Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Sense or nonsense? This year the UK will export to China 200,000 tons of… Plastic waste What’s going on? China: spectacular diversity and change. Inspirational ideas from the 2005 GA Tour “Journey to the West” Sarah Maude and Adam Nichols, tour leaders. Geographical Association Study Tour 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 Change 1949 Communist State founded 1949-78 Communism/Maoism 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 Deng Xiaoping Era Revolutionary goals redefined “To get rich is glorious” “Socialism with Chinese characteristics” Deng and reform 1978-97 Enterprise and the profit motive encouraged Responsibility system in agriculture Rural enterprises Rise of free markets Opening up to the outside world, economically and culturally Export led growth Deng and reform 1978-97 Inward investment encouraged Special Economic Zones Overseas Chinese renewed their links Increasing affluence and quality of life One child policy The New Millennium Rising prosperity for many Increase in private ownership, including housing. Ballooning trade surplus China joins WTO December 2001 The New Millennium Huge city growth Decline of the work unit and associated “social security” safety net Decline of State Owned Enterprises Hukou system weakened The New Millennium Migration for work rising fast, Relaxation of restrictions – cultural, religious Access to foreign media, fashion, the internet etc Increasing internal and external tourism The New Millennium Some relaxation of the “One child policy” Rising concern for the environment? Most Chinese still live in rural poverty Province Pop. % rural / urban rural / urban income (RMB) p.a. % ethnic growth minorities Shaanxi 36m 67 / 33 1,186 / 4,891 0.71% 0.6 Gansu 25m 76 / 24 1,400 / 4,890 1.00% 8.3 Qinghai 5.8m 64 / 36 1,490 / 5,170 1.45% (2.5%) 44 Xinjiang 18m (>90% in oases) 1,618 / 5,817 1.28% China 1,3b 64 / 36 Beijing 12m 3,441 / 8,493 c. 2.5% 3m MWs? 17.7m 4,138 / 8,864 <1% Shanghai (4.4mMW) 61.4 0.4 Beijing 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! “Go West” 1999 Strategy to narrow disparities in levels of income and development between coastal and western provinces. Government Policy set out in 10th and 11th 5 year “plans” “Go West” 10th plan 2000-2005 emphasised.. Infrastructure Attracting investment Environmental protection Attracting labour skills Linking coastal provinces to western ones. 11th 5 year plan 2006-11 • Change of emphasis – • 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 Loess plateau 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. 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 High Tech & high value farming Xiwei Garden City, near Xi’an Gansu Province development priorities 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/108 m3/a Surface Underground Others Total Water use quantity/108m3/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 24.7 0.2 120.1 96.5 16.7 6.7 119.9 Qinghai 23.2 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 For more information on water resources, see separate file entitled Water resource constraints on sustainable development in North West China 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 Shanghai/Pudong 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” Shanghai/Pudong Way of life 24 / 7 city Social and cultural attitudes Traffic 180% rise in vehicles 1996-2001 Environmental improvement Striving to be the premier city and economic centre of East Asia. The Bund 1990 Shanghai 2005 Pudong THE PLASTIC BOTTLE CONUNDRUM 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?