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Feature

Student Jamboree in China

Tasnuva Nusrat Nupur

The 12th Asian Congress of Architects (ARCASIA) was held this year in Beijing from the 17th to the 22nd of September. Organised by the Tsinghua University of China, this gala event attracted architects and students from Bangladesh, India, China, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. The event mainly consisted of seminars and the student jamboree. Institute of Architects, Bangladesh (IAB) selected two student delegates to represent IAB at ARCASIA, Mahtab from Khulna University and myself from BRAC University. Altogether, there were 100 students from Bangladesh who participated in the ARCASIA this year, the largest turnout compared to the other countries.

We arrived at Beijing at noon to be greeted Ghu, a congress volunteer. He was to be our guide for our whole trip in Beijing. While leaving the airport, the first thing that struck me was the street. It was so clean. The weather was similar to the weather in Bangladesh. We found a shuttle bus waiting for us to take to our destination. The glimpse of Beijing city from my window was spectacular and the excitement that was accumulating inside me was just enormous.

It was obvious that the whole city was preparing for the Olympics in 2008. There were posters everywhere and new structures were being made for the special event. Our guide Ghu could not communicate with us in English and we didn't know how to communicate in Chinese, and the problem of communicating with the Chinese people persisted throughout our trip. After an hour and a half, we arrived at our destined hotel Xindadu. The accommodation for the students was done in the Xindadu hostel.

Our first activity the next morning was to visit the Great Wall of China. We were accompanied by the Pakistani students on this expedition. The Great Wall was originally built as a defensive fortification by the three states. The Great Wall went through constant extensions and repairs in later dynasties. In fact, it began as independent walls for different states when it was first built, and did not become the "Great" wall until the Qin Dynasty.

A visit to the Great Wall is like a backward tour through history; it brings tourists great excitement in each step of the wall. Climbing the steps of the great wall needed a lot of energy and I was glad that I had a huge breakfast in the morning.

Though some of my friends got really tired, the overwhelming surrounding kept me going. The scariest part was climbing down as it was very steep and the descent took us a long time.

We later went for some authentic Chinese food instead of KFC or McDonalds. But I could not relish the food because I had a hard time dealing with the chopsticks. I finally learnt how to use it and now try to practice with it regularly. We went to a temple after lunch and concluded the day roaming around the city. The fun part was the after dinner adda with my friends in the hotel lobby.

The next day was my favorite one because I got to visit the Forbidden City. Lying at the centre of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong, in Chinese, was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square. It is the world's largest palace complex. The Outer Court is where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. Since yellow is the symbol of the royal family, it is the dominant colour in the Forbidden City. Roofs are built with yellow glazed tiles; decorations in the palace are painted yellow; even the bricks on the ground are made yellow through a special process. Later in the afternoon we attended the lecture of K. Yeang held in FLTRP International Convention Centre.

As student delegates from Bangladesh, the next day Mahtab, and I was to present the contemporary works of Dhaka city. The whole night I prepared the presentation with the help of my senior friend. The next day came too early and there I was in the seminar hall presenting the works of our Bangladeshi architects. In the evening we had a cultural programme held in the summer palace. Every country participating in the ARCASIA had to perform something and we performed a traditional dance with the song “Ami tak dhum tak dhum bajai Bangladesh er dhol”. Guess what! We won the first prize along with China.

On our last night in Beijing, we headed for Shanghai by train. One of our friends got lost in the station. We were all worried that we had left her behind but later found out that she was picked up by our teacher. Our teacher didn't disclose it at first for the fun of to. We visited two buildings (Jin Mao building and TV Station) in shanghai but the best part was the river cruise. At night the city glittered with lights from every corner to dazzle your eyes.

Finally our trip ended in Hong Kong where I got to see the buildings that I had only read about and seen in books. I was completely overwhelmed. I saw HSBC bank and I.M.Pie building. We spent the whole night at the harbor and got back to the hotel at the break of dawn. That morning was to be our last stay in Hong Kong. We started the day by visiting the peak from where we could get the view of the whole city. We also visited the Hong Kong University and on our way back, saw the famous movie star Jackie Chan's house.

Finally the time came when the whole trip came to an end and we started our journey back from Hong Kong to Bangladesh. During this trip, I made a lot of friends and have a lot of wonderful memories that will stay with me.

(The writer is a student of BRAC University)