As we watch this week for further breakthroughs in Copenhagen, China seems to be leading the US in crucial areas of sustainability:
China will arrive at this week’s Copenhagen climate change negotiations with a whole package of measures to reduce its “carbon intensity.” While the United States is dithering about long-distance energy transmission from our rural areas with the highest potential for wind energy generation to our urban areas with the highest need for energy, China is far ahead of us. It is developing ultra-high-voltage transmission lines from wind and solar generation sites in rural western China to cities in eastern China. If America doesn’t act to develop innovative energy technology, we will lose the green jobs competition not only to Finland and Germany (as we are now) but also to China.
What does this have to do with FarmVille?
Like many things, FarmVille is an import. From China. Online farming games were invented there, and have been wildly popular ever since. Social farm games now dominate all major Chinese social networking sites. No surprise, perhaps, given China’s vast number of small-scale agricultural cooperatives, and its history of using farming as “education.”
China has been experimenting with farming games for much longer than we have, so it fits that they’re also leading the way in bringing online farming back offline. For example, Happy Farm In Reality, which is inspired by the popular Chinese “Happy Farm” game.
Happy Farm in Reality is a Shanghai “farm,” with 100 cabins designed for city farmers to use during extended holidays.
From People’s Daily:
Mr. Liu, a white-collar worker who lives in the Pudong district with his family, rented a piece of farmland in the suburb with a 3, 000 yuan membership fee. When weekend comes, the whole family likes to drive to their own farm to have fun. Watering, weeding, fertilizing and worming, each bringing them unique fun. And during the harvest season, they usually take the harvest back to enjoy with their friends and neighbors. Mr. Liu said they took part in the program on one hand to bring the family and child a special experience, and on the other, so they can eat the products without any concerns about pollution. He also said since the membership began more than a month ago, they have go to their farm every weekend to experience the special happiness.
It’s fun to imagine the technological experiments that will be unfolding at Happy Farm in Reality. They already include a video system where you can monitor a patch over the internet from home, “an online recreation of a real simulation of an online video game based on real life farming.”
Now, if China’s advances in sustainability could merge with its innovations in online/offline farming, then we’d really be getting somewhere.
December 14, 2009 at 3:00 pm |
Stephanie, great report and observations. Another case of life following art.
I’ve often thought that we’d all be better off if people would quit playing games like farmville and sims and start farming and getting involved in their physical community. Nice to see it happening at least on the small scale.
I don’t mean to sound like a cultural retro-grouch, but how much entertainment is enough before we completely lose track of reality?
February 19, 2010 at 6:13 pm |
Hi Stephanie. I really enjoyed your article. Not being a game-player myself, I have often wondered why people choose to labor over virtual gardens (and fish tanks) instead of building real ones.
Here in Kansas I look forward to the gardening season every year. For the past 3 years I have been fortunate enough to have a garden of my own and we have enjoyed it so much. I’ve canned grape juice (and made my own liquer), grown giant sweet potatoes and savored some of the best heirloom tomatoes ever – and all of it was organically grown. I can’t wait to do more gardening! I am also encouraged by all the other gardeners we have in my town. Every where you go you see backyard gardens, something I feel is just good for the soul.
I have always wanted to have a commune, since I was a kid, where the community cared for each other and the land. I’ll keep dreaming it and see what happens.
Thanks!