Walkability in China

[Qubert]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

I wonder why the Chinese seem to always want to destroy all things historical? Seems to be a vast lack of appreciation.

Communist ideology states that ethnic and cultural facets of a society represent a borgeouis ideal and are a rival to total worship and dependence on the state.

From the modern day CCP point of view, it seems to sway from embracing traditional Chinese culture as a lighting rod for nationalism to still viewing it as a potential source of civil society that must be crushed.

[muppet]

Don't forget that the Party is made up of 82 million individuals with 350 at the top tier, all with lobbying interests as any political entity behind closed doors. The hardliners will be battling out with the reformers who'll be battling with the economists who'll be battling the greens who'll be battling the nationalists etc etc. This is why the policies change, and regionally too.

One example is of course the most bourgeois symbol of the country, and the former glory -the Forbidden City. At the height of the Cultural Revolution when everything old was going up in flames, some party heads managed to get protection for the complex over the calls by others to flatten it. The same applied to the countless other great sites across the nation, from the Summer Palace to the Leshan Buddha to the Potala Palace, saved by local councillors and brave citizens. Even the Great Wall was at threat as locals then began to use the bricks from its ruins.

[vanman]

The only cities in China I've been to are Shanghai and Guangzhou and they both seemed reasonably walkable. Shanghai moreso. Both cities have very wide sidewalks, pedestrian only streets and extensive waterfront promenades. Both cities also have extensive and easy to use metro systems and I seemed to always easily find a station on foot when I needed to.

One thing I didn't like about Guangzhou is how it funnels pedestrians through tunnels at major intersections but at least you don't have to wait for lights to change to cross the street. Now that I think about it the pedestrian tunnels are the only thing I disliked about Singapore also.