My fascination with China began in Scotland
The High Street runs uphill through the Old City, ultimately reaching the Cathedral of Glasgow, one of the city’s oldest buildings. Dating from late 12th century, it is linked closely with Glasgow’s history. Today one of Scotland’s major tourist attractions, I was fascinated at so many overseas visitors walking respectfully through its vast interior, stopping to learn more of the tumultuous periods from centuries gone by. Incredibly, an adjacent cemetery is today also a leading visitor destination, The Necropolis rising on a hill overlooking the city includes vast stone tombs of rich merchants, shipyard owners and industrialists who dominated Glasgow’s business prior to the 20th century. It is a location featured in films and television dramas. Close by is Wellpark Brewery, founded in 1740, home to Scotland’s leading Tennents Lager, a beer now exported to China and available in Beijing’s popular bars!
There were many memories for me in and around Glasgow, not least my academic days at two of the city’s universities. In my final undergraduate year at Strathclyde, all students going forward for an Honours Degree had to write a dissertation of around 10,000 words. I produced one on aspects of the social history and geography focussing on depopulation from rural areas on the Island of Bute. It sits where the River Clyde becomes the Firth of Clyde merging into the Atlantic Ocean. Ever since my early childhood I had been visiting the island, staying for lengthy periods in Rothesay, its principal town. The island’s story is fascinating, not least for its many prehistoric remains. The town grew rapidly in the late 19th century as a summer holiday destination for Glasgow’s growing industrial worker population. Today, with the advent of cheap jet flights many Scots head to warm south European destinations or further afield.
