So I am back from my vacation (my thanks to Drew McManus who kept an eye on the blog). This trip took me to China and Mongolia, both of which will provide content for a few days of discussion. Both countries have long and interesting cultures.
However, the most immediate and visible celebration of national culture I saw was in Korea’s Incheon Airport. Not only did they showcase the talent of their classical musicians as is common in many airports. (click on any image to get an expanded view)
They also had people wandering the terminals in traditional costume. I had seen people in costume coming out of a back room when we transited to China and assumed perhaps it was a special occasion. It wasn’t until I returned that I realized this was a regular event. There are a number of Korea Traditional Cultural Experience Centers throughout the terminal and the costumed people move between each one, gathering a fairly large following as you might imagine. They perform a short program and then pose for pictures.
Between these performances and the multiple cultural experience centers, it appeared to me that the Korean government is pretty invested in promoting its cultural assets. They are letting people who visit know what cultural resources are available and giving people like myself who are transiting reason to think about visiting in the future.
One thing I have enjoyed in China are some of their large, beautiful public parks. They also have some beautiful historic gardens wedged into the middle of their cities like Yuyuan Gardens in Shanghai and Prince Gong Mansion in Beijing, both of which I visited this trip.
Beijing is also the home of the 798 Art District, the site of former military factories which artists gentrified into Beijing’s version of Greenwich Village. The district has been frequently under threat of being closed down and redeveloped thanks to its geography but its prominence as a tourist attraction seems to be staving that off for the present.
An arts administrator I met while in Beijing complained that the district was becoming too commercial and the artists could no longer afford to live there. Welcome to the negative side of the market driven economy I told him.
I experienced a little of the commercialization myself during my visit. The last time I was in China, I learned about the 798 Arts District and a sculpture, The Wolf Is Coming. I was really interested in seeing the sculpture and asked my friend who had been to the district a few times before to take me.
However, this was what was in its place-
Now I wonder if she was mistaken about the location because this courtyard doesn’t look like the one in the picture of The Wolf Is Coming I linked to above. That said, there were a number of Transformers robots in this courtyard and in the windows of stores and galleries around the district.
I couldn’t take pictures in the galleries but here are a few other pictures from around the district.
This trip afforded us the opportunity to walk over to Macau which was generally a little too cheek to jowl living for my taste, but did have some wider, attractive plazas.
We just happened on the start of a parade that included all sorts of musicians, lion dancers, people bearing a long dragon on poles, characters from Journey to the West and other mythical figures I couldn’t identify. They also had hand drawn carts with little girls perched so precariously at top a small platform that the girls had to be supported by pole bearers walking alongside.
This entry is getting a little long so I think I will continue tomorrow with Mongolia and some reflections on the whole trip tomorrow.
However, while I am on the topic of precarious situations, I wanted to comment on an amusing, but seemingly ill advised hotel design trend. One of the hotels we stayed at in China offered an unlooked for artistic display of a sort–windows in the shower.
Yes, you are seeing correctly, the rooms offer some interesting view even with the shades closed. I thought maybe this was a trend in China but our hotel in Mongolia had the same features. I could understand if these were a romantic hotel, but both hotels were very much aimed at business travelers. Both hotels had blinds you could close, but the ones in Mongolia were inexplicably perforated which meant you could still see someone in shower unless the lights were off. (My room mate on I opted to warn each other when we going into the bathroom.)
