Li Qun 力群 Wood Cuts 木刻绘画

Here are just a few of the beautiful wood cuts we were able to enjoy when we visited the rambling and extraordinary Wang Family Home in Shanxi Province a few hours from Pingyao.

We had no idea that there was a Li Qun exhibition on when we visited. It was a fantastic surprise. Some of his wood cuts are really stunning works of art.

For more on Li Qun Click here: I hope you enjoy the photos we took. I am afraid there is some reflective glare on one or two of the photos due to the wood cuts being protected by glass.

Here is a summery of his philosophy on art:

Art for Serving the Masses

The following text comes from: http://en.cafa.com.cn/iconic-chinese-woodcuts-artist

“Li strongly believes that art should serve the interests of the masses–the workers, peasants and soldiers. The masses should be the only subjects of art. According to Mao, the lives of the masses must be the sole source of the raw material of art, and the artist’s work is to process the raw material made from observations of the masses into a more typical and idealized form.

Chinese New Year 春节: The Nightmare of Going Home

Chinese New Year

The Nightmare of Going Home

By Train

Getting train tickets in China has always been a hit and miss operation, especially if you want sleeper berths for long distance trains. At Chinese New Year, getting a ticket becomes something akin to winning the lottery.

This BBC clip sums the situation up quite well, and shows the growing divide between the haves and have nots in modern China, where just having access to a computer is an advantage。

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25911127

Shangri-La goes up in Flames

The End of Zhongdian/ Dukezong

Shangri-La goes up in Flames: Reports from the Chinese Press and Western News agencies talk of the Tibetan town of Dukezong (previouly Zhongdian) being destroyed by fire. It appears that the fire started in a backpacker hostel though this still has to be confirmed.

Memories of Zhongdian

Our first attempt to visit the town in 1991 was thwarted when the police pulled us of the bus just after Tiger Leap Gorge and sent us back to Lijiang. Zhongdian/ Dukezong was still apparently closed to Foreigners then. Eventually, we got there in 2007 on our way to Tibet.

Ganden Sumtsellin Gompa not destroyed by the fire in Zhongdian/Dukezong — Ganden Sumtselling Gompa not destroyed by the fire in Zhongdian/Dukezong

When we visited in 2007 we found an old wooden town (surrounded by a drab new town) that had been well-restored with a low key and laid back feel. There were some wonderful old Tibetan mansions around town as well as some nice bars and cafes in the old buildings. We especially remember the wild mushroom hot-pot and the Tibetan run wine bar that sold locally produced wine and Yak Cheese.

On the Road Again: Guangdong Province

Guangdong Province is our destination this year and a much shorter visit than normal. We plan to base ourselves for almost a week in Guangzhou taking time to enjoy the Dim Sum and making various excursions. High on our list are the Diaolou near Kaiping; the river side temples near Qingyuan and the Bagua Villages near Zhaoqing. If there is time we would like to pop into the little known Hakka area of southern Jiangxi province and visit the Tulou (Hakka earth buildings) near Longnan.

Finally, we’ll finish our trip visiting friends in Beijing after taking the bullet train from Guangzhou.

Mo Yan 莫言 wins the Nobel Prize in Literature 2012

Author: Pen name: Mo Yan 莫言. Real name: Guǎn Móyè 管谟业

Anyone who has read our Chinese book review section will know that I’m a great fan of the Chinese author Mo Yan. So I would just like so say how happy I am that he has been recognized for his great works. Hopefully, I’ll now be able to find a copy of his ‘Republic of Wine’ a little more easily.

Below are the reviews of two of Mo Yan’s books that are on our blog:

Big Breasts and Wide Hips丰乳肥臀

The Garlic Ballads /天堂蒜薹之歌 by Mo Yan莫言

Zhangye Danxia Landforms Geology Park

Zhangye Danxia Landforms Geology Park (张掖丹霞地貌)

Gansu province near Zhangye

(张掖丹霞地貌)

Lunar Landscape at Danxia Landforms (张掖丹霞地貌)

For more on Zhangye and around click here: Zhangye / Mati Si

Zhangye Danxia Landforms Geology Park (张掖丹霞地貌) Is now firmly on the must see list in Gansu province. When we visited back in 2001 it was still under contruction and not a single tourist was there. I must admit that when I see recent photos of the Danxia Rocks it looks as if a coat of paint has been added. Yes they were colourful but not that colourful. Or is it photoshop?

Danxia Landform Geology Park: Building It

Zhangye Danxia Landforms Geology Park: A great day trip from Zhangye

On our last day (in Zhangye), we decided to visit this newly developed geo-park, a scenic area of multi-coloured rocks, which has been put on the map by Zhang Yimou 张艺谋 who shot (part of) his film San Qiang Pai An Jing Qi 三枪拍案惊奇 here. This film, which is known by the titles A Woman, A Gun And A Noodle Shop 三枪拍案惊奇, as well as A Simple Noodle Story, is Zhang’s personal take on the Coen brothers debut film Blood Simple.

The geology park is about 40 kms, or an hour’s drive from Zhangye, in the opposite direction from Mati Si.

