Inspirational ideas from the 2005 GA Tour
“Journey to the West”
Sarah Maude and Adam Nichols, tour leaders.

organised by the International Working
Group (International Committee)
In association with Ian Dickson Travel Service and
The Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with
Foreign Countries

“The Journey to the West” GA Tour 2005

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1949 Communist State founded
1949-78 Communism/Maoism
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Communes – collective farming, rural poverty
Work units, free housing, education and health care
Job for life
Iron Rice Bowl
Hukou system (household registration)
Cultural revolution
Suppression of free speech and beliefs
Restricted movement
Limited contact with the rest of the world
Slow, if any, change in the quality of life

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Revolutionary goals redefined
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“To get rich is glorious”
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“Socialism with Chinese characteristics”

Enterprise and the profit motive encouraged
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Responsibility system in agriculture
Rural enterprises
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Rise of free markets
Opening up to the outside world, economically and culturally
Export led growth

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Inward investment encouraged
Special Economic Zones
Overseas Chinese renewed their links
Increasing affluence and quality of life
One child policy

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Rising prosperity for many
Increase in private ownership, including housing.
Ballooning trade surplus
China joins WTO December 2001

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Huge city growth
Decline of the work unit and associated “social security” safety net
Decline of State Owned Enterprises
Hukou system weakened

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Migration for work rising fast,
Relaxation of restrictions – cultural, religious
Access to foreign media, fashion, the internet etc
Increasing internal and external tourism

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Some relaxation of the “One child policy”
Rising concern for the environment?
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Province Pop.
Shaanxi 36m
Gansu 25m
Qinghai 5.8m
Xinjiang
China
18m
1,3b
% rural / urban rural / urban p.a. growth income (RMB)
% ethnic minorities
67 / 33
76 / 24
64 / 36
1,186 / 4,891
1,400 / 4,890
1,490 / 5,170
1,618 / 5,817
0.71%
1.00%
1.45%
(2.5%)
1.28%
0.6
8.3
44
61.4
(>90% in oases)
64 / 36
Beijing 12m
Shanghai 17.7m
3,441 / 8,493 c. 2.5%
3m MWs?
4,138 / 8,864 <1%
(4.4mMW)
0.4

China’s national bird; the crane

Olympic Village site, July 04

Migrant workers: driving force of urban / industrial growth

An increasingly globalised economy and cosmopolitan capital Picture taken inside the Palace Museum!

1999 Strategy to narrow disparities in levels of income and development between coastal and western provinces.
Government Policy set out in 10 th and 11 th 5 year “plans”

10 th plan 2000-2005 emphasised..
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Infrastructure
Attracting investment
Environmental protection
Attracting labour skills
Linking coastal provinces to western ones.

th
• sustainability rather than just growth rate,
• spreading the prosperity to bring more balanced development
• Serving the people to improve the quality of life
• Continuing support for Centre and West;
• revitalisation of the NE

Xi’An – Shaanxi’s provincial capital

Only a short drive to the north of Xi’An

Farmers’ cave houses in loess

This is a kang, a family bed heated in winter by a fire burning underneath. This is inside the cave house.

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Shaanxi Province development priorities
1. Agricultural development
2. Afforestation
3. Technological renovation of cotton textile mills and printing and dyeing
4. Transport infrastructure
5. Coal processing technology
6. Development of coal-bed gas, copper and natural gas reserves
7. Manufacturing of business IT equipment
8. Development of electronic components industry
9. Production of herbal medicines
10. Designing and manufacturing of civilian aircraft (in government partnership)
11. Tourism

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Gansu Province development priorities
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1. Agricultural processing & storage
2. Afforestation
3. Development of a quality wine industry
4. Planned development & use of water resources
5. Modernisation of woollen fabric industry
6. Transport infrastructure
7. Production of ultra-high output graphite electrodes and carbon products
8. Production of natural gas chemicals
9. Manufacturing of drilling machines and oil field equipment
10. Electronic components
11 Tourism

