MY CHINA DIARY II - World Association of Soil and Water ...

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Before reaching Beijing the train ran past a large plain growing corn, beans and other field crops, which has goodirrigation and attains high yields. I have traveled this route quite often, so the vast landscape of the North ChinaPlain is now quite familiar to me. If I pass this route in autumn, it is nice to see a lot of corn left to dry in thesunlight on the flat concrete roofs of houses along the rail line.The train pulled in at the Beijing West station (known to be the largest railway station in Asia) where I took a taxito the Jade Palace Hotel in the northern part of the city. This hotel was close to the meeting venue of the Bio- andEco-engineering conference, to be held the next day.From left: A high speed train of China – CHR = China High-speed Rail – while stopping at a station en route to Beijing; Fields growingcorn and other crops along the railway; A large corn field; Trees are grown along the railway and highway; Beijing West Station, thelargest train station in Asia; Jade Palace Hotel, my residence in Beijing this time.After checking in, I did not wait long before finding my way to the center of the city. The nearby train station ZhiChun Lu serves Line 13 (aboveground train) and connects with the Line 2 underground train. There, passengerscan transfer to the Line 1 underground train that traverses the city center. Coming to Beijing this time I found theyhave changed to new trains, to welcome the 29 th Olympic Games. To lessen the use of personal vehicles andreduce pollution, the city has encouraged its people to use public transport by reducing the fare of the whole trainsystem within Beijing to only 2 RMB, a real gift to the visitors!It took me almost one hour to reach a new Beijing theater, called the National Centre for the PerformingArts. The theater opened last year but it is so new that many people go there for sightseeing. I went in to find outif there was any performance that I could attend. Inside the half-egg-shaped dome I found that there was not onetheater but at least three. There was one on the east side, acting as a Concert Hall, one on the west side for dramaand a large one in the middle for opera. The three theaters were well separated from each other. There was noperformance in the Concert Hall, so I bought a ticket to see Merchant of Venice. Then I found that Aida was alsobeing performed in the Opera House on the same evening. I had never seen Aida before and had hoped to see it,notably the impressive Aida March. So such a chance disappeared and don’t know if it will come again.I admit that when I chose to see the Merchant of Venice it was ONLY to get to see inside the DramaticTheater. The performing artists belonged to an American company; they talked and sang in English, with Chinesesubtitles shown on both sides. It was full house today though the tickets were not cheap. I paid 380 RMB for myseat in a middle row! I believe some of the audience were not there to enjoy the play but rather to view theappearance of the theater. I noticed one Chinese family who decided to walk out only after a few minutes. Itseemed a pity that the more than 1,000 RMB they had paid for entering such a prestigious place did not providemuch return. The play lasted less than two hours, with one intermission. Then I walked around inside the wholedome, where they have arranged some theatrical exhibitions for visitors. These included how the present NationalCentre for the Performing Arts was planned and constructed, with the groundbreaking taking place early thiscentury. Before leaving, I bought a few CDs that were issued as a commemorative set of this great architecturalmarvel. They should make good presents for friends. See the performance programs of all theaters at the Center(in Chinese only) at www.chncpa.org.6
From left: Zhi Chun Lu train station serving Line 13 of the Beijing train system; New trains were introduced to replace the old ones on theoccasion of the 29 th Olympiad; In front of the National Centre for the Performing Arts; Posters showing some performances to take place inthe three theaters within this dome-shaped structure: Dramatic Theater, Opera House and Concert Hall; A couple taking a photo in frontof the Aida opera poster; Poster showing an old Chinese play – Jinzi.I admit that I enjoy western types of performing arts, especially opera. Though not equipped with lots of money,when traveling abroad I used to take the opportunity to visit theaters or opera houses of note. I saw Bizet’sCarmen at the Opera House in Paris with real horses galloping on stage; that was as early as 1967. Otherperformances I have seen include Madame Butterfly by Puccini at the Stockholm and Prague opera houses, withFidelio by Beethoven at Covent Garden in London, to name but a few.On the way back I had a chance to look around, while walking from the train station to the hotel. In fact, travelingin China is relatively safe, perhaps because of strict laws with severe punishment. But one should not always trustthe relatively calm situation. I was once held captive in a beautiful city of China. I was threatened and had to partwith some money just to regain my freedom. I hope to have a chance to write about this short episode later.July 14, 2008. Today the conference will start. The conference venue is just a few minutes away. The NationalCenter for International Research in LIAMA (Sino-French Laboratory for Computer Science, Automation, andApplied Mathematics) (or Institute of Automation) that belongs to the Chinese Academy of Sciences is on the 11 thand 12 th floors of a beautiful building (see below). While the room for our bio- and eco-engineering meeting is onthe 13 th floor (Chinese have no problem with number 13), the top level. This was the first time I would meet Dr.Alexia Stokes, so it was an exciting moment. Actually we had had a continued correspondence over the past 4years, since the 1 st meeting on eco-engineering in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 2004. We found we had a commoninterest in using plants to stabilize slopes, especially in non-agricultural areas, which is both cheaper and muchmore visually-attractive.Foreign delegates formed the majority of participants today, while Chinese colleagues were in small number. Thisis the opposite of what might be expected in Thailand. I had met a number of foreign delegates before, namelyAlex Watson from New Zealand and Doug Wimble from Australia. They attended the Bioengineering conferencein Manila in 1999, while I’d met Gernot Fiebiger from Austria at the Debris Flow conference in Taipei in Octoberlast year. Jean Poesen had attended the BORASSUS conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand early this year. Reunionwith friends made the friendships firmer and meeting new friends would make something new happen!7
Page 2 and 3: From left: View from the window of
Page 4 and 5: From left: Young Hong Xiuquan plowi
Page 8 and 9: From left: National Center for Inte
Page 10 and 11: In addition, there were some 30+ po
Page 12 and 13: From left: Large stone with the nam
Page 14 and 15: Doug Wimble, Geeta Shrestha Vaidya
Page 16 and 17: was a Friday, so most people have f
Page 18: From left: The main gate of the Bei

MY CHINA DIARY II - World Association of Soil and Water ...

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