experiencing china
DESCRIPTION
An account as presented by Mary Attard, of a visit to Beijing and Shanghai in August 2014 following an invitation to 3 artists from the China Culture Centre in Malta.TRANSCRIPT
Visiting Beijing and Shanghai
Aug/Sept 2014 Beihai Park,
Beijing
This tour was an invitation to 3 artists to visit China organised through the China Creation Programme of 2014. Mr Gu Hongxing, Director of the China Culture Centre in Malta organised the tour. The artists are Mary Attard and Wistin Baldacchino - both photographers - and Ray Axiaq, a painter. Another group of two other participants joined in during most of the tour. These were Anna Maria Gilson, an educational administrator and the journalist Fiona Vella.
From Left to right:
Fiona Vella Wistin Baldacchino Ray Axiaq Mary Attard Anna Maria Gilson
The People’s Republic of China is a sovereign state in East Asia and is the most populated country in the
world with 1.40 billion people
The Tour was in Beijing and Shanghai
Impressions covered will be: People, workers and lifestyles
Airports, transport, hotels and restaurants
Museums and Art galleries
Temples and gardens
Urban landscape and villages
First impressions were the size of the long haul aircraft and the vastness of
the airports
On the way to Istanbul
Beijing International airport
One of the busiest airports in the world with flights 0f around 120 destinations
Shanghai International airport
Occupying a 40-sqr-kilometre area, the airport is one of the world’s busiest
Transit airports
Istanbul Frankfurt
The Beijing guide welcomed us at the airport with a notice saying “Welcome Mary Attard and 2 people”...
...and after meeting the other group of two, we headed to our
hotel in a coach
Previously known as Peking, it is the capital city of the People’s Republic of China
is renowned for its palaces, temples, parks and gardens, tombs, walls and gates
has seven UNESCO Heritage Sites – the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, Zhoukoudian Great Wall and the Grand Canal
has more than double the population of London
Bike capital of the world
It is 21,196 Km long and begun in the
7thC BC as a means of protection from
intruders. Today just a tourist
attraction
Home to 24 emperors for 500 years since 1406
Inside are magnificent palaces, broad squares, fine pavilions and original gardens
Declared a World Heritage site in 1987
The whole complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 180 acres – and has 1000 rooms
Its design in all the details, reflects philosophical and religious principles, and above all symbolises the majesty of Imperial power
There are thousands of copper and iron vats at the City. These were always kept filled with water to douse any fires
A marble sundial symbolises that the emperor had the highest power to grant time to his citizens
The Beijing Confucians Temple was built in 1302.
There are many Confucians temples around China
Confucius was the greatest thinker and educationalist in China
Built in 1420
emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties made visits for annual ceremonies of prayers to Heaven for good harvest
in 1918 the temple was turned into a park and for the first time open to the public
declared as a World Heritage site in 1998
had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries
Heavenly Centre Stone symbolising the Nine Heavens. One’s voice is particularly resonant when speaking on the Stone
The Temple of Heaven is also used
as a national
park
is a copper-body and wire inlaid enamel
speciality of Beijing
has long history of hundreds of years
great reputation world wide
has brilliant colours, graceful in design
requires elaborate and complicated processes which include base-hammering, copper-strip inlay, soldering, enamel-filling, enamel-firing, surface polishing and gilding
described as a masterpiece of Chinese gardening art
built in the 11th C
opened to the public in 1925
occupies 175 acres with a lake covering half of the park
The locals use the park for stretching, relaxing and sports
hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences
each household usually consists of one room and a kitchen
fast disappearing to be replaced by blocks of flats
in spite of the austerity, they had a character and create a sense of community that is often missed when residents move to modern flats
A ‘show’ hutong consisting of mainly
a room and a kitchen. Toilets and
bathrooms shared in a separate common area in the middle of
the alley
Situated around Shichahai Lake
there are 120 bars and is a very lively
place
famous local pedestrianised
street for shopping,
snacking and night market
zzzzzzzz
Mums waiting to
pick up their kids
from school
The carving of a duck is a
speciality and an art form in
Beijing
It covers 720 acres, three quarters of which are water
Consists of natural and man made features in a harmonious manner
Declared a World Heritage site in 1998
This corridor
in the Summer Palace is 728m long and is the
longest wooden corridor in the world with 10,000
paintings all the way
The Bell and Drum Towers in the square – both bells and drums are sounded every New Year’s
Eve since recent times
is the largest city square in the world at 109 acres
holds a million people
Beijing opera is a traditional form of Chinese theatre and considered as one of the highest achievements of Chinese culture
It consists of a combination of song, spoken dialogue and codified action sequences
Quite a spectacular experience!
flanks the eastern side of Tiananmen Square
mission is to
educate about the history and arts of China
renovated in 2011 with 28 new halls
has a permanent collection of 1,050,000 items
covers past dynasties and starting from 1.7 million years ago
Gold mirror with gold and silver appliqué Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD)
Bronze water clock (1316) Model of Cotton Spinning Wheel (Yuan Dynasty)
In the hall of gifts from foreign
dignitaries there is a silver model of a
sailing b0at given by the then Prime
Minister of Malta, Dom Mintoff in 1972
gentle and mostly peaceful
spiritual (rather than religious) and health conscious
very disciplined
often, somewhat stressed and challenged due to the large population
have an innate dress sense that has a particular elegance
The Beijing
Hotel
The Shanghai Hotel
The crossing from Beijing to Shanghai
took just 5 hours with the bullet train at some
300Kms per hr
world's most populated city - over 24 million permanent inhabitants
0riginally a fishing village, Shanghai turned into a 21st C modern China in just 17 years
consists of Classical architecture, modern skyscrapers and traditional pagodas
world's most extensive network of urban
bus routes – with 1000 bus lines The Oriental Pearl Tower
With the Shanghai guide
On entering Shanghai sky high blocks greet you...
A feast for architecture lovers...
Beijing Olympic Stadium for the 2008 Olympics, known as Bird’s Nest and designed by
Ai Weiwei
second largest in China
Shanghai Stadium built in 1997
capacity of 80,000 spectators
third largest stadium in China
waterfront area in central Shanghai
overlooks the Pudong Park
most famous tourist destination in Shanghai
fine classical architecture surrounding the Bund was built in the 20s and 30s and these are listed as national historic heritage
Restaurant at the top of the Pearl TV Tower
In China, the practice of drinking tea is
considered to be an expression of personal
morality, education, social principles, and status - and choice of tea ware reflects this
Bamboo is used extensively and fences, ladders
and scaffolding are a few of such
examples
hundreds of years of history
traditional houses built on waterways
interesting folk customs
roofed corridors run along the bank of the river
In the water towns many traditional crafts support the inhabitants
built 400 years ago in the Ming Dynasty
formally opened to the public in 1961
considered the best
garden in southeast China
considered one of China's first world-class modern museums
established in 1952 and updated in 1996
has a collection of over 120,000
pieces, including bronze, ceramics, calligraphy, furniture, jades, ancient coins, paintings, seals, sculptures, minority art and foreign art
Wine vessel (13th – 11th C BC)
Drum Stand (early 6th C)
Wooden figurines found in a tomb in 1960
Qing furniture (1644-1911 AD)
Mongolian costume
has models of existing buildings and plans for future ones
provides history of Shanghai
Presentation by Mary Attard
Mary, Ray and Wistin thank Mr. Gu Hongxing of the China Cultural Centre in Malta and Mr. E. V. Borg, historian and art critic and the
Art Discussion Group (ADG) Chairman, for giving them the opportunity to experience such a colourful and awesome country
THANK YOU