Peter Hessler’s "Country Driving"

Chinese Can’t Read Maps



These early Chinese maps were well drawn, but the fundamental approach was narrowly practical rather than scientific. They relied heavily on words rather than symbols. Landscapes were warped to emphasize whatever happened to be of prime interest.

It wasn’t surprising that rural people had little understanding of maps, but this was also true for educated Chinese. Even professional drivers with years of experience could be hopelessly confused by a simple atlas. Maps simply aren’t part of modern culture, despite the fact that the Chinese have an impressive ancient history of cartography.

“In China, it’s not such a terrible thing to be lost, because nobody else knows exactly where they’re going, either.”


http://stibrigade.blogspot.com/2011/...s-on-maps.html