The Dirt Market
Today, Sara took me to Beijing's Panjiayuan, known in English as the Dirt Market. There's a ton of information about the market at the link above, and since details of purchases (two gifts) must necessarily be kept secret, this is probably best left as a mostly-picture post. At left are a series of gorgeous bracelets indicative of the amazing bounty of beads and different kinds of jewelry at this place.
There is also a ton of gorgeous pottery, most more ornate (but often less richly colored) than the vases shown here. You could decorate about 45 antique oriental mansions with the wares at Panjiayuan. Actually, probably more like 545.
As you can see, Panjiayuan is wicked crowded, but worth it... I'm going back at some point to do a little bit more shopping (I've been holding off on buying stuff until I can get a better sense of quality and price in China, so I make sure not to get ripped off) and to get my Chinese name carved in a seal stamp so I can sign/stamp my calligraphy (which I'm learning to do!!) after I create it!
Okay, this is just for fun, and mostly for my sister, but I saw these and had to photograph them. I was perplexed by these small cages for a little while -- they looked too small to hold birds, yet not colorful enough to be lanterns. You just never know what you're going to find at Panjiayuan -- many of the articles look as though they've been dug up from the ground (and maybe they have literally been unearthed, from old wealthy homes abandoned during the rise of the Communist Party or valuable cultural relics saved from desctruction by burial during the Cultural Revolution, who knows). I asked Sara, who immediately replied: "Those? Oh, they're for holding crickets." Of course! Crickets, a traditional symbol of luck for the Chinese, were often kept in little cages like these ones in the old days (and probably still are in more rural provinces), and I'd seen these cages before -- not in person, but in Mulan. :)
posted by Kelly @ 4:43 下午
<< Home