798 Art District

I FOUND MY SHADOW PUPPETS!!!!! IT'S SO EXCITING!!!!

So, I went to the 798 Art District in Beijing today with eight friends. My roommate organized the trip, and since it rained so much yesterday we weren't planning on going because it was supposed to rain again today, but it didn't so she woke me up and we went.

First of all, yesterday's rain was unbelievably cleansing. When I went outside this morning, the sky was visible and blue, the sun was out and strong, and everything was beautiful. It made me realize that the air had been particularly bad the last few days. I always get so excited when I can see the sky here because quite often it is cloudy or smoggy or some combination of the two. It was a great day to be outside. Oh, and it wasn't terribly hot either, which was even better.

After arriving via two subway lines and a taxi, we started walking around the area. We went into a bunch of galleries and shops, and from what other people have been talking about after they went, I don't think we even saw the same things, which speaks to how extensive the district is. The first gallery we went to was art about contemporary Asia, and I really liked a lot of the paintings. The next gallery had paintings and sculptures reminiscent of an artist whose name eludes me, but he was European and went to the Caribbean and had a very fusion style.

The shops we saw included an ocarina store when the salesperson was playing along with recorded music, a hipster record store, lots of clothing and jewelry stores, and some craft stores with journals, sketchbooks, and other art supplies. I found some painted bookmarks in a shop that I thought were really beautiful. I'm either going to keep them or give them to friends as souvenirs, but either way, they are really pretty. I also found a keychain that replicates the sign for the subway stop near campus, and I got it for myself because it has sentimental value.

I found my first shadow puppet in a shop that also sold things like t-shirts and kaleidoscopes. They had a stack of them sitting on the table and I looked through all of them before choosing. It is a woman with a very detailed headdress and delicate hands. We continued onto a few more places, then walked into a store that had a wall full of shadow puppets. Some were colored and others not, but because the colors of the Chinese puppets are so distinct, that was the kind I wanted to get. I bought a similar package, but this one had a pair of puppets, a man and a woman, equally ornate. I almost got a dragon, but I liked these better. If I see a dragon I might get it, but now I have three shadow puppets, so I probably don't need it. None of them came with rods, so if I do want to use them, I'd have to attach them myself, but all the joints are there. The shadow puppet was a souvenir I really wanted to get for myself because I find the Chinese tradition to be particularly wonderful. I will be going to a puppet show in the next three weeks, and I'm really excited about it. Ok, nerd-out over.

The art we saw was really cool. There were different types of things in different areas. For instance, there was a red-painted sculpture of caged dinosaurs outside one gallery. One space had really cool paintings of images distorted by rain. Another had a truck made out of bone-shaped medium. There were photographs and prints of all kinds. Outside, there were sculptures of soldiers, faces, ordinary people, a fist. I really liked walking around here! 

When it got to be dinner time, we went for Korean barbeque. I had never eaten Korean food before, but since three of are party were Korean, I was really excited to try. We ordered a bunch of different meats, and my favorite was the marinated chicken, but I also liked the marinated beef a lot. We had a fermented bean soup and a pumpkin soup that were both extremely delicious. My favorite side dish was a noodle salad, and we also grilled some vegetables that were awesome. The format of Korean barbeque makes for a very social experience. We were at the restaurant for probably two hours, and we were just eating and enjoying being together.

We got home from our day around 9PM, I did my homework, and then went to bed.

Today is awesome because I found meaningful souvenirs for myself while spending time with a really great group of friends!