Chinese Arts And Crafts

Posted on October 19, 2023

10/19/98: Ruth went into Guilin on her own to buy our onward tickets. I stayed in so that I could catch up on writing… Later on, we walked around the village here and bought some beautiful little Chinese arts and crafts from local makers… We ate a delicious dinner of spring rolls and fried rice at a place called Minnie Mao’s. Of course, there is also a place called Mickey Mao’s up the street… I don’t think that Mr. Zedong would have approved…

NOTE: The photo above shows an old man taking a cigarette break while sitting on a stoop in Yangshuo, China.

 

Villagers shopping in the open-air market in Yangshuo.
Scenes in the open-air market of Yangshuo.
Doing laundry in a neighborhood, open-air wash basin.
When I was younger I worked in a print shop, and I have collected samples of wood and metal type ever since. I found this small gally of Mandarin character wood type in Yangshuo to add to my collection.
Detail photo of three-piece s of Mandarin character wood type.
Ruth bought this custom engraved marble name stamp for me as a birthday gift.
These two crystal bottles are only about 3.5 to 4 inches tall. The intricate paintings you see were done on the inside of the bottles through the tiny opening and with brushes that were single strands of hair!
This looks like an ordinary walnut, but when you look closely you can see that dozens of faces have been carved into the contours of the shell. See the embedded video below.