Monday, June 4, 2007
Leaving for Xi'an
Our flight for this morning from Nanjing to Xi'an was mercifully rescheduled to the more reasonable hour of 11 AM, so we all had a little free time in the morning. Without having made any previous arrangements, several of us independently ended up at the McDonalds on Counfucius Temple square, for pancakes and coffee. The smog was there to greet us. It did not settle or go away overnight. Even this early in the morning there was a live song and dance event on the stage in front of the temple, and the local shopkeepers watched the spectacle with more amazement than we did. They were playing Hotel California as we passed.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Nanjing
(Those aren't clouds, that's smog)Nanjing is the site of Sun Yat-Sen's Mausoleum. He is considered the father of modern China. We had a very non-city planning day yesterday, just walking around two different parks surrounding tombs. They have a very nice central pedestrian zone including outdoor cafes and bars lining canals in front of a Confucian temple. Today we will visit one of the planning and design studios that foreign consultants need to partner with in order to do city planning in China.
The smog is so bad that you can see it in the halls of our hotel. If affects visibility after 30 feet. Everyone's eyes are burning, and the more sensitive of us are dreading Xi'an and Beijing for this reason.
The visit to the Nanjing Planning Institute was the best planning function of the trip. This was the only government planning agency that we visited, and they explained how things work in a way that made sense and fit with what we saw going on around us. Just as they don't necessarily have the cash or capacity to clean up their industry right away, they do not have the time to go through the tortuous planning processes that we can afford in the States. Their demand for urbn living is so high that they need to get cities built right away, otherwise people will starve and or revolt. During this phase of their urbanization, the marginal increment of speed is more important and valuable than the marginal increment of accuracy, so they forge ahead. They can build and populate cities of 300,000 in three years.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Numa Numa and Chess
I heard the Numa Numa song blaring out of a record store in Shanghai, and then the next day here in the Internet cafe in Suzhou I sang 3 seconds of it and the kids across from it recognized it immediately and started singing it. I then opened up youtube and found a Numa version done by some guys on a US aircraft carrier (youtube Navy Numa Numa). Music and pop culture are now world phenomena.
I had a similar experience here with Chinese Chess. I got the person running the shop next to our hotel to teach me the game, and immediately we were able to make it work with a vocabulary of two words, 'yes' and 'no'. We spent 30 minutes on the first game, and he gave me every break he could, but the second game lasted only 15 minutes and it would have been quicker except he wa trying to make my demise a work of art. He didn't take my King, I actually conceded because he had set up his position so well. Later in Suzhou I saw crowds of 10 people hovering over four different chess boards in the park near the night market. I should have brough european chess for them to try.
I had a similar experience here with Chinese Chess. I got the person running the shop next to our hotel to teach me the game, and immediately we were able to make it work with a vocabulary of two words, 'yes' and 'no'. We spent 30 minutes on the first game, and he gave me every break he could, but the second game lasted only 15 minutes and it would have been quicker except he wa trying to make my demise a work of art. He didn't take my King, I actually conceded because he had set up his position so well. Later in Suzhou I saw crowds of 10 people hovering over four different chess boards in the park near the night market. I should have brough european chess for them to try.
Golf in China
We have seen a few golf courses in China. The ones we have seen were near airports, but we would like to see one on top of the limestone hills in Yangshuo. We think a long-drive competition would work well there. We see a lot of advertising for golf and golf equipment, and I did see one Calloway shop here. Golf might still be too expensive for most people in this area, and those who can afford it probably don't have the time for it. I couldn't imagine creating a golfing tour of China similar to the one we are having now for planning.
Suzhou
Suzhou is beautiful. It is the first truly Chinese city we have been in, with the others being more western, touristy, or international. I can't really compare it to any other place, as I have with other citites, although Venice and St. Pete come to mind because of Suzhou's canals. The two most impressive features of Suzhou are its gardens and its night market.
In the afternoon we heard a presentation by a manager from Suzhou's Parks District, then visited two gardens. Both gardens integrate water (with a pond), gazebos and pavilions, courtyards, plants, trees, grass, and rocks, and hill; steps, arches, and tunnels. Each space is cozy and for the most part separated from the others. You almost have to search to find the way from one yard to the next. The wood and vegetation are both lush.
The night markets had four types. The first section is the low-end fastfood courts, where you can get a tiny skewer of pork, chicken, squid, camel, ostrich, goat, deer, or anything else you can imagine. They also have different types of veggie-filled breads, pancakes, crepes, and cakes. The second section is the trinket section. This is the first trinket mall which seemed targeted to locals rather than foreigners. Instead of stamps and chess sets, they had socks and toys for sale. The third section was the large plaza in the middle of the department stores. There was arcade basketball, rollerblading, a pond/river with a bridge, two water jet features, a water tunnel, and a bumper-boat ride for cars, where the kids bump each other with paddleboats instead of cars in a large, low inflatable swimming pool. The fourth section was the high-end food court, with the veggie-filled crepes (including plum sauce), and the dancing Aussie Chinese krewe with their exotic animal meats.