We are told to get on a bus, and after a short drive we are let off at a viewing platform, from where we gaze at the amazing scenery.

The landscape is positively lunar, or something out of a sci-fi pic: we are surrounded by row after row of reddish rock formations, streaked with pink, white, yellow, grey and green.

Yunlong 云龙 and Taijitu 太极图

Location: Yunlong 云龙 Yunnan Province

China, Yunnan province, 150 kilometres Northwest of Dali.

Yunlong 云龙 and Taijitu 太极图: Having arrived safely in Yunlong after a long and somewhat eventful journey from Xiaguan (Dali City), we set about visiting the sights and exploring the town, which to be honest doesn’t take very long, as there is precious little to see or do.

It’s not an unpleasant place, but definitely a little dull. There’s a nice area by the river for strolling and people watching, but entertainment options and restaurants are conspicuous by their absence.

A Great Photo

Hard training

A Great Photo: This photo was published in the China Daily this summer and shows Chinese security personal under-going training before the Asian Games in Guangzhou.

At first I thought it was a photo of another mudslide until on inspection it turned out to be a training exercise.

On The Road Again

Tomorrow we take off for yet another trip to China. We plan to combine it with a visit to Myanmar. We hope to go overland but this is increasingly looking impossible.

Our plan is to visit Beijing and then take the train to Kunming.

From Kunming we’ll try to get to a number of places in Yunnan, including: Heijing,Yunlong & Nuodeng, The Nujiang Valley,Tongcheng and around, Ruili (if it is possible to cross into Myanmar).

We still have a lot of material pending to put up on the blog, which we’ll do in October. I am not sure how much we can put up while we are on the road.

Seng-ze Gyanak Mani Wall outside Yushu Collapses

Seng-ze Gyanak Mani Wall outside Yushu Collapses: Parts of the amazing Seng-ze Gyanak Mani Wall outside Yushu collapsed during the earthquake. The tradegy is not only for Tibetan heritage, but also for human life, as we understand at least one woman was crushed to death by the falling stones.

Seng-ze Gyanak Mani Wall yushu — Seng-ze Gyanak Mani Wall Yushu

The Seng-ze Gyanak Mani Wall was a special place of worship for Tibetans. Pilgrims travel hundreds, if not thousands, of miles to walk around this astonishing pile of stones. My photos don’t do it justice.

What is a Mani Wall?

Mani Walls are rows of piled-up stones, engraved or painted with orations. The size of such Mani Walls can vary from the humblest pile to a circuit of several hundred meters. Pilgrims walk round these walls of holy stones in a clockwise direction, uttering prayers and twirling prayer wheels.

The Seng-ze Gyanak Mani Wall was truly enormous; a sign by its side proudly proclaimed that it is 283 metres long, 74 metres wide, 2,5 metres high and consists of 2 billion stones! What’s more, the Wall was still growing, as we witnessed with our own eyes: devout pilgrims contribute new stones everyday, which are hoisted up on to the pile carefully. The billions of beautifully carved stones carry the Buddhist prayers “Om Mani Padme Hum” or, “Hail to the Jewel in the Lotus”, and other orations.

I’m sure that whatever the damage caused by the earthquake, the indomitable spirit of the people who live in this harsh yet spectualar land, will rebuild and continue to build the Mani Wall.

Click here for more pictures.

Click here for AP photos:

Category: Uncategorized

Li Qun Wood Cuts

Li Qun 力群 Wood Cuts 木刻绘画

in the Wang Jia Mansion

Li Qun 力群 Wood Cuts 木刻绘画

Here is a summery of his philosophy on art:

Art for Serving the Masses

The following text comes from: http://en.cafa.com.cn/iconic-chinese-woodcuts-artist

Chinese New Year 春节: The Nightmare of Going Home

Chinese New Year

The Nightmare of Going Home

By Train

Shangri-La goes up in Flames

Shangri-La goes up in Flames

The End of Zhongdian/ Dukezong

Memories of Zhongdian

On the Road Again: Guangdong Province

Mo Yan 莫言 wins the Nobel Prize in Literature 2012

Author: Pen name: Mo Yan 莫言. Real name: Guǎn Móyè 管谟业

Big Breasts and Wide Hips丰乳肥臀

The Garlic Ballads /天堂蒜薹之歌 by Mo Yan莫言

Zhangye Danxia Landforms Geology Park

Zhangye Danxia Landforms Geology Park (张掖丹霞地貌)

Gansu province near Zhangye

(张掖丹霞地貌)

For more on Zhangye and around click here: Zhangye / Mati Si

Zhangye Danxia Landforms Geology Park: A great day trip from Zhangye

Yunlong 云龙 and Taijitu 太极图

Yunlong 云龙 and Taijitu 太极图

Location: Yunlong 云龙 Yunnan Province

China, Yunnan province, 150 kilometres Northwest of Dali.

A Great Photo

Hard training

On The Road Again

Seng-ze Gyanak Mani Wall outside Yushu Collapses

Seng-ze Gyanak Mani Wall outside Yushu Collapses

What is a Mani Wall?