Dinspre est către est

From Far East to East

从东到东С Востока на Восток

Food.Nature.People.Architecture

C u i s i n e . N a t u r e . G e n s . A r c h i t e c t u r e

Mâncare.Natură.Oameni.Arhitectură

Хоол . Б ай г а л ь . Х үм ү ү с . А р хи т е к т у р음 식 . 자 연 . 사 람 . 건 축

饮 食 . 自 然 . 人 . 建 筑

อ า ห า ร . ธ ร ร ม ช า ต . ค น . ส ถ า ปั ต ย ก ร ร ม

Е д а . П р и р о д а . Л ю д и . А р х и т е к т у р а

De l’est vers l’est

จากทิศตะวนัออกถึงตะวนัออก

동쪽에서 동쪽으로Зүүн зүгээс зүүн хойд зүгт

Mulţumiri speciale părinţilor mei pentru susţinerea si încrederea pe care mi-o acordă. Mulţumesc mamei mele pentru că m-a făcut să descopăr din copilărie natura si aventura. Mulţumesc tatălui meu pentru că-mi este mentor permanent si se îngrijeşte de formarea mea.

Remerciements particuliers à Monsieur Remy Butler, pour m’avoir ouvert les yeux à l’Asie, et pour l’affection paternelle qu’il me porte.

© 2011 Razvan-George Gorcea

Razvan - George GORCEA

More than a photo journalMore than a traveller’s tripImmersion into the culture

Discovering FOOD.Celebrating NATURE

Connecting with PEOPLEUnderstanding ARCHITECTURE

Permanent change of perspectiveThe “West” becomes the “East”

The viewer becomes actorThe photos get meaning and notes

Each one has a story to share

Mai mult decât un jurnal fotoMai mult decât o călătorie turisticăIntegrare totală în culturăDescoperind MANCAREAAdmirând NATURACunoscând OAMENIIInţelegând ARHITECTURASchimbare permanentă a reperelor“Vestul” devine “est”Observatorul devine actorFotografiile capătă sensFiecare împărtăşeşte o poveste

Plus qu’un journal photoPlus qu’un voyage touristique

Immersion dans la cultureEn découvrant la CUISINE

Célébrant la NATUREEntrer en contact avec les GENS

Comprenant l’ARCHITECTUREChangement de perspective

“L’Ouest” devient “l’est”L’observateur devient acteurLes photos prennent du sens

Chacune partage une histoire

SUSTINUT DE :PROMOTED BY :

Thanks to Alexandru Senciuc

episode 1

MARCH 2011

“preview”

FO

OD

Kimchi is a real culture in Korea. It’s a way of preserving all kinds of vegetables, especially Chinese

cabbage, over winter. The art of mixing the cabbage or other veggies with the red hot

chili and other spices is a precise ritual made every year by Korean

families, especially in the countryside.

Jinju traditional Market, South Korea

ROUGH MATERIAL FOR KIMCHI

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The taste of this Korean meal in the countryside is just

unforgettable. All these are home prepared kimchi from

several vegetables. The host welcomed us at lunch with a soya bean soup, pajeon and

many kimchi side dishes along with the usual cup of rice. All feels very fresh and it

extremely healthy.

guest house in the Jiri Mountains, South Korea

HOME-MADE MEAL

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This Thai-Chinese table arrange-ment commemorates the family’s

ancestors. Every dish has a pre-cise location on the table in front of the photos or remains of passed away relatives: it

starts with a bowl of rice and chopsticks for each one of them (8 in this case), and passing

several courses, it finishes with desserts and fresh Thai exotic

fruits.

Family house in Nakhon Pathom, Central Thailand

ANCESTORS’ MEAL

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If your hosts don’t understand any English… the best choice is to draw them want you want to eat. But there is a catch! You should know how your dish looks like so they can under-

stand how to prepare it.

Rural Hostel near the Great Wall, Mutianyu near Beijing, China

SKETCH ‘N’ EAT

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Dried “Omul” – endemic fish of Baikal Lake

+ Siberian pine tree seeds

+ strawberries of Baikal Lake, one of the only places in

Siberia where they can grow

Road stop near Sludjanka, Baikal Lake, Russia

BAIKAL DELIGHTS!

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Hundreds of people visit the famous cherry blossom scenic roads. Some of them come by buses, but most of them show

the new Korean cars they have.The prices go five times

higher in the area...everybody is celebrating this re-birth

of the nature.

Jiri Mountains (Jirisan) near Hadong city, South Korea

CHERRY BLOSSOM ROADS

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The continuous rebirth of nature every year has a profound meaning

for Korean as well as for Japanese; it is related to philosophy and

religion. It’s more than tourism, even if connected to it.

NATU

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Bangkok is a city built on water, known as “The Venice of the East”. The huge river Chao Phraya looks like a real highway on water, it’s a busy

network of express boats, cargo ships or other private

boats of all dimensions.

Chao Phraya river, Bangkok, Thailand

RIVER WATERWAY

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The heaven of exotic flowers, the Flower Market of Bangkok brings traders from all over the country. It shows the

amazing natural richness of this country. Orchids are sold in huge bulks along with exotic fruits. They are brought here

on the nearby river of Chao Phraya.

Pak Khlong Market in Bangkok, Thailand

FLOWER HYPERMARKET

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Several Korean organizations regroup people with different backgrounds and make weekend tours to discover their culture. Specialists as urban planning architects, photographers, guides, social workers and so on are invited to join the groups. Each time a different theme is approached: ar-chitecture monuments, nature trails,

urban development...

Jinju traditional Market, South Korea

CULTURAL TOURS

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A regular working day is very long normally for Koreans,

around 12 hours. So when they can, they go out and rent a karaoke room (“norebang” – singing room) in groups of colleagues. All groups of

people enjoy this type of de-stressing activity, from teen-agers to middle age. They are opened all night long and have of course different degree of

“luxury”.

Jinju, South Korea

AFTER WORK NOREBANG

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In China outside big cities it is not common to find foreign people. So the taxi drivers are quite im-pressed to meet you and eager to communicate. But of course they

don’t know English. Although with little Chinese knowledge, I found out some things - like they know Romanian movies and about the

good past friendship with China.

Different places in Inner Mongolia, Northern China

THE TAXI DRIVERS

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It’s common to see in Mongolia people riding

horses. They are always standing and doing other doings like smoking or talking

on the cell phone.

Natural Park near Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

LIVING ON THE HORSE

PEO

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PEO

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The wedding costumes are extremely important for the traditional communi-ties peacefully housed in Thailand. In the Indian

district from Bangkok, one can find entire streets

with materials and wedding dresses.

Indian district in Bangkok, Thailand

WEDDING COSTUMES

PEO

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A completely new hybrid type of infrastructure crosses Bangkok. Several layers of transportation are overlapped. On top the Sky train, underneath two layers of one-way highway, then a walkway

passage and finally the road filled with shops or snacks and people. A vertical city shaded from the

burning tropical sun.

Sky train stop in Bangkok, Thailand

VERTICAL ROADS

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All temples in Korea are painted according to specific rules. Each of the colors - red, yellow, and

green, blue, orange - has different meaning.

But one can easily notice that the lower part suggest the pine tree

trunks from a forest - the columns are always red. The roof is ex-

pressing the crown of trees, being painted in a green dominant.

Gyeongju - Bulguksa temple, South Korea

PINE TREE MIMETIC

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All roof overhangs extend the most possible in a fan shape way. The dimensions are often oversized what suggests that the visual impact is more im-portant than a rationalized

approach.

pavilion overhang, South Korea

UNDER THE ROOF AND BEYOND

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The culture and religious mix is often clearly ex-

pressed by the architecture. In Inner Mongolia the shape and signs of the buildings

blends national Chinese tra-ditional shapes with reli-gious symbols and language

of Islam.

Hohhot – capital city of Inner Mongolia province, China

THE CHINESE MOSQUE

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ITEC

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I want to thank all my friends, teachers,

hosts, lovers, guides, people I’ve met in my

journeys.Without you my trips would be just lonely meaningless tours.

Each of you helped me and thought me a les-

son I’ll never forget!

Thank you !

Merci !

Mulţumesc!

Гялайлаа !감사합니다 !

谢谢 !

ขอบพระคุณครบั !

Спасибо !

© 2011 Razvan-George Gorcea

SUSTINUT DE :PROMOTED BY :

Thanks to my translators:

Huang Xing - Chinese Anton Ivanov - RussianPatrick Bayarsaikhan - MongolianLassamon Maitreemit - ThaiYun Young Mi - KoreanKim Dong Hee - Korean

Razvan-George GorceaBorn in 1986 in the city of Suceava, Romania, he grows up in the beautiful region of Bucovina, surrounded by mountains and monasteries. The success in mathematics competitions allows him to travel in different parts of Romania along with his studies. He begins the architecture studies at « Ion Mincu » University in Bucharest. At this point, space and urban explorations become decisive for his education. He begins extensive travels in all Europe, before and during his studies in Paris since 2007. A larger interest evolves into the un-derstanding of human settlement development and its cultural mechanisms.His one year journey in Eastern Asia changes completely his perspective, creating of wider sense of global consciousness. Now he tries to put together the knowledge he acquired and re-new the out-dated models with an intercultural approach.