Even our hotel is impressive, though certain sections of it look like it is still under construction, and in this sense it reminds me of Vilnius just after they started to open up in the early '90s. A year from now they should have it all fixed up.
In the afternoon we heard a presentation by a manager from Suzhou's Parks District, then visited two gardens. Both gardens integrate water (with a pond), gazebos and pavilions, courtyards, plants, trees, grass, and rocks, and hill; steps, arches, and tunnels. Each space is cozy and for the most part separated from the others. You almost have to search to find the way from one yard to the next. The wood and vegetation are both lush.
The night markets had four types. The first section is the low-end fastfood courts, where you can get a tiny skewer of pork, chicken, squid, camel, ostrich, goat, deer, or anything else you can imagine. They also have different types of veggie-filled breads, pancakes, crepes, and cakes. The second section is the trinket section. This is the first trinket mall which seemed targeted to locals rather than foreigners. Instead of stamps and chess sets, they had socks and toys for sale. The third section was the large plaza in the middle of the department stores. There was arcade basketball, rollerblading, a pond/river with a bridge, two water jet features, a water tunnel, and a bumper-boat ride for cars, where the kids bump each other with paddleboats instead of cars in a large, low inflatable swimming pool. The fourth section was the high-end food court, with the veggie-filled crepes (including plum sauce), and the dancing Aussie Chinese krewe with their exotic animal meats.
Even our hotel is impressive, though certain sections of it look like it is still under construction, and in this sense it reminds me of Vilnius just after they started to open up in the early '90s. A year from now they should have it all fixed up.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Shanghai Nights
We got into Shanghai today. Shanghai feels like a European New York. It has New York's lights and energy, and has European architecture and sense of history. We spent 50 RMB on a gin and tonic which we enjoyed on the 6th floor balcony of a 100 year old building overlooking the Bund. This capped a presentation and walking tour of the development history of Shanghai.The Shanghai internet cafes ask for passports, and would photocopy them, so I have not posted while in Shanghai. Other than that, Shanghai was a very nice city. The people looked relaxed, there are plenty of little districts to explore, and
the town is busy without being crazy. I didn't make it to the district called the French Concession, but others did, and compared it to Beverly Hills. I did make it to old town, and it is now a tourist trap. The central square looked just like the central square of a chinese Strasbourg, with the central building being a tea house instead of a cathedral. The buildings were white with dark brown timbers. There were two Starbucks there.
A major site of interest for us was the Shanghai planning museum. This museum has two scale models, one of Shanghai in its entirety, another of the section of the river that lies at its heart. The river model is 10 feet wide and 50 feet long, the city model is 50 feet by 100 feet. It shows every building existing and proposed to be built in the next 20 or so years.Another highlight was the visit to the EDAW Shanghai offices. We have someone in our group who works for EDAW SF, but it was interesting for him as well to hear about the Asia projects. Most of what they are doing is at the master planning and conceptual level, because the implementation and specifics of design must be done by the local planning and design schools. EDAW is getting more and more business here.
Each time we took the metro it was so crowded that someone in our party got either left behind on the platform or left behind on the train. That's right, it is sometimes so crowded that you can't even get off the train in time.
The second evening we went to a bar where a pint of cider cost $10 US. They had a DJ downstairs and live music upstairs. It was mostly European men and Asian women. The bar was showing Aussie rules football, which looks to be about the best sport ever invented. It is apparently similar to Gaelic football, which is the best sport ever invented.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Planning in Yangshuo
Tonight we met with a resident of Yangshuo who has some knowledge of city-building. Ian is an South African guy who has lived here for 6 years. In a previous life, he was an architect. He does tourism now. We were able to ask him questions and have an interesting discussion about regional planning, building construction, land ownership, governmental laws, building height, and historic preservation. Hing, Erika, and I decided to join forces and write a joint blog post to discuss what we learned tonight.
Tourism is a driving force in the development of Yangshuo. When Ian arrived, Yangshuo was a sleepy village with a few cafes and mainly a tourist destination for those living in China. It first became popular with Chinese tourists who were fascinated with the influence of western backpackers in the area. For people who have trouble getting to Hong Kong, this is the next best thing. Because of the boom in tourism over the last 5 years, money has been 'pouring out of this area', and he means this in a good way, as in, there is so much money here that the city cannot contain it all. An area of several blocks has been demolished to make way for the construction of a new complex of commercial and hotel uses.