Deeply dissected loess in Gansu

Sensational sandstone scenery in Gansu

The new Xining to Lanzhou road along the
Huang He valley

Rolling mill near Lanzhou

Evidence of closure of state-owned enterprises

Lanzhou

A copper mine

An ancient way of conveying agricultural produce by raft down the Yellow River
(Hwang He) is now a tourist thrill

This group has used their inflated sheep hide raft to “get away from it all” on a small island in mid-stream

HEP generation

Labour intensive farming in the Huang He valley

Qinghai Province development priorities
1. Agricultural processing and storage
2. Afforestation
3. Development & conservation of water resources
4. Transport infrastructure
5. Exploitation, smelting and processing of copper, aluminium, zinc ore & potassium reserves
6. Development of salt lake resources an related products
7. Production of new types of building materials
8. Cultivation and processing of traditional Chinese and
Tibetan medicinal herbs
9. Development of tourism

The Qinghai – Tibet plateau

Modern salt production in the Qaidam basin

Afforestation bordering a transport artery

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region development priorities
1. Agricultural processing
2. Afforestation
3. Cultivation and processing of high-quality tomatoes
4. Cultivation of high-quality grapes and wine making
5. Rational development, utilisation and conservation of water resources
6. Transport infrastructure
7. Development of cotton fabric production
8. Construction of wind and solar power plants
9. Development of mineral resources
10. Tourism

Development of the tourist industry

Dune buggies for the “desert experience”

Hotel development at the foot of the Tian Shan mountains

Kazakh yurts in their Tian Shan summer pastures

Taking a cure

The geographical centre of mainland Asia

Grassland is easily degraded by overgrazing

Nothing is wasted!

Part of Xinjiang’s trade with Kazakhstan
Tomatoes produced on a huge state farm near Urumqi

Vineyards and driers in the Turfan depression
Most are table grapes or dried as raisins but value is added by turning it into wine

The grape harvest awaiting collection

Afforestation for dune stabilisation by an oasis

Prospecting for minerals in Gobi desert

Core-sampling in the desert

Oil production in Turfan

As seen on the VCD!

Province Water supply quantity/10 8 m 3 /a
Surface Underground Others Total
Water use quantity/10 8 m 3 /a
Agriculture Industry Daily life Total
Shaanxi 44.9
35.4
0.2
80.5
57.8
13.2
9.4
80.4
Gansu 95.2
Qinghai 23.2
24.7
0.2
120.1
96.5
16.7
6.7
119.9
3.9
0.0
27.1
21.5
3.5
2.1
27.1
Xinjiang 410.7
45.1
0.2
455.9
429.5
10.2
8.3
448.0

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Glaciers in Qinghai/Tibet are in rapid retreat

The headwaters of the Yantze whose discharge is in decline

Some agricultural expansion schemes have been ecological and economic disasters

Storms of unusual severity caused flash floods

Roads blocked by sheet wash debris

Where’s our grass gone?

Increasing public awareness of resource / environmental issues……..

……. may be overstated!

Xinjiang’s capital city: Urumqi in 1993

Urumqi 2005

The Uighur, Khazak and Uzbek people are Moslem

An Urumqi market

Ethnic diversity of the Language College staff

Julian & Sarah deliver an instant lecture on tourism geography. No lesson plan, no shared objectives, no formative assessment.
BUT
BRILLIANT!

The Xinjiang Normal University Geography Department specialises in the study of oases

 GEOSPACE/USGS 2006, Source ESA-School Atlas

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Economy
GDP grew 85% between 1990 and 2001
Huge rise in the proportion of tertiary activities
Now major high-tech centre
Private business contribution to GDP rose from 18% in 1995 to 32% in 2002
Construction – “a frenzy”

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Way of life 24 / 7 city
Social and cultural attitudes
Traffic
180% rise in vehicles 1996-2001
Environmental improvement
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Striving to be the premier city and economic centre of East Asia.

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British plastic recyclers pay c. £55 per ton
Chinese companies are offering £120 per ton
At that price, British recyclers cannot make a profit. Some recycling factories have actually closed down
A 26 ton container costs £500 to send to
China.
Should containers return to China empty or full?