From the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau to the coast of the East China Sea, the ladder-like land of China demonstrates varying natural landscapes and folk customs. With eye-catching images and interesting texts, Hi, I'm China gathers picturesque natural scenery and historical and cultural heritage in different parts of China. The book presents not only a visual feast but also rich knowledge, enabling readers to feel like travelingthose places in person. Through reading this unique encyclo-pedia integrating culture and geography, one can gain a deep insight into the entire country.
—Liu Jiaqi, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and honorary chairman of China Science Writers Association
This is more than just a popular science book featuring capti-vating images and informative texts; it also provides a unique way of thinking, inspiring readers to observe the integration between natural laws and human civilization from the tempo-ral and spatial perspectives. It enables readers to enjoy a walk in the "natural art gallery"of China, ponder over the truth of Chinese culture, and imagine the beautiful harmony between human and nature. It is an attractive work.
—Cui Peng, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
The images captured by remote-sensing satellites as well as the pictures taken by photographers in the book are both astonish-ingly beautiful. More noticeably, Hi, I'm China is a monumental work that combines history and geography. Leveraging multiple techniques and methods, it perfectly showcases how the land where we Chinese live originated, how living creatures evolved, and how Chinese civilization was born and matured in the long river of history. The book inspires us to ponder over the ques-tions: how should our civilization coexist in harmony with nature and where will it go?
—Jia Haifeng, professor at the School of Environment, Tsinghua University
Foreword
China Needs the Popularization of Quality Geographical Sciences
As a geographical researcher, I eagerly anticipate works that seek to popularize the geographical sciences, but at the same time I hold these works to very exacting standards. In this context, the release of the book Hi, I’m China is unquestionably gratifying.
Hi, I’m China was co-authored by the Institute for Planets, an organization that promotes the popularization of geographical sciences, and the research team who took part in China’s second scientific expedition to Qingzang Gaoyuan (Qinghai-Xizang Plateau). This is the first popular science book jointly produced by both organizations. The first chapter of the book, “Where Does China Come From?” is a direct outcome of this collaboration.
Since 1949, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has been committed to the exploration and research on Qingzang Gaoyuan. Back in the 1970s, the CAS established a scientific expedition team to Qingzang Gaoyuan, initiating the first comprehensive scientific survey of the plateau. In fact, I was lucky enough to participate in this program as a student. The first scientific expedition lasted for over 20 years. Through the efforts of this program, we established a systematic understanding of Qingzang Gaoyuan. On August 19, 2017, the second scientific expedition to Qingzang Gaoyuan was launched as a national strategic mission.
In 2018, on the first anniversary of the launch of the second scientific expedition, a report was prepared to highlight the achievements of the first phase of this second scientific expedition. The cooperation with the Institute for Planets led to the publication of the article entitled Where Does China Come From? which was an effort to popularize the field of geographical science. The article not only summarizes how the emergence of Qingzang Gaoyuan, due to continental plate collisions, influenced on China’s geography, but also expands on the chain reaction that resulted from the Qingzang Gaoyuan uplift. As soon as the article was published online, it went viral on various social media platforms including WeChat Moments. After reading the article, many people began to realize the importance of the Qingzang Gaoyuan in Chinese geography.
It is fascinating to explore China from a geographical perspective. The vast land of China is dotted with a great diversity of landscapes with many types of landforms including glaciers, lakes, rivers, oceans, loess, and karst. In addition, an extensive range of human activity has helped to form China’s landscape and soil. Different groups of people have lived and procreated on this land over a multitude of historical periods, leading to the eventual emergence of the Chinese civilization. All of these elements are part of today’s China. Excellent work to popularize geographical sciences helps to strengthen and put in perspective the Chinese people’s love and pride for the physical land of their country—its beautiful rivers, mountains and terrain. Furthermore, such work helps more people to understand the interaction between the environment and mankind and it arouses their sense of responsibility for contemporary and future generations. This is a meaningful and valuable undertaking.
As a popular science work, this book is based on theoretical scientific knowledge and empirical facts. Authors of such a work are required to read scientific research publications extensively. They then draw upon their own experience and incorporate relevant evidence from a wealth of academic sources, which they then condense and simplify to facilitate the general reader’s understanding. Such a work can only pass the test of time and become valuable if the underlying work is solid.
Moreover, the popularization of scientific knowledge is not simply a matter of enumerating or transferring scientific knowledge. It needs to be in touch with the daily life of the people, and it requires creativity to impart this knowledge in an interesting manner. Otherwise, the popularization of scientific knowledge will devolve into science news or merely old-fashioned lecturing, making the scientific knowledge inaccessible to a general readership.
The Institute for Planets has an excellent popularization of scientific knowledge team. Each article they write takes from about twenty days to one or two months to finish, ensuring each article is thoroughly prepared and well-polished. It is commendable that the works of popular science are prepared to the same rigorous standards as academic writings. Therefore, the Research Team of China’s Second Scientific Expedition on Qingzang Gaoyuan began collaborating with the Institute for Planets right from its inception.
The popularization of geographical science is both a science and an art. Here, the meaning of art is twofold:
Firstly, geography has an intrinsic aesthetic nature. The beauty of the environment and the surrounding landscapes call for careful and close observation. General readers are often first attracted by beautiful images and photos. They then become eager to visit the places captured in the photos or even develop a desire to learn about the formation of the beautiful scenery they see in the pictures. The Institute for Planets has unquestionably excelled in this regard, producing articles accompanied by a wealth of beautiful photos and maps. This effectively captures the reader’s attention, and they then follow the team’s work and develop an interest in reading the scientific articles produced.
Secondly, there is an imaginative perspective. “Science is not a heartless pursuit of objective information,” said American paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. “It... is a creative human activity, its geniuses acting more as artists than as information processors….” Whether it be science or popular science, both endeavors require a rich imagination equal to that of an artist. This requires making connections between old and new ideas, as well as integrating different disciplines. Only in this way can we brainstorm ideas and produce works that are interesting and eventually attractive for a large readership. In this regard, the Institute for Planets is undoubtedly a leading light in terms of popularizing geographical science in China. Its articles generally feature information from multiple disciplines, and they are coherently linked, a task which obviously requires some imagination. Furthermore, effective use is made of devices like metaphors or schematic diagrams to make clear esoteric ideas or theories for a general readership.
Of course, there are certain requirements for effective writing of a book about geographical science for a general audience. This is especially true when it comes to the scientific understanding of China’s geography. Because China was relatively late to the field of science popularization, it lacks truly effective vehicles to spread science to the general public. We need authors of popular science who have a professional background and knowledge of the humanities and mass media. We must keep up our creative efforts. All sorts of problems are bound to appear in the pursuit of this process, but ideals are what drive and motivate us to continue on our quest.
The efforts to popularize science and scientific research require collaboration that can produce wonderful work, especially in the field of geographical science. Hi, I’m China is a good example of that endeavour. It is my sincere hope that more and better works that can effectively popularize the worlds of science and geography will be created so that more people can learn about and become even more fascinated by China and its geography.
Yao Tandong
Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chairman of the China Society on Tibetan Plateau
Chief Scientist of the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research
August 7, 2019
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