The river of time flows quietly through the backbone of Chongqing and turns gently at the foothills of Jinyun Mountain in Beibei, thus depositing a profound narrative about the earth.
The monthly "Global Human Geography" was born in 2008. It is not only a journal, but also like a city watcher standing quietly. With the fragrance of ink, it depicts the geographical shape of the world and remembers the historical texture and human pulse of Chongqing, the land under its feet, and the entire western China.
Looking back at the founding of the journal, it was an era when China was experiencing rapid urbanization.
At that time, Chongqing had only been under direct control for more than ten years. This city with three thousand years of Bayu cultural heritage was undergoing a gorgeous transformation from an important industrial town to a modern international metropolis.
The tall buildings rising from the ground, the criss-crossing overpasses, and the streets and lanes of the old city gradually faded away amid the roar of bulldozers.
An academic journal emerged in the tide of the times. The journal was supervised by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China and then sponsored by Southwest University. It naturally shouldered a mission, which was to review the rapid progress and record the dramatic changes.
It is not just paying attention to the glaciers in the far polar regions, nor is it just paying attention to the migration of the African grasslands, but is focusing on the ancient villages and towns that are disappearing in the intricate network of the land we are standing on, on the forgotten river boatmen's chants on this land, and on the folk skills that are struggling to be passed down in this land amidst the turbulent waves of modernization.
Opening a chapter of "Global Human Geography" is like unfolding a magnificent humanistic picture.
Its core columns, such as "Geographic Discovery" and "Man and Nature", are definitely not made of cold data.
When you read the chapter about Yuzhong Peninsula, the "Mother City" of Chongqing, the text will lead you through the bluestone road with 18 stairs, to touch the intricate wooden textures on the stilted buildings, and to feel the original, prosperous and dock past stories told by the old residents in the lower half of the city.
What it tells is not only the characteristic expression of the mountain city, down to the precise features of the landform, but also about the people on this land, how they have gone through all kinds of situations such as climbing uphill and uphill, and tempering the tenacity, tolerance, and heroic urban spirit.
Behind every popular science about karst landforms, there are ancient legends about how people who have lived there for generations use the caves and revere the mountain gods.
What shows the power of journals to intervene in reality is the "Planning" column, and what shows the depth of journals' involvement in reality is the "First Point of View" column.
It has planned special topics that went deep into the Three Gorges Reservoir area to record the heavy nostalgia and rebirth behind the great migration of millions of immigrants. It has also focused its lens on the Sichuan Salt Ancient Road to explore the business legends and cultural integration that have been buried by the years.
These texts have gone far beyond the scope of simple information transmission. They are part of the rescue excavation of historical sites and are genetic fragments that build the cultural memory of a city or even a country.
When people talk about Chongqing, it is no longer just about hot pot and noodles, but also about the deep emotional connection between people and the land recorded in "Global Human Geography".
At present, this journal is collected by the National Library, Shanghai Library, CNKI, Wanfang, VIP and other authoritative databases, and has become a bridge connecting academic halls and public life.
The honor it received from the "China Core Journal Selection Database" and the "Chinese Journal Full-text Database" are recognition of its academic value. Its writing is full of humanistic warmth and its writing presents a sense of picture, allowing it to enter thousands of households and become the spiritual food for countless people who love life and the spiritual food for countless people who yearn for the distant future.
In Chongqing, and even in the entire Chinese cultural territory, "Global Human Geography" has gone beyond the limited scope of a publication.
In an era of rapid change, it serves as a very special symbol that can be called a symbol, representing that we still retain the curiosity and awe we have for the earth; it is also an archive that collects and protects the collective memory and nostalgia of the city; it is more like a beacon that can illuminate our journey to the past and explore the future.
Every time we open it, it is like a deep spiritual hiking journey. Between the lines, we can once again explore the deep connection between ourselves and the ancient land beneath our feet, and experience the sense of cultural confidence that has gone through vicissitudes of life but has grown stronger.
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