China

【中国国家地理】塔吉克斯坦：群山与国界的夹缝之中

My article in Chinese National Geography, edition October 2015. This is a special edition focusing on China’s grand project: One Belt One Road, a.k.a. the “New Silk Road”, with some focus articles from the Silk Road countries, especially in Central Asia. In this edition, I have contributed two articles: Tajikistan and Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor. 塔吉克斯坦被称作中亚的高山之国，它近一半的国土位于帕米尔高原。其实塔吉克族并非是自古生活在山地的民族，面对如今的国家版图状况，不少塔吉克人心中有难言的苦衷。来自印度尼西亚的作者奥古斯汀是一名“中亚通”，他对塔吉克斯坦的考察和采访，能够加深我们对这个国家的认识。撰文Agustinus Wibowo［印尼］摄影刘辉等翻译王飞宇令塔吉克人自豪的两座古城，如今却位于乌兹别克斯坦的境内 [read more]

October 20, 2015 // 0 Comments

The Palace of Illusions

When drawing a picture about memory of the past, we tend to have only two alternatives. Either we amplify good memories and minimize the bad ones, or the other way round. When the nostalgia is about history, this can be dangerous, as the history may turn to an illusion, no matter how real the events are. The incidence of nostalgia may bring you to homesickness. American physicians in nineteenth century even pointed out that acute nostalgia led to “mental dejection”, “cerebral derangement” and sometimes even death. In Indonesia, the so-called history is never so long ago. Some people say, Indonesians have such short memories as they suffer from “history amnesia”. With most of its population are less than 30 years old, majority people did not really experience the whole history of the Republic, from the Independence struggle era (1940s), Sukarno’s Old Order (1950s), the chaos before the arrival of Suharto’s New Order (1960s), and the never ending period of [read more]

December 15, 2013 // 7 Comments

Eyes of Non-travelers: The Socialism Paradise of Beijing

What if the air of the 21st century Beijing still covered by the bravado of Cultural Revolution and the 2008 Olympic host city become a Maoist paradise? You may see the extraterrestrial architecture of China Central Television building worshipped by thousands of comrades chanting rouge slogans marching down the road. Or office workers work happily with their desktop computers, along with smiling cleaning staffer, and surrounded a parade of curious working class visitors with their happy faces and red flags. All of this imagination is portrayed in several paintings made by North Korean propaganda artists. The idea and effort of this project came from Beijing-based British expat duo, one of which runs the travel company specializing in trips to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, known better as North Korea). The duo showed some daily life photos of Beijing to the artists from the hermit kingdom, and invited them to visualize the life of the modern city they have never [read more]

December 14, 2013 // 0 Comments

安徽：西递宏村的沧海桑田

他们的祖先是成功的商人。徽商创造的传奇广为流传，谱写了中国经济史上的一段佳话。历史上，徽商所经历的黄金时期，约在唐宋年间。当时的徽商从古徽州出发，其经商路线不仅遍布全中国，还曾至抵东南亚，当然也包括今天的印度尼西亚。在中国流传着这样一句话，“没有徽商，市不成市。”由此足见徽商在中国经济史上举足轻重的地位。弹指一挥间，五百年也好似匆匆而过。坐落在黄山市南部的西递、宏村是祖辈留给后人的珍贵遗产。2000年，这两个村被联合国教科文组织列入《世界文化遗产名录》。自此，徽商的历史成就不再仅仅是当地居民的骄傲，也成为世界历史遗产中独具特色的一部分。 [read more]

November 11, 2011 // 3 Comments

安徽黄山：光阴荏苒数百年——假如徐霞客重游黄山

人问：“游历四海山川，何处最奇？” 徐霞客答曰：“渤海内外无如徽之黄山，登黄山天下无山，观止矣！” 徐霞客，是中国明代的一位著名的旅行家，他曾经两度徒步游览位于今安徽省南部的黄山。在他的印象中，黄山是中国乃至世界上最美的山。后人将其发自肺腑的黄山感言表述为：“五岳归来不看山，黄山归来不看岳。” [read more]

November 10, 2011 // 4 Comments

安徽：当旅游与历史共舞

尽管山野像是盖着厚厚的白毯子，太阳也隐藏在大雾弥漫的山中不曾露面，但我们在马仁奇峰的一天，却从清晨那一抹绚丽的“红霞”开始…… 当我们一行人走入古朴的山门，进入坐落在山麓的“红色收藏馆”，马仁奇峰的“红色”便跃然眼前——“心中的太阳永不落”，几个烫金大字嵌在正红色的背景墙上，让人心中油然升起一种肃穆的情绪。在这所纪念馆里，成百上千块形状、设计各异的毛主席像章，规整地陈列在墙上的玻璃镜框或是展柜里。从最小的衬衫徽章，到碗口大、乃至锅沿儿宽的大型纪念章，可谓应有尽有，用“壮观”来形容，绝不为过。 [read more]

November 9, 2011 // 3 Comments

安徽合肥：光辉的昨天,今天的事业

安徽：光辉的昨天,今天的事业仿佛难以冲破密密层层的乌云，飞机在合肥上空盘旋了许久。终于，我们拨开浓得化不开的雾霭，在冷雨中降落在合肥机场。据说，每逢十一月，雨雾天气是合肥的常态，我便裹紧了厚厚的外套。大巴在街道上飞驰，不多久，便载着我们驶入了合肥政务新区——一个标志这座省府城市已达到国际标准的城市新区。 [read more]

November 8, 2011 // 6 Comments