4 June 2010
I'm lucky! I live in a vibrant urban setting with wonderful environmental quality and excellent access to nature nearby. I work at one of the most beautiful designed and maintained university campuses anywhere.
Beijing is certainly full of life and energy. And the vitality is palpable on the Tsinghua University campus. But at the same time, there is a strange mixture of neatly manicured and untidy that, when combined with the air pollution, undermines this jewel of higher education.
During our brief visit, the air pollution in Beijing was not as horrible as when we last visited, in 2007. Then, I could not see my shadow on many apparently cloudfree days. Now, at least the shadows were in evidence. But the air pollution was still quite bad: constantly hazy, with visibility at about 1 km. For me, this kind of atmosphere creates a strong depressing overtone that weighs on my overall experience of a place.
However, there are a few special locations on the Tsinghua campus, and this post features photos from the best one I saw during my short stay. It is a beautifully landscaped small lake, about 100 m x 300 m. The trees, lotus plants, bordering rocks, and adjacent buildings all combine to create a perfect setting of tranquility. Wonderful!
No comments:
Post a Comment