As one of the 'Five Treaty Ports', the Old Bund of Ningbo officially opened in 1844, where Chinese and Western culture collided and mixed. From the gateway of the ancient city to the contemporary international exchange platform, the Old Bund always displays a broad mind and open spirit.

In the end of March, a group of students and staff from University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) participated in a city walk to the Old Bund of Ningbo. The trip was organised by Faculty of Science and Engineering (FoSE) Ningbo Urban Memory Lab which has received great support from the Faculty student-centered Innovation Lab. Professor Keqiang Liu from Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Mr. Shui Yin, a local culture researcher were also invited to join the dialogue with memories and architectural stories of the Old Bund.

The city walk activity last month was their first offline activity. The trip started from the Site Museum of Former Zhejiang Customs, passed through the Former Ningbo Post Office Site, the Shikumen (literally "stonegate") Building Complex, the Catholic Church, the Jiangbei Old Police Station, and finally ended at the Ningbo Museum of Art. Experts and scholars exchanged and interpreted the memories and stories of the old bund buildings while walking, and also put forward relevant suggestions on the protection of some historic buildings. 

Those buildings in the old bund, as the solidified arts, are priceless historical treasures. The dialogue across time and space in those buildings retain valuable urban memory, not only allowing us to look back at history, but also building the urban skin texture and shaping the temperament of the city, constituting the imagination of the Ningbo and shaping the future.

While the city walk activity provides a window for more people to understand the cultural landscape of Ningbo and the historical culture of the port, it has also become a part of the urban memory of Ningbo. Students and staff who have been living in Ningbo for years but still find it is a good opportunity to discover the city in another perspective.

When I was searching for materials, writing manuscripts and guiding explanations for the city walk, I exercised myself and deepened my understanding of the history and culture of Ningbo. In addition, I also communicated with professors during walking, discussed the possibility of the architectural development, and strengthened my ambition to study architecture.

—— Yingwen Zhu

This activity is an unforgettable memory for me. During the process of material searching and route planning, I was able to get a new understanding of the city and the Old Bund from the perspective of architectural history, and learned little-known stories. In the process of walking in the city, I also benefited a lot from the communication with professors and scholars, and found some interesting details that I hadn't noticed before.

—— Yuxin Hu

Only when you really walk into the old Bund, you will find that history has left alot of traces here. Along the riverside, there are many stories on the same site by comparing the existing buildings and the buildings in old photos, many of which I heard for the first time as a local.

——Ge Ge

During the walk, we discussed the architectural design with professors and scholars, and also began to think about its social historical background and conditions. To me, this is a very comprehensive way to evaluate architecture. In addition to viewing architecture from an aesthetic perspective, there is also a more humane and realistic way, which is more full of humanistic care, which brings me a lot of inspiration for my design.

—— Weixuan Feng

With UNNC’s academics and students as the main body, Ningbo Urban Memory Lab (NUML) is an open student - centered research and social platform linking with other universities, local social media, and social organisations in Ningbo to conduct and disseminate research on Ningbo’s urban memory. The aimis to enable UNNC’s academics and students to engage with the local society in order to enhance the social impact of UNNC’s research body, as well as providing a richer learning experience for UNNC’s students and staff crossing different faculties and disciplines.

Ningbo Urban Memory Lab (NUML) is founded by Dr Yat-Ming Loo, Associate Professor in Architecture and Urbanism and 3 PhD students of him—Yanning Xiang, Qianxi Zhang and Xuan Sun. There are 22 undergraduate students across the Faculty joined the Lab this semester. They come from different department but with the same learning interest.

Next, NUML will continue to launch a series of City Walk activities in Ningbo, walking into Kaimin Street, reviewing the history of the plague in 1940, and walking into Xiaowen Street, exploring the old Ningbo Street. A series of seminars, lectures and workshops are planned to present the project in the form of an interactive exhibition. The exhibition will showcase the history and stories of old Ningbo through interesting and artistic architectural models, moving photos, collages, video images and installation exhibits.