ART IN EVERY DAY CHINA

                                      ART IN EVERY DAY CHINA

Art is not confined to art galleries, museums and private collections.  Most art is in the communities we live in such as our buildings, bridges, homes, clothing, gardens, merchandise, floral decor and much more. Every country has its own distinctive style, design and culture but it was in China that I experienced art and design in every day life the most. It seems that every item from buildings to consumer goods and the packaging has been carefully designed with that essential Chinese style.

Take architecture for example, the Chinese have incorporated their traditional designs that are centuries old into their modern buildings whether it is an international hotel, a public building or a home. Not all modern buildings are a work of art but good or bad they still all retain an element of that Chinese motif. The picture to the left is of a modern apartment block in a country town. Its roofing has the typical turned up eaves and curved tiles with a repetition of the tiles as a feature around the windows. The retaining wall around the small lake is reminiscent of those build long ago as is the decorative cobbled paving. The sculpture of a small boy sweeping the path is indicative of the Chinese idea of including a representation of workers in their landscape.  The building below right is a typical example of a newly built mausoleum in Shaoxing and it has all the features of traditional Chinese design rich with carved wooden structures, ornate roof decorations and highly painted in bright colours.

This beautiful new bridge straddles the old moat around the garden city of Suzhou. It has the appearance of modern sleek clean lines but with traditional style in its roof, the wooden structure and the decorative stone railings.       

The Chinese people love gardening and their displays of floral art is stunning. Public parks and gardens are cared for by dedicated gardeners and floral arrangements of potted flowers are continually changing to suit an occasion and for the different seasons. This picture shows a floral arrangement of the Chinese flag on National day in the city square in Shaoxing. 

At the college where I worked there were always displays of brightly coloured flowers to decorate entrance ways and buildings. They even had a hot house where pots were being prepared for the next event or season.  

  

 

  

                               

  The most amazing display of floral art I saw in  China has to be the art of bonsai. The Japanese  developed  bonsai but it was in China that this art originated. All the  traditional gardens in Suzhou had sections where bonsai  trees were displayed and many of the trees were  hundreds  of years old. Bonsai is popular among the Chinese people  because they don't need much space and are relatively easy  to take care of. Most Buddhist temples have collections of  bonsai trees and usually they had more than one tree in the  pots making pleasant small gardens.

Large outdoor sculptures are used to decorate buildings, city squares, colleges, schools and other public buildings. Every city has an array of large bronze or metal sculptures either  abstract compositions or those representing politicians and famous people of the area. In Shaoxing there is a memorial sculpture to Chinese leader Zhou Enlai and the famous author Lu Xun. 

                          

The entrance way to the dedicated Lu Xun street has many memorials to the famous author. There is a museum displaying some of his personal effects, his former residence and the one room school he attended. The three bronze figures depicted here are probably his school mates and are very popular with visitors to have their pictures taken. The street has many souvenir stalls selling quality souvenirs and crafts such as local pottery, paper cut designs, bamboo         goods, fabrics and clothing.                                                     

   The Da Yu mausoleum in Shaoxing is included in a large park complex which commemorates the great Emperor. It contains many pavilions, lakes and beautiful gardens. The stone sculpture of a tiger at left is one of many other animals that line the road leading to the mausoleum. The sculptor has used a modern squared facet design with straight sharp surfaces to model the animal.            

This room setting is of traditional furniture in a pavilion in one of the famous gardens of Suzhou. Each piece of furniture is beautifully carved and crafted out of local wood. Modern furniture design retains some of these distinctive motifs but are more in keeping with modern life where space is at a premium in most homes.

Traditional styled furniture is still popular but ultra contemporary designs of the 21st century is in vogue with the younger generations.

Chinese artisans excel in all facets of design of consumer goods and window shopping is the best way to get a grasp of their ability and production. Look in any jeweller's window and you will be amazed at the exquisite pieces of jewellery displayed. Besides traditional styles of jade broaches, pendants and bracelets are jewellery works of art in gold and silver incorporating beautiful gems of all colours. When you choose a piece of jewellery it will be wrapped and packed in equally beautifully designed boxes or pouches.

Food is of utmost importance to the Chinese people and here not only is their cuisine world famous but the presentation adds to its delight even at the most modest restaurant. Each dish is artfully decorated with a touch of garnish to set off the colours of the food that also enhances the appetite.  Without the food the dishes themselves are something to be admired. Walk through a kitchen shop and there is so much to choose from. Always the traditional designs are hard to beat but the contemporary ceramic ware are beyond imagination.

Visit a cake shop and see the array of mouth watering cakes, buns, biscuits and pastries.  A Chinese birthday cake is not your ordinary iced sponge with 'Happy  Birthday' written in coloured icing. Usually there are at least ten designs to choose from and all are works of art carefully crafted from cream, icing, sliced and shaped fruit and chocolate in all forms 

Chinese artisans are unique in their ability to design and produce everything needed for every day life. I haven't mentioned fashion because that has its own world of discovery rivalling other cities of fashion. I haven't seen a lot of China yet but what I have seen as far as art in every day life is concerned, I am very impressed and a reason to go back and explore some more.

SMALL GARDENS in CHINA

SMALL GARDENS in CHINA

It’s second nature for the Chinese people to grow vegetables and every space they can find will be planted, in window boxes, along side the roads, at their work places and even beside the canals.
I have recently returned from China where I did a five month stint teaching English to University students in Shaoxing, just south of Shanghai. This picture was taken out of my kitchen window over looking the canal that separates the college and a factory on the other side. Some mornings when I was making my breakfast I would see a woman row this little canoe down the canal to attend to the vegetable patches that clung precariously to the canal walls. These garden beds had been built by dropping bricks into the water until the pile reached out of the water. Then soil had been added ready for planting.
I was in China from late summer through autumn into winter and witnessed the growth of these small vegetables plots. The trellises to the left supported a large crop of marrow type vegetable and the staple green leafy vegetables that we call pak choi grew in the small gardens along the edge. I watched the progress of these gardens from the time the gardener sprinkled the seeds onto the soil to the time when she came to harvest the healthy bunches. I winced as she rinsed off the vegetables in the canal water knowing that the water was polluted but they would get another rinse off at home. In between she added more soil, pulled out weeds and ladled out some brown liquid from the big brown jar in the middle of the picture that was a fertiliser of some sort, most probably organic.
In winter I watched as a heavy white frost settled onto the green vegetables and thought that it was the end of the crop but miraculously when it melted off, the vegetables were fine and perky. Of course the marrows had long been picked at the end of autumn and all that was left there was the brown remains of the vines. Come spring the whole process would start again.

Weekend 7th-8th Sept.
A good night's sleep did me wonders and I must have been extra tired as I didn't realise just how hard the bed was. There was no softness what so ever and it was something I'd have to work on if I was to continue to sleep well. I have since read that it was Mao that introduced hard beds because it was considered too decadent and bourgeois to have a soft mattress. Some things in China have not changed for the better!  

Now some breakfast. Just as well I brought my Aussie survival pack, that is, vegemite, Ceylon leaf tea and some crackers.We needed to get some supplies in and Di offered to take Sue and I shopping at Tescos, a large supermarket, a cousin of the British establishment that sold everything from food, home goods to bicycles. We spent a couple of hours picking up this and that and just enjoying the different types of goods. As Shaoxing is off the beaten track as far as foreigners are concerned we were an oddity and we got lots of stares, some hellos and some smiles. But little kids frowned at our greetings as if we were the men from Mars. I found nearly everything I wanted and luckily the Tesco home brands had English names of products on them, the fresh produce looked very good and there was plenty of variety. I spent about 150rmp about $30 and got a whole basket full of goodies.
Kelly set up the computer yesterday so I thought I should send an email to let Bernie know that I was safe and sound. However my first attempt at using a Chinese computer failed and I had to work out what each command was in English, just as well there were the English letters beside the Chinese characters to indicate what the command was. Di came and helped me set up a Gmail account as it was easier to use than the Bigpond account. It seems it would have been better to have brought a laptop as I wouldn't have to bother with the Chinese but it is a challenge I would battle with for the next few months.
After a quick lunch that I couldn't finish as there was too much food, I went back to the flat and decided to clean the floors before our trip to the Police Station to get our documents in order.
 Sue, myself and another Korean girl jumped into a taxi with Kelly and drove firstly to the photographers for our passport pictures and then to the Police Station called People’s Police in Shaoxing. Most government buildings and older blocks of flats in Shaoxing were under six flights because they didn't have to put in lifts and this is how to lose weight and get fit. We trudged up four flights of stairs to a small office where Kelly worked at translating our details into the police computer. It took ages and other people came and waited too. A policeman in uniform came into the office a couple of times and took a few sips from a bottle that I thought was a specimen of some strange insect in formaldihide. It was actually the local green tea where they put whole leaves steeped in hot water and top it up every so often with hot water from a thermos.
Back in a taxi we maneuvered our way back to the College through hair- raising traffic, cars dodged people, people and bikes dodged cars. It's Raffety's Rules, nobody seems to obey any road rules and if the road is clogged ahead, vehicles go around by going onto the other side of the road against the traffic. It was always preferable to take a bus than a taxi as it was safer for at least the buses obeyed the lights.
 Dinner was nice tonight and Vicki helped me to pick a dish and how to say no MSG. Vicky was the woman I corresponded with before I left for China. She and her husband Warren had been teaching in China for over 3 years and she was a mine of information. This was the first time I actually talked to Vicki on her own and she was very helpful. We went to a small market across the road at the West Gate of the college and I found some drawing paper and paints that were quite cheap. The fruit sellers and the food sellers came out at night opposite the West Gate with a good array of fruit and tasty snack food. The students mostly bought their food from these stalls as it was cheaper and better. I did try the food a couple of times and it was very good but I mostly stuck to the canteen or cooked some food myself from the array of fresh vegetables that were available.

Excepts from a China Diary 6th Sept.08

The Singapore to Shanghai flight left at 1.30am. Luckily the plane was half empty and there was plenty of room to spread out and attempt to get some sleep. Even with pillows and a blanket it was still hard to get comfortable and alas I didn't get two winks. Breakfast was served an hour or so before we were due to land but my appetite was non-existent and I picked at some scrambled egg and nibbled at a crust of a bread roll. Just before landing at Pudong I could see fields of some sort of crops, perhaps vegetables growing in long domed tents and paddy fields with small houses dotted here and there.

Pudong Shanghai airport was very new,  austere and devoid of colour with neatly uniformed airport staff who unsmilingly directed us to the barriers. This first impression of China agreed with the stereo-type I had in my mind and was a direct contrast to Singapore Airport with its dazzling lights and shops full of luxury consumer goods. The atmosphere in Singapore was enhanced by a girl playing a harp entertaining the milling travellers walking aimlessly through the airport wiling away their time until their flights were called. What added to the colour was the profusion of beautiful orchids of all shades lining the walkways.

However, I wanted to see the new China regardless of these first impressions. The staff were efficient and there was no trouble getting through customs and I think that was because we were probably the first flight in that day. I caught up with Sue again and we wheeled our loaded trolleys  out into the waiting crowd. We scanned the Chinese faces looking for signs with our names on but nobody had ours.  Sue badly needed to have a smoke and sought an area outside the building while I kept sleepy eyes on our bags and  on someone from the college who might recognise us. After about twenty minutes Sue returned with a young Chinese girl carrying a large sign with 5 inch letters PAULINE on one side and SUE on the other. Her English name was Kelly.

Kelly took us to a van with a waiting driver who helped us pile our bags into the back. I took the middle seat and curled up hoping to get some shut-eye during the next three hours it would take to get to Shaoxing. Once we got out of the airport we were in the countryside with fields and fields of vegetation beside rows of interesting shaped houses. I could see that the newer houses had retained some of the old Chinese features like roofs with turned up eaves and ornaments at the top that looked like small Eiffel Towers or cupolas. Occasionally there was an old traditional house that was quaint and exotic amongst the newer types.

The roads we travelled on were amazingly good as they were mostly freeways with toll booths. They rivalled the American freeways with plenty of lanes and the signs were in Chinese and English. I dosed during the journey but every now and then I'd get the sensation that we were speeding and it felt faster than 12oks per hour. I'd peek out the window at the passing scenery that was mostly small farms and villages. 

After some time we slowed down as we were driving through a city, Sue announced that  that it was Shaoxing so I sat up and took notice. I recognised street scenes like I'd seen in Sri Lanka with its small shops selling everything, people on bikes, rickshaws wobbling down the side roads and the continual sound of car horns. Further on we came to the centre of the city and unlike Sri Lankan cities, there were large modern multistoried office buildings, posh hotels and department stores. 

Then we turned into the Univesity campus at West Gate. Ahead were large blueish grey accommodation blocks for the students and a row of shops and offices. We crossed a small bridge over a canal and a little further we arrived at the  apartment block for foreign teachers. It had six floors and that's when Sue and I found out that we were both on the fifth floor, no lifts, ten flights of stairs with our luggage.  Suddenly help came from everywhere. We met Diana, her student friend Sunny, Warren and a couple of others who helped lug the bags upstairs.

By this I was truly wrung out compounded by the fact that this journey had started with my being sick the day before I was to leave and not so good the day of my flight. So I was glad to finally get to my accommodation. Sadly my first impressions I muttered to myself was 'it's a dive'. The floors were grotty and dusty and it was sparsely furnished. Later on I was able to look at it objectively and realised that it was OK and only needed a good clean up. It was actually well appointed with good solid furniture, TV, fridge/freezer, water dispenser, normal toilet and small but adequate kitchen.

Di invited us into her place for a cup of tea and it was good to chat to Sunny about the college from the students point of view.  After a short rest it was off to sample the canteen fare for lunch. The food looked good but my appetite was lacking and I picked at some chicken and rice. I rested for a couple of hours but was feeling a bit depressed so thought I'd chat to Di. I started to doubt my decision to come to China but Di said it was normal to feel that way and that it would take a couple of weeks to adjust to the change. After more talk and encouragement I decided that all I really needed was a good night's sleep.

Later Kelly came over to fix up the computer and the air conditioners followed by Joanna, the Head of the English Department who gave me a meal ticket and more info. That night we had dinner at the third floor canteen that was better than the other one as there was more choice and the food was freshly cooked while we waited. 

That was my first day in China, it would only get better.

First Blog

This is a new experience and I hope to write some interesting words.