China: Work & Play: Sichuan Fine Arts Institute

Sometimes it looks  the world is housed in a giant steam room, things are that smoggy.

Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Huxi District

The incredible mosaicked gallery building, a great spot for tourists and selfie enthusiasts, often appears oddly far away in the haze, despite its monstrous size and tactile walls. The Sichuan Fine Arts Institute is in the Huxi district of Chongqing, and its environs must be one of the most intriguing and wonderful campuses I’ve ever seen. Jungley pathways lead around small hills, lonesome and covered in thick foliage, when all of a sudden you come across an ancient looking gate, opening

out to nowhere. Carved dragons, colossal megaliths of granite, thousands of ceramic pots and

brightly coloured, life-size human sculptures appear and disappear amidst buildings and
bushes. Perhaps one (the only?) upside of a culture not yet used to disposing of its waste properly is discovering randomly startling sights, such as decomposing cars, semi-digested by nature then spat out again. 

Farmer's fields, Huxi

I’ve enjoyed the joyfully haphazard way of doing things around the place here, the seemingly negligible health and safety regulations that in contrast seem to permeate the UK. Poor to no lighting in certain dark and cavernous areas of tourist sites, no railings over bridges, no barricades next to

Old campus, Jiulongpo

4 lane motorways you need to cross, the pak-choi you’re soon going to eat resting on the pavement… Sure, avoiding accidents and ill-health is generally a good thing, but it’s refreshing and invigorating whilst you’re still standing.

Jiulongpo

The campus was originally in Jiulongpo district and moved over to Huxi in 2005. As part of the tenancy agreement, the farmers who owned land within the newly acquired campus could keep their plots and continue to farm and sell their produce to the surrounding businesses. This greenery, alongside the ponds, blossom trees and mazes of walkways all make for a fascinating home.