There is no strict building code and enforcement system in China like that of what you would find in the United States. It might be comparable to a remote and unincorporated area of some rural counties in the States. Permits for construction are not enforced. People just build what they like, sometimes with the help of an ex-architect friend like Ian who draws up plans to help order supplies and guide the actual construction.
Land ownership is fuzzy as well. The government owns the land, but in urban areas you get and hold the right to use the land. People don't pay property taxes on rural land. In rural areas, every 5 to 7 years the government divides up the land in a region and redistributes it to the local population. If the population in a town has changed, one might receive more or less land. If you are rich, being nice to the mayor might influence the results of the redistribution.
In China, building height is regarded as a status symbol. It's a matter of "keeping up with the Chans." Frequently you will see farm land with a 4-story building with only a finished ground floor. The upper floors would be left as an unfinished shell because the family could not afford to finish them, but wanted the status symbol of a taller building. Even the height of your threshold is noticed and compared to the neighbors.
The government will supply your building with water and electricity if it is within the height limit, but the government uses utilities as a means of enforcing building heights. If a building taller than desired is constructed, the government would cut off all utilities and the building would be forced to become self sufficient. I can see that as almost being desirable, in that you get the height you want and you are free of the government's golden handcuffs. Government-subsidized utilities are cheap, though, a single-person household can run on 4 RMB (US 50 cents) for water and 25 RMB for electricity per month.
The government has recently changed the laws regarding eminent domain (what superpower hasn't?). Previously, the government was able to take land from anyone with a week's notice to use for any purpose. In the past few years law has changed to only allow the government to take land from residents for public projects and infrastructure. However, when tourism picked up in the Yangshuo region (oh, right, we were talking about China), the government realized it could take a cut of the profits made from the bamboo raft tours and made a new law that prohibited development along the Yulong River. Shortly thereafter, all of the existing cafes and guesthouses were given a 1-week notice prior to demolition.
In China, people would rather live in modern homes than older ones and don't place the same value on older structures as our culture does. Often an older building is demolished and a new identical building is constructed in its place.
Tourism is a driving force in the development of Yangshuo. When Ian arrived, Yangshuo was a sleepy village with a few cafes and mainly a tourist destination for those living in China. It first became popular with Chinese tourists who were fascinated with the influence of western backpackers in the area. For people who have trouble getting to Hong Kong, this is the next best thing. Because of the boom in tourism over the last 5 years, money has been 'pouring out of this area', and he means this in a good way, as in, there is so much money here that the city cannot contain it all. An area of several blocks has been demolished to make way for the construction of a new complex of commercial and hotel uses.
There is no strict building code and enforcement system in China like that of what you would find in the United States. It might be comparable to a remote and unincorporated area of some rural counties in the States. Permits for construction are not enforced. People just build what they like, sometimes with the help of an ex-architect friend like Ian who draws up plans to help order supplies and guide the actual construction.
Land ownership is fuzzy as well. The government owns the land, but in urban areas you get and hold the right to use the land. People don't pay property taxes on rural land. In rural areas, every 5 to 7 years the government divides up the land in a region and redistributes it to the local population. If the population in a town has changed, one might receive more or less land. If you are rich, being nice to the mayor might influence the results of the redistribution.
In China, building height is regarded as a status symbol. It's a matter of "keeping up with the Chans." Frequently you will see farm land with a 4-story building with only a finished ground floor. The upper floors would be left as an unfinished shell because the family could not afford to finish them, but wanted the status symbol of a taller building. Even the height of your threshold is noticed and compared to the neighbors.
The government will supply your building with water and electricity if it is within the height limit, but the government uses utilities as a means of enforcing building heights. If a building taller than desired is constructed, the government would cut off all utilities and the building would be forced to become self sufficient. I can see that as almost being desirable, in that you get the height you want and you are free of the government's golden handcuffs. Government-subsidized utilities are cheap, though, a single-person household can run on 4 RMB (US 50 cents) for water and 25 RMB for electricity per month.
The government has recently changed the laws regarding eminent domain (what superpower hasn't?). Previously, the government was able to take land from anyone with a week's notice to use for any purpose. In the past few years law has changed to only allow the government to take land from residents for public projects and infrastructure. However, when tourism picked up in the Yangshuo region (oh, right, we were talking about China), the government realized it could take a cut of the profits made from the bamboo raft tours and made a new law that prohibited development along the Yulong River. Shortly thereafter, all of the existing cafes and guesthouses were given a 1-week notice prior to demolition.
In China, people would rather live in modern homes than older ones and don't place the same value on older structures as our culture does. Often an older building is demolished and a new identical building is constructed in its place.
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