When I was visiting London in summer, I found poppies were everywhere.
At first, I thought they were only planted in parks, but I also found them on the streets and people's front yards. Moreover, poppy wreaths were put under status. I had never seen poppies before because it is illegal to plant poppies in China. I was so surprised that I can see them in London, but mostly, I was curious about them as well. As a result, poppies in London inspired me and I want to find out the story about them.
After I did some research about poppies in London, I realized poppy has different meanings between the UK and China. In China, people always connect poppy to opium and opium wars, it represents drugs, crimes, and addiction. But in the UK, it is a symbol of remembrance of soldiers who died during the First World War. That is the reason why I saw so many poppies wreathe under the statues and monuments. Although it seems people in the UK and China have opposing views about poppies, there is a link between it. Poppy connects to war. No matter won or lose, UK and China suffered losses. For me, poppies look like wounds on soldiers' bodies and wounds in our countries. Even though the war stopped years ago, the damages that the war brought to people are permanent. They like an alert, reminding us of the cruelty of the war. This is the impact of my project, and that is the reason why I named my final piece ‘Reminder.'
