Our Journey to Aeryn Elisabeth
The Great Wall and Shopping
Our Journey to Aeryn Elisabeth
Okay, Everyone knows the Great Wall and its very breathtaking and everything...but geez if you decide to go out and climb this sucker make sure you are in great shape. First you get out there and you’ll notice the wall goes up the mountain...let me repeat that....it goes up the mountain. Also, the stairs are irregular and at some points they slant down (makes for a slippery experience)...and at some points you will have to take varying steps up and down and hold your body weight while you wait for the slow pokes in front of you to move. Oh yeah, one more thing....the hand rails were made for people who are much shorter than myself. So, if you're about 5'7" or taller be prepared to kind of go up this thing stooped over since you have to reach down to touch the rail and yes...you are going to want to hang onto the rail.
So why climb this thing? Because it’s there? Nope, because if you don’t then you’re not a “Hero” (there are signs around which take shots at your manhood if you don’t go on up) so does peer pressure work? Not on me, but I figured I’m not in China everyday and I might as well not wimp out and just do this thing. By the way it took me over an hour and it wiped me out!
Friday October 26, 2007
The St Regis Dragon
Here we are just waiting for our guide to take us out today.
Today’s itinerary: The Jade Factory, The Great Wall and the Cloisonne Factory....sorta sounds expensive to me.
Master Sculptor
Here a chinese sculptor carves an elaborate souvenir.
The ball is actually 5-6 interlocked balls carved out of 1 block of Jade!
The Interlocked Ball Detail
The master carves from the outside in and each ball can move freely from the next. By the way...did I say it was carved from it’s carved from one piece of jade?
Carving a lion
Nope...didn't get 1 of these but I kinda wish I
did since I like the way they look.
The Jade Factories Showroom
The factory is owned by the state and is filled with all kinds of goodies...Were we good? Nope we snagged a few choice souvenirs.
A Slew of interlocking Balls
Each ball could take up to 2 weeks to produce.
I picked up one of these balls....soon to add to my growing collection of office playthings
Chinese Lettuce = Good Fortune
Your supposed to point the leaves towards your door and the other end at you. This is supposed to funnel good fortune to you. As for me, I'm going to take a more direct route and aim mine at the nearest GE Officer and the other end at my wallet...
I’ll let you know how it works.
Packing Up our Purchases:
We did VERY well. The master negotiator in our family is Denise while I’m good with the numbers and renovating the house.
D gets us stuff for a good price. This time around she got our purchases for more than 50% off the original price. When you see the stuff you’ll be amazed. They packed it up so fast I couldn’t get a photo....but I’ll put up pics when we get home.
Funny story with one of the pieces. Another tourist wanted one of the pieces we picked up and when her shop assistant came looking for it she saw it was with the other set of purchases we had just bought....the look she gave D was priceless. You gotta be quick with D in the house ....nobody can go into my wallet and whip out a credit card or cash faster than my wife...noooooo body!!!
The Great Wall
After the Jade stop we continued up to the Great Wall. About 90min from Beijing.
Split Pants
Word of advice watch where you step. The Chinese have split pants to train their kids...nuff said
The Great Wall at Badaling
This part of the wall is very close to Beijing and is very commercial. Lots of vendors which sell fruit, water and even certificates to prove you climbed up or if you're smart just bring your camera and take pictures. Whatever works for you.
Our Guide Christine
IAAP provided a guide for us and she is just great. Christine basically took care of us during our Beijing trip. She gave us great insight into Chinese culture and hooked us up with good vendors... and she helped us communicate and barter with them.
Climbing the Wall
If you choose to climb it then be prepared for these two sights.
Right - a very steep set of stairs and Left- a nice little station where you can rest. In fact there were quite a few of these little areas to rest and pace yourself as you went up the wall.
Near the Top
When I got near the top I turned and took this shot. You can’t even see over the edge where the stair case is....it’s that steep. We had a foggy day so the other side was hard to distinguish.
After the Wall We’re Off to the Cloisonne Shop
Cloisonne is a form of traditional Chinese vase. It’s made out of hammered copper and kiln fired ceramics and paints that gives the pieces very beautiful finishes. Each piece can take weeks if not months to craft. The artwork on each piece is very detailed.
The Cloisonne Shop and Factory
Here the store guide gives us an intro into what Cloisonne is.
Starts with Hammered Copper
Craftsmen hammer the shape and solder the pieces to form the shape.
Add in More Copper to Hold Pigment
Chinese “Krazy Glue” holds the copper forms that define the artwork. The pieces of copper both define the final picture and also "cup" the pigment.
All Laid Out
They use carbon paper to trace the image onto the form. Add the glue and bend the copper strips in place.
Adding in the Color
The color is added by brushing it into the bent copper forms. Done by hand the material is brushed into place.
Adding in the Color II
Here is some more detail of the piece being colored.
Adding the Glaze
Glaze is then brushed liberally onto the piece and preparing it for the ...
Into the Fire
Each piece is dropped into the kiln to fire the piece and give it the final appearance.
Cloisonne is Hot Stuff....Literally
Each piece must be continuously turned. Here are 3 vases that have just come out of the kiln.
Final Sanding
The last step is to sand (with a stone) the vase.
Last Stop...The Shop
At the end of the tour, you guessed it the shop store.
And of course we did do a little bit of damage 8)
Now in terms of bargaining here’s how D does her work. Listen to the price then offer them more than 60% off the cost. Then be prepared to walk away.
In fact she did walk-away and the attendant somehow got in front of us and was waiting for us near the door..they sure are sneaky.
In our case, we happened to want a pair of 3' tall vases to place over our closets i n CT.
Did we get them? You bet your buns we did.
Was it easy? Not really. Lots of gamesmanship and hemming and hawing going about. We finally made our way out the store before we struck our last deal.
Don’t Make’Em Like This Anymore
Our first piece was over 30 yrs old.
There wasn’t a match and we instantly could see why. The pattern on this vase was very complex and wrapped completely around the vase.
Our Second Piece
Because we couldn’t match the first one exactly we picked a newer design which had the same exact shape and colors but essentially had a different theme.
Day 3
Day 1
