2 years in southwest China
unexpected observations, unusual conclusions, so lucky to be Canadian
Over the nearly 2 years spent in this region, I have come to some conclusions about China's environmental design future.
First, is the apparent disregard for the impact of one's own actions on others. Before arriving in the most populous country (see image right - enough people to reclaim every brick in a multi-story building) on Earth, I hypothesized that with so many people living so densely, the Chinese must be culturally attune to dealing with large crowds effectively. To my surprise the exact opposite is true! After being nearly spit on and experiencing people and cars stopping really wherever they please completely unaware of anyone around them, I have only to say that people here really do not think about one another. If that is fact, then how on Earth can one expect people to stop and think about their environmental impacts!One visit to a bank or for that matter nearly any cashier lineup and the reality is forcefully evident. And the pattern of "fending for yourself" is characteristic of the larger flow of society. Although I'm sure many Chinese would suggest helping a person (or for that matter animal/plant whatever) in need, they would finish the sentence with the implied conclusion that it must be somehow their (it's) fault and not their or "the government's" responsibility.
Second, the cultural acceptance of the "party line" is so unbelievable for any country at the beginning of the 21st century (only further illustrating the absolute closure and disconnect with the rest of the world until recently). This has translated (see image right of cookie wrapper - translation is not a strong point but perhaps honesty and realization of the changing modern world that is tilting manufacturing towards China is?) into a fantastic billion strong conglomeration of energy and work to build a modern country. Ironically, it may also one day be called upon to "fix" the many environmental problems that are being created in the first wave of development. Likewise, it cannot be ignored that the "development" may actually produce net positive results in population control and environmental destruction...the latter is still unclear.In conclusion, I have confidence that although there appear to be some significant cultural and behavioural hurdles to overcome, the government (if intact after all of this) may have remarkably more control and power over the people of this vast country that any other western counterpart and thus may be better prepared to deal with environmental degradation than many other parts of the world.
Northern Yunnan
a trekker's paradise - dam it though!
On two different occasions (2 National May Holidays), I had the fortune of travelling by train, bus to northern Yunnan province. And both times, I was blown away by the open space and undeveloped wilderness. It seemed impossible that any space could be left in China, but the eastern tail of the Himalayas has remained a formidable barrier to development thus far. On long bus rides north to ZhongDian, my eyes followed numerous ridgelines and watersheds that could easily be traversed as the treeline is relatively low or sparse (rainshadow) and the snowlevel is high enough at least in May.
The second visit to this region (2005), did reveal the coming storm however. What only a year earlier were dangerous but entertaining roads that followed topography often in steep river valleys had been blasted to make way for high level mountain roads and numerous dams. The pristine mountain sides scarred only by herding trails was quickly being carved up by construction roads. Unfortunately, the geology and steep terrain is also leading to excessive erosion of these new routes. Although the view is incredible being up on top as opposed to in the valley, sadly I think ZhongDian, once an outpost will soon become a dense tourist denizen similar to LiJiang to the south.
My goal for my second visit to ZhongDian was to touch some snow (Canadians need that fix every so often eh!) and so I decided to spend some time up in the snowpeaks surrounding ZhongDian to the west. I also hoped that I could get a glimpse into the next valley. It was a great 3 days and I finally got to test out my Chinese made tent, which effectively repelled rain, snow, and frost. While walking high up, I met a variety of Chinese tourists being guided on foot. What a pleasant site to see locals enjoying their own nature.
I wrapped up my short walk with a meeting of a herding Tibetan family. I offered them my cheese (they thought was really odd tasting) and a few apples. They passed on the banana chips. We ended up in their Tibetan Home made of 50cm diameter timber, sod thermal mass walls and facing southeast to capture some passive solar heat. I was offered some yak yogurt which was in no way pasteurized which lead to 2 weeks of diahorrea (I'm convinced that was it). I also ate pancakes and drank yak tea. The idea was to put ground buckwheat in your mouth (incredible when you're dehydrated) and then drink the tea. An experience.
I showed them my digital camera which from their reaction I am pretty sure they had never seen before. Watching their reaction, I was reminded about how the act of looking at yourself has changed our culture...
Here's hoping the barriers of the Himalayas north of ZhongDian win the day!
(I hope to be back in 2006 to walk a significant portion of this region)
Master's students course - Industrial Water Pollution Control
preparing a nation to go from 20% water treatment to 100%?
More to come...still living it and watching.
