When I first visited Beijing in January 2004, I remember being amazed by the grandeur and beauty of the Forbidden City, experiencing it on a very cold day with almost no-one there. Returning today, in late March, the queues to enter were long, but the Palace somehow swallowed them all up. It had lost nothing of its impressive beauty and splendour. As well as the sheer scale of the buildings and courtyards, much of its beauty lies in the detail of the paintings and carvings. It is the small hidden courtyards of the north-eastern corner where much of its special enchantment can be found. The Forbidden City is by far and away the most impressive building complex I have ever visited.
Category Archives: Photographs
First signs of Spring at Peking University
The blossom has just started opening around Weiming Lake on Peking University’s campus. It’s a beautiful place simply to wander around in the early evening before the sun sets and the temperature drops to around freezing.
Filed under China, Photographs, Universities
First impressions of Peking University campus
My first 48 hours at the Graduate School of Education (GSE) in Peking University (PKU) has provided a wealth of contrasting impressions. Above all, though, I am incredibly grateful to the hospitality and friendliness of the staff and students. Without them I would feel incredibly lost! My language skills are improving, but need to do so very much more rapidly!
My main impressions so far:
- The colours are every shade of grey and brown – it is early Spring. The blossom is only just beginning to come into flower, and the deciduous trees have yet to burst into leaf
- The campus itself is like a quiet oasis, amidst the noise and traffic of Beijing – with its West, South and East Gates, it is like a calm village within the city
- Many of the buildings are striking and new – I am delighted to have an office in the splendid new Graduate School of Education; but there are also interesting old buildings, particularly around Courtyards Nos.1-6
- Shops of all kinds, and seven different main restaurants are scattered throughout the southern part of the campus – and one can eat so many different styles of food (there’s even a restaurant serving pizza, although I have not sampled Chinese-Italian food yet)
- Delighted to find a cashpoint machine that takes my bank card – on arrival had been told that it probably would not work!
- Pedestrians and bicycles jostle for space, and silent electric scooters weave their way swiftly between them
- Had real difficulties with my e-mails on arrival, but it turned out to be a problem back at Royal Holloway! No-one told me that work was being done on the servers, and I had to change my settings! Mind you, Twitter and Facebook are blocked…
Tomorrow, I have my first two-hour lecture – am not sure whether the students or I am more nervous – guess I probably am! If only humans (and I in particular) could adapt more swiftly to crossing time zones – I so dislike being 8 hours adrift!
Filed under China, Photographs
Last day in Nerja – riding above Frigiliana
The second day of independent student projects once again saw staff serving as taxi drivers. However, it did also provide a brief moment for a participatory experience of local tourist provision as two of us explored Frigiliana on horseback. Much, much later the partying began.
Thanks to Don Thompson for organising another inspiring field course – and to all the students who made it so worth while.
Filed under Geography, Higher Education, Photographs
Day 5 – taxi service and the Río de la Miel rally
On the last two days of the field course, students work in groups on their own research projects exploring aspects of the geography of the Nerja region – ranging from studies of Quaternary deposits to the architectural identity of villages transformed by tourism. So, for much of the day I became a taxi driver, dropping off students measuring river morphology in the Chillar valley and others interviewing tourists and farmers in the picturesque village of Frigiliana. The day ended, though, with experiencing the unique rally environment of the upper Río de la Miel valley (see video), and then clambering up into the clouds to see the remains of the old fortress of Los Castillejos. That was before the night began!
Filed under Geography, Higher Education, Photographs
Andalucia Day 4 – tourism and argiculture in Frigiliana and Maro
The fourth day of our undergraduate field course based around Nerja saw us exploring the tensions between agriculture and tourist expansion in the villages of Maro and Frigiliana. It was interesting to see how much change has taken place over the last few years, with considerable expansion in the amount of holiday accommodation, accompanied by some evidence of agricultural decline. Yet, in part, the success of tourism is based very much on the landscapes created by a vibrant agricultural sector.
Filed under Higher Education, Photographs
Andalucia Field Course Day 3 – Valle Tropical
The third day of our undergraduate field course in Andalucia took us to the villages of Otivar and Jete in the Valle Tropical to the north of Almunécar. It provided a vivid reminder that geography is about all of the senses:
- sights: the mountains, valleys, diversity of crops (from chirimoyas and bananas to vines and beans), tourist apartments, hang gliders…
- sounds: birds, goats, dogs, children at school, cars driving along the motorway cutting across the valley…
- tastes: the local wine, solomillo de cerdo (in the great Buena Vista restaurant in Otivar), asparagus in vegetable broth with bits of ham
- smells: wild lavender and fennel; burning rubbish…
- touch: steering wheels, the roughness of the schist and avocado skins
Thanks Mike and Alex
Filed under Higher Education, Photographs, Restaurants
Day 2 Nerja
The second day of our urban exploration of Nerja led by Alasdair Pinkerton and Sara Fregonese – traditional architectures, urban origins, and cultural understandings of place…
Filed under Higher Education, Photographs
Experiencing Nerja – Day 1
The Geography Department at Royal Holloway, University of London, has been taking first year students to the Andalucian town of Nerja and its surroundings since the late 1990s. Below are just a few photos from the first day exemplifying
- that geography is about understanding the human interactions with the physical environment that shape places, and
- field trips should be about working hard and playing hard!
Filed under Higher Education, Photographs
Leaving the best until last – Day 4 at ICTD2010
Great to hear how many people enjoyed the party last night – and thanks once again to Ugo and Fftang! Fftang! I’m amazed how many people were fit for action this morning – but probably just as well that we were starting at 09.00 rather than 08.00!
An amazing set of discussions and workshops – some of the highlights in the pictures below.
Thanks once again to everyone who came to ICTD2010 and helped make it so valuable a place to explore our shared interests in ICT4D!
Filed under ICT4D, ictd2010, Photographs
Tim Unwin's Blog 