Beijing, days 5 & 6

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Day 5
6/18/10
Got off to a late start because we were watching the NBA finals, game 7 (missed the second half). I have to make an apology to Ron Artest, I've been bugging on him this entire season for taking bad shots and gambling on defense, but I will say thay he delivered when it mattered in this series and the lakers might not have won it without him helping out on virtually everyone on the celtics, especially paul pierce and ray allen. A good series, congrats to the Lakers!

A quick visit to the Beijing CCTV headquarters. Evidently the adjacent cultural center, a part of the CCTV campus in the central business district, burnt down because of fireworks during the chinese holidays in 2008 or 2009, so the entire area was blocked off for reconstruction. took a couple of photos, but it was a shame we couldn't get closer. the building itself is huge, even from two kilometers away. amazing to think that the structural engineers at ARUP could have even thought about doing that sort of thing.

Beijing Olympic Park in two words: effing huge. They really put a lot of time and effort into the entire area, and the properties that they had to evict were certainly numerous. I couldn't imagine the sort of development going up due to property owners, land speculation and other policy gauntlets one would have to go through. With China, the 2500 x 1000 meter area alotted for the main park, is OWNED by the Chinese government (ditto for like, the rest of China).

The birds nest and Natatorium were fantastic structures to see, and better understand how they work structurally. ARUP is very much a big presence here in China, I persume, as they also were cotnracted to configure the strucutral logic of the National stadium which has logical principles in it's dynamic form. I find it ironic that Ai Wei Wei, whose Artist father was sent to a labor camp and whose name was previously soiled by the government because of their radical ideals in the 60's and 70's, was the artistic consultant on mediaitng Chinese culture in the design.

Equally interesting was the sunken garden and dragon's tail lake development to the northwest of the park, part of the Olympic Green. Pics to come.

And I got to see Danielle and Shannon again! studiomates and friends, cool to hang out again... and talk in english. I don't know when I might see either of them again, since both are or are looking to work in China in the near future. Perhaps it's in my cards too, though after my language barrier experience with taxi cabs in the city, I might have to study up some chinese first.

Day 6
A trip to Qinhuangdao, a coastal industrial city 2 hours from beijing via train. My mom and I went to Tanghe River Park, a part of a 10 km stretch of river that is currently in the process of being redeveloped as a greenway project to enhance the city's image during and after their participation in the Olympics (they hosted the Soccer Preliminaries).

Named after Emperor Qin ShiHuangdi, who sought immortality on a nearby island in the region, the city is a big port, most importantly in the transactions of Coal. The development on the city has led to very sophisticated master plans and projects by respected design firms, and a 1.5 km portion of the park is what interested me first. Designed by Turenscape LArchitects and nicknamed "The Red Ribbon", this portion of the park features a river wetland and a winding steel sculpture at knee height, which provides seating, environmental interperetation, lighting and planting space. It was the ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects) honor award winner of 2008 and selected by readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine as one of the seven new wonders of the architectural world (if you believe wikipedia). It was a fascinating project to see, and certainly was one of the least busiest places we've visited, which made for a percieved expansion of time, just watching the river and the trees and grasses blow in the wind on a hot humid day. In fact, it is probably because nobody knew where it was that we had such a great experience: the taxi driver didn't know about the red ribbon, so he dropped us off at the entrace 2 miles away. the throng of fishermen and gardeners in the park didn't know either, so we kept walking. Along the way we met a kayaker who pulled a floating dead fish from the water for "dinner". He mentioned that it was hidden in the trees. It was a journey worth it's effort.

Then we went to the Dove Nest Park, in nearby Beidahe, which is part of a waterfront conservation development effort along nearly 6 miles of the yellow sea shoreline. The coastal condition of the area where the Beidaihe River runs to the sea is a tidal marsh, which we visited at low tide. The expanse of flat landscape was breathtaking, and a cosntructed tidal conservatory that retains high-tide water in a pool serves as a wildlife and bird refuge, something important considering that 50% of China's wetlands have dissapeared in the last few decades, and 40% of the remaining ones are polluted. seeing the natural treasures of China and it's developments threatening them, QinHuangdao was a great bright spot for my perceptions that the government was premitting GDP growth at the expense of the environment. It's also quite scary to think that the government holds such sway that policy decisions are quickly initiated, versus the beauracracy and paperwork that one must rattle around in order to get money to do anything.

One more day in Beijing, probably going to hang out and shop or w/e. Be in Shanghai tomorrow.