Closing thoughts from Susan

May 24th, 2009

Closing thoughts from Susan

My impressions about the state of environmental awareness in China suggest a picture that’s not quite what I expected. People do value the environment and seek out opportunities to spend time in nature — this was reflected in stories in the airline in-flight magazine, celebrating China’s natural scenery, and in the nature tourism that we saw. But nature as unmediated by humans, the wilderness that we celebrate in the West, may be a more foreign concept and even (according to some of our Chinese colleagues) a frightening one. Here is a photo of a plastic tree that was in the Kunming flower market; we also saw nature enhanced by neon, and in other ways a product of human constructions.

IMG_2012 IMG_0498

What we did observe was a very high level of official concern about practices that could harm the environment —     more so, I would say, than in the U.S. This list of green practices from the Chengdu hotel is very extensive! Every (English-language) newspaper that we saw had articles and editorials relating to environmental concerns. The people we spoke with confirmed that it was a default priority. They are all aware that China has a large population and environmental resources that are threatened or limited. It’s not about an altruistic (or ecocentric) love of nature but about survival as a country.

IMG_0456

IMG_0606

IMG_0694

This national priority does not necessarily translate to the level of individual awareness or empowerment, which may be one reason that official policies may be subverted at the local level. And opportunities for individuals, particularly children, to connect with nature in the city seem limited. So can a powerful central government prescribe not just behavior but values? And is that necessary?

IMG_0648

IMG_0513

One Response to “Closing thoughts from Susan”

  1. Mark Wilsonon 25 May 2009 at 3:42 pm

    Your summary shows the value of these trips for gathering information and impressions which would be impossible to obtain without actually visiting. The observation of “enhanced nature” is an interesting one. I knew something was different when I saw in one of your images of the exquisite Stone Forest (IMG_3253) a slogan painted on the rocks! On the other end of the spectrum, to protect some of our American natural treasures for the American people, we’ve made it impossible for most people to get to them. Not that I’m complaining, but it does show the range of well-meaning attempts to manage nature.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Leave a Reply