On my visit to the fifth floor of Bairong World Trade Center, a shop full of decorations reflecting rural people and the old Beijing image caught my eye. I didn't hesitate to step in.

A shop assistant greeted me and told me that this was the wholesale department of Xiangrong Art Studio. This venue features two rooms - one for pottery decorations, the other for paintings. All the works here are made by folk artists.

I liked their decorations, for they reminded me of the old Beijing. Some of their displays are miniature gates of the old Beijing courtyards. I spent my childhood in a traditional courtyard not far from Tian’anmen Square, so these miniature gates really brought back old memories. The grey bricks, the wooden gates, the gate piers, even the patches of moss, are all reminiscent of my old life long gone now. Miniature courtyard gates were priced at RMB 150 or 180.

A miniature village courtyard looked lovely too. The enