Our project

• In April 2011, 21 pupils from Woodhey High School, Ramsbottom and All Saint’s RC High School, Rawtenstall embarked on a project with No. 3 Middle School, Datong in China.

• We looked at the regeneration of our towns, in particular that of Datong in the Shanxi Province.

• The project attracted a large amount of funding from the British Council who believed this to be a very unique learning experience.

Before our visit…we looked at how our home towns had been redeveloped and pupils produced powerpoints and sent them to their Chinese partners

• Pupils in Years 7 and 10 carried out a survey about how their towns had changed. This survey was also done in No. 3 Middle School.

Datong

During our visit pupils and their partners met up to discuss the

project and learn about their towns.

British pupils showing their Chinese partners where they lived using Google

Earth

Jessica showing her partner the changes to Ramsbottom over the

years.

Old appartment blocks are demolished to make way for construction of new high-rises, or for restoration of

Datong's ancient city, based upon depictions found in ancient maps and portraits. Residents are moved to newer

residential high-rises in other sections of the city.

Whilst in Datong we interviewed some residents that have being living in Datong for a long time but due to the new reconstructions their houses were being knocked down to make room for new highways and new, better schools. Many residents who live on the outskirts of Datong would sell their houses to the council who would then re-home them into the brand new skyscrapers

that had recently been built.

Jessica interviewing John, one of the teachers of No. 3 Middle School. His house has been demolished in order to make way for a new highway.

Lucy and Emily interviewing Wei Ping, a resident of Datong

New homes being built around the city gate.

This is a view from the newly constructed wall and shows construction underway. Where you can see the building

site, once stood shanty towns. The people who lived in the shanty towns would share toilet and shower facilities as there was no running water in the houses. These people

have now being re-homed in the skyscrapers that you can

see in the background.

In this picture you can see the ancient city wall and the materials that would be used to build the new city wall. In Britain we would try to preserve the ancient buildings but in Datong the new city wall was being built over the top of the

ancient wall.

Meghan talking about the reconstruction of the new city wall

and the shanty towns

Entire old districts surrounding the Wooden Pagoda are being resurrected, featuring colourful, traditional buildings.

These are said to be based upon images seen in old, antique maps and depictions of the town.

This is a picture of the new highway under construction. This highway, once built will transport the tourists from

Datong to the Hanging Monastery and the Heng Mountain. Many residents’ houses have been knocked down to make

way for the new highway.

We spoke to a former curator of the Yungang grottoes and he explained how the site had changed considerably over the last 2 years in order to make it more appealing to

tourists. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Looking to the future• During our stay we visited City Hall where

we learnt about the development of the Datong.

This picture shows plans for Datong’s new sports city.

• The Datong Sports Park includes a 30,000 seat stadium, an 8,000 seat arena, a 1,500 seat natatorium and a multi-use training hall. The sports park is part of a larger plan by the Datong Mayor to regenerate the historic old city and create a new city centre with other development including a city hall, museum and convention centre.

We even made it into the local press. The article is about the tourist industry in and around Datong.

• To find out more click on this link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8596076.stm