Anthropological Walking Tour in London

Walking approximately ten mile distances, getting familiar with the city center of London, continuing learning the culture heritage of England, appreciating global strangers' helpful suggestions, doing exercises and having fun on the journey.

It’s a cloudy day in London. After having my breakfast, I decided to go to the British library to do some research, also visiting the attached museums: the treasure of the library and the power of story downstairs.

Great library: The library opens at nine thirty. When I arrived in the library before ten in the morning, there were lots of people already sitting there studying quietly. Orchestrating such a great library with a friendly academic atmosphere takes good management disciplines and professional manners. It’s free of charge to use certain facilities and it took a very reasonable cost to become a member for enjoying more value added services. There are cafeterias and restaurants inside to serve library customers conveniently. There are many study rooms at different floors for members to dedicate to their work.

Treasures of British: Although I came here a couple of times, I only sit there to do my own studies without looking around the library thoroughly. So I walked around the library, visited downstairs museums and gift shops this time. In the “Treasures of British” museum, there are written and audio introductions of book histories and worldwide religion histories in Ms. Jane Austen’s England. There are some cultural and political viewpoints of modern society shared by different generations of leaders.

The first book wood scroll: Based on the written introduction posted on the wall, the first book print started from words printed on the wood called wood scroll in Ancient China. Some brief religious history introductions cover Judaism, Buddhism. Hinduism, Islamism, etc. There are some arts and pictures conveying how to carry on British cultural intellect and anthropological heritage.

The power of story: There is also a small ceremonial museum session called “The power of story” displaying some posters about diversity and social justice. All of which built a good foundation to shape London as a dynamic global society.

Creative souvenirs: I also visited the book shop which sells some interesting souvenirs with an anthropological touch. There are Shakespeare book collections, jigsaw puzzles, little fiction toys and gifts.

Heritage gallery of exhibition: At about lunchtime, I went to the Heritage gallery of exhibition In Guildhall Art Gallery near King and Queen streets in London. There is a limited collection of Shakespeare posters, his first signatures, and a brief introduction of him. Besides that, there are oil paintings and sculptures of powerful couples - ladies and gentlemen in their time. There is a Roman amphitheater presentation as well. Most of those art are based on the history of London.

Walking tour of center of London: I started my walking tour at the center of London, walking across the Royal Exchange at the corn hill, then passed through St Paul Cathedral and the square with the Victoria’s statue, and then strolled over the royal court of justice, after continue moving ahead, I arrived in the Aldwych road near the Waterloo bridge.

Afternoon black tea: It’s about two pm. I hung around on the main streets near the city center hot spots; then occasionally, walked through the Covent garden where I visited before the Christmas holiday. Now it was full of the New Year theme with colorful ring bells and winter flower decorations. I also walked through a mini apple market which sells crafts and gifts. And then, I stopped by a cafe stall and ordered my drink, sipped my afternoon black tea there and took a rest for a while.

I continued my walking tour in the mid afternoon. I passed through the Leicester square and walked across China town where lots of people with global taste came here to learn Asian culture and taste eastern food. The red lantern decorations intensify the new year theme, implying London as a blending pot and shape itself as an international capital with harmony. I also saw a street with quite a few Indian restaurants near the place I lived the day before. in fact, people all over the world visited London and made this metropolitan city more diversified and dynamic

Angel lights in the regent street: When I walked towards the regent street, it was just past three pm, but it looked so dark outside, just like six pm in the summertime. The holiday angel lights were lit up, flying across the street, brightening the surroundings in the rain, very beautiful and harmonious. There are all sorts of colorful buses running through the street, red, blue, green, yellow, white, gray, etc. I tried to find the one I could take to go back, but I couldn’t. So I asked the local which bus I should take. She replied with her cheerful smile, the distance for me to go back is not so far away, I can walk. Really, I will try.

National art gallery: The rain started pouring, but I kept walking. Suddenly, I saw the national art gallery was on the other side of the road, so I decided to take the detour again and visited there. As I passed through there a few times, It seems not open during the Christmas season

It was raining, and I was in a bit of a hurry up. So I passed through the crowd of people and accessed the gallery, planning to do a quick visit. There was an overwhelming collection of oil paintings categorized by different years, cities or perhaps the donor’s name. Most of them reflected people's life in the cultural renaissance era hundreds of years ago. There were some landscape paintings as well. It took me about half an hour to do the brief review and then I exit. It is dark outside, so I lost direction again, as mentioned my phone’s network didn’t work. But with the help of global strangers again, I got some clues on buses and directions. Of course, there were subway stations nearby, but I prefer walking or taking the bus to see the city scenery and get familiar with all sorts of streets. The rain was not stop, but became bigger. I gave up on walking, hoping in the right bus; it was not so far away but also not so close; there were at least four or five stops before I arrived at the destination. I checked the distance between where I asked the lady earlier at the regent street and the location I lived through the internet at night. It's about 1.5 miles or thirty minutes walking distance. Is it far or not so far? We may ask Londoners to make a judgment.

Overall speaking, my five hour walking tour and three library-museum-gallery visit are fulfilling, walking approximately ten mile distances, getting familiar with the city center of London, continuing learning the culture heritage of England, appreciating global strangers' helpful suggestions, doing exercises and having fun on the journey.

Posted in: culture Master,Global Trips