The streets and roads are straight and neatly organized; I wasn't too afraid of being lost. After several unconscious turns, I found the in-constructing Fogg museum in front of me. Vaguely remembering the fact that there was another anthropology museum right next to the Fogg, I looked around and found a modern glass museum. Without further consideration, I walked towards the building and crossed the beautiful mini park in front of it. The red words on the top of the gate became more clear, it wasn't until then that I found out it was Cambridge Public library. 

  

   I walked into the library, and was immediately attracted by how the entire library was organized. Warm yellow nights shining from the above, the wooden shelves and chairs conveyed a sense of softness, and there were big boards hung from the ceiling indicating the different sections of the library. Huge glass window allowed natural light to shine through; though it was cloudy and dark outside, the inside of the library was warm and bright. 

   The entire library was carpeted, and there were balconies on the wings of the library to let people rest and relax. The computer room and other reading areas were just as quiet as the libraries in Harvard. 

   I instantly felt in love with this library. Comparing to the old Boston public library, this one was bigger and more renovated. It doesn't mean that Boston public library is lousy, since comparing to the public library in Guangzhou, it's much more well-preserved and provides better service than the one in my city.

   It then makes me wonder why in a city that has nearly ten million people, with a GDP among the highest in the world, cannot provide its citizens with public libraries and museums as rich and modern as that provided in a much smaller city? New skyscrapers have been erected on the already crowded land of Guangzhou, but the three-floor library has never caught the attention of government official, and it has remained to be a dark and out-dated place. All kinds of modern technologies have been applied to the construction of new buildings, but nobody cares about changing the atmosphere in the public libraries. As far as I could remember, the public library I used to go to has no elevator or carpet, and the building itself has no personality at all. Though the number of books they have is acceptable, yet the feeling it gives to whoever walks into that place is not pleasant at all. The entire building is dark, no matter how bright the outside could be; reading area or computer labs also cannot give readers a sense of richness as they can receive from libraries here in Cambridge. The library is in the middle of the old city center of Guangzhou, there are always all kinds of renovation and construction around, making uncomfortable noise. Readers sometimes lack the basic politeness and manner, making all kinds of noise chatting with friends or simply eating and drinking. 

   Public museums, on the other way, do better in maintaining both the outside and inside appearances. Some of them have been the symbol of the city, with their grand and splendid looks from the outside, and the amazing amount of collections they have inside. From this perspective, it seems to be necessary to compliment the efforts of Guangzhou's government in providing its citizens with such amazing public museums; it might even be one of the implications of the improvement of public service provided by the government. However, the service stops there. Once the construction is finished and the collections are moved in, the museums no longer interest the government's investment. Collections have been displayed, but there are seldom people who actually go there and seriously get to know the works. That's the difference I mean when talking to my mom one day. 

   Here in America, all the public museums have all kinds of programs aiming at improving the general public's understanding of arts, science, history and etc., depending on the theme of the museums. There are all kinds of tours going on in the museum, and there are certain programs provided to children, teens and student visitors. Group and family visit also enjoy the special treatments, and the service provided inside the library allows you to truly know the collections displayed. I've seen mothers take their babies to the museums, walking around and telling them stories about the paintings or the artists, while the babies might not even be old enough to understand human language; I've seen teachers take their students to carefully inspect a painting drawn by Jackson Pollock, one of the most famous abstract expressionists in America; I've seen students sitting in front of a drawing, scattering their hand-outs all around them, writing down their thoughts about the paintings in their notebooks, being absorbed in their own interpretation and understanding of the works. 

   I went to the Fine Arts Museum yesterday with a group of classmates in The Essay class. We chose to go to the contemporary arts section, since it was the most helpful source for our homework this week and our final essay as well. After walking around and writing down the names of the works on which we would like to do some further research, we went down to the Chihuly exhibition, "Through The Looking Glass". 

   Going down to the basement of the museum, I entered a world created by glass. The feeling was ineffable, or it's because of the limitation of my usage of English, I simply couldn't express what I saw and what I felt: it was too amazing to be described and depicted. I heard people use adjectives like "cool", "amazing" or even "sick", but few of them used the word "beautiful". This piece of anecdote could be used in my essay for this week's homework: why do people avoid using "beautiful" to describe art? Do they simply think the works are not beautiful? Or is it because they are afraid to make a commitment to beauty? Or are there other reasons for them to do so?

   I, myself, would use the word "beautiful", or even "extraordinarily beautiful" to describe the entire exhibition. I was stunned and amazed by the effects those simple glasses could create when molded together into a piece of art. Seldom was I so interested in art exhibition, not in Guangzhou at least. 

   The Guangzhou government is rich and able enough to provide service and exhibitions much better than the one I saw in the fine arts museum in Boston, however they are reluctant to use money to develop the current public libraries and museums. To them, "pretty" is what they are asking for. It indicates a social disadvantage prevailing in the entire country: the surface is all people are asking for, but the real and deep inside has always been neglected. All the objects, including the citizens themselves, are empty with pretty outside appearances. If that means development and modernization, I'd rather live in a society much out-dated than this one, with plain appearance and real rich contexts from the inside. 

   

   There are still a lot more in Boston and Cambridge waiting for me to explore. Tomorrow I'm going to visit the contemporary art museum in Boston, and if I have extra time, I would like to revisit the fine arts museum and the Chihuly exhibition. 

   The sense of gladness generated by visiting all these museums is not available back in Guangzhou, or at least I haven't found a place that could provide this feeling in the city I live in. Under the surface of all those giant buildings, all I could see is the severe unconfidence of the government and the society as a whole.