Since I was young, there have been two maps hanging on the wall of my bedroom. One was the map of China and the other was the map of the world. They were my favorite, because for a small child like me, the outside world was curious and the maps were the only tool for me to explore the world. So, I gained a general idea of what the earth was and the complex physiognomy of China before I went to the primary school.
When I went to secondary, the computer and the internet became common in China, and I was attracted by the software named “google earth” produced by the Google Company. It featured a digital earth which consist the pictures taken by the satellite and the plane. The pictures covered every part of the earth and they were so clear that I could identify elephants on the grassland in Africa and cars on the streets in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, there might be some beautiful pictures uploaded by locals previously and I could see them after clicking on certain button. It was also feasible to search the place by means of longitude and latitude. In that way, my horizon was broaden again.
On 19th of December, 2008, I came to Singapore. As soon as I landed here, I was thinking of buying a useful map. After a few days, I found one in the shop which located under the central library of NUS. It cost me 6 S$ which might equal to 30 yuan in China, however, it was really worthwhile. The map divides Singapore into more than 20 parts and each page covers one part. It is pretty particular because the scales range from 1:1500 to 1:7500. Every park, every supermarket, every path and every bus stop are labeled on the map. As far as I am concerned, it is more a work of art than a map. Whenever I goes out, I take it with me. There was a time when a friend of mime borrowed it, and then I tried my best to avoid getting out of my dwelling.
A well protracted map contains more information than a 10 inches thick book. It is a marvelous invention of mankind. It is a work of art.
Your blog remind me of my childhood. You mentioned that when you were young, you have two maps in your room. One is the world map and the other is the China map. I remembered that when I was six or seven years old, I learned some main countries’ names in my kindergarten. After that every time I heard or read something like a country’s name I will remember it and show off to other students. One night, when my father was watching the TV news I heard a word, the United Nations (UN). You know in Chinese it is pronounced as “Lianheguo”. Then I thought that it is also a country’s name. Then a lot of fun was made of me and I made up mind to learn some geographic knowledge from a map or an atlas. Even today, I am still interested in geography and my favourite TV channels are the National Geographic and Discovery. It’s a pity that I have no access to them in Eton Hall.
ReplyDeleteYour perspective on map as art is certainly refreshing!
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