ship locks of the dam - and it was very misty when we visited the visitor centre on the site, to spoil our photographs.

Possibly best visit of tour - to a resettlement village Nan Wan (South Corner with Water). The compensated farmers came from Zigui (near the dam) to an area with houses, land and money available for making terraces.

Traditional shop

The following day we had an unscheduled stop in a small town with traditional shops, the type most Chinese still use for their every day needs.

In this town we met a fascinating elderly gentleman, who was keen to tell us his life history.

We were en route to Chexi Folk Custom Scenic Area, where displays include working models of old machinery, water wheels etc. Unusually, the old commune buildings have been set up as a museum with performances of songs from the Cultural Revolution era (with audience participation - Chris Wise, Adam Nichols and Iain Palot).

Back in Yichang we visited the Gezhouba Dam (the forerunner of the Three Gorges dam) before another banquet and a visit to the massage parlour - for foot massages!

Flood defences

7 August - Towards Wuhan

We drove through farming areas on the floodplain to Wuhan where we were shown the principal city centre flood defences by the Director of River Affairs. Where at the turn of the century there were docks there is now a 7km long flood defence embankment with a beautiful park, including fountains and sculptures (a week before The Times printed a picture of flooding up to the steps here).


8 August - Wuhan

New dwellings

We made a visit to Xingguang village on the edge of the city to see the 'New Rural Construction Project of China' in action.

The farmers had voted to centralise their houses and pay for new dwellings through renting out some of the village land for industrial development. Having the initiative to respond to government policy, families have become relatively prosperous, with incomes from their small farms and industrial jobs.

The photograph below shows an electroplating factory set up in 1883 by the villagers as a rural enterprise.

Electroplating factory

After a truly warm welcome and lunch at the new Swiss-Belhotel Lotus Lake in suburban Wuhan (first western group) we returned to the city centre for a presentation by the Divisional Director of City Planning Division of the Construction Department of Hubei Province, where differences between Chinese and British planning were among topics discussed.


9 - 10 August - Nanjing

We became more tourist-like here, visiting the Sun Yat Sen Memorial, the Confucius Temple area (shops)... and another Urban Planning Exhibition Hall (to satisfy the real geographers).

While admiring the first great Yangtze River Bridge we discovered Mingfa New River City, a residential area which has replaced old housing and small factories beside the Yangtze – shown below with water level well over its usual banks.

In the former British Embassy building, high ranking officials from the Jiangsu Provincial Friendship Association with Foreign People entertained us at a very formal banquet.

On 11 August we drove from Nanjing to Suzhou (Silk Factory and traditional garden) and Shanghai, passing some intensively cultivated farmland on the way (see the photo below).


12 - 14 August - Shanghai

Our third visit to the Pacific Hotel, centrally located by Peoples' Square, shown below.

We saw landscaping taking place and those trees being planted during previous visits - all part of the 'greening' of Shanghai described graphically in the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall (yes, these geographers' paradises are all over China!).

Opportunities for sightseeing included Pudong CBD (and the CCTV Tower), the Yuyuan gardens and 'old' city, the Bund, the Maglev and the former French quarter. From the CCTV tower we could see recent buildings in Lujiazui, Pudong (CBD) being replaced by newer even bigger ones.

We met up with Chinese friends and had time to explore old and new areas (including the westernised café area of Xintiandi).

Thames Town

We made an excursion to new Yangshan Deep Water Port, built on an island south of Pudong and reached by a 32km bridge - unfortunately, rain interfered with photography.

And like many good tales, we ended with a joke - the new Thames Town residential development in Songjiang satellite city, built to resemble an old British city. Most properties are sold though few people have moved in yet - except wedding photographers with fashionable young Shanghainese couples (as Paul Merton found).

The Study Tour was planned and conducted with the invaluable assistance of Janice Dickson, MD of Ian Dickson Travel, Edinburgh. In China we were hosted by the Chinese Peoples' Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and accompanied by the charming and informative Mr Xu Fenghua, Director of their European Department. The tour leaders were Adam Nichols (wonderfully diplomatic 'front' man) and Sarah Maude.