GEOG30007 China Field Class / GEOG90007 China Field Class PG

The subject is designed to develop students’ interests in Asia, in China in particular, and in the interactions between society, economy, government, and the environment.

This subject consists of a two-week field trip to China in July with some pre-departure (in semester 1) and post-field trip workshops/seminars (in semester 2) in Melbourne. While in China, students will interact with local communities, academics and environmental managers who will inform them about issues and processes in China. This will be supplemented by site visits and household.

During the field trip we will be visiting many places.  At each place we visit students should reflect on these four themes:

• Population mobility (migration & tourism, Hukou, who moves, voluntary or not)
• Changing social stratification (who wins, who loses?  Livelihoods. Who is left behind? Family trumps government?)
• Government control (What is government?  Family v. government)
• Environmental management (water, river, erosion, amenity, green v. brown rationales for action)

Students are assigned two major tasks: research poster and group research project.

Some highlights or typical activities of the Field Trip

• Shanghai urban planning museum
• Visit a village in lower Yangtze delta and interview rural households
• Visit Yangtze River and the South-to-North Water Diversion channel
• Visit Yellow River and the flooding control projects
• Visit Xialangdi Dam and interview the resettled farmers
• Investigating urban transformation - Zhengzhou CBD relocation project