Experiencing China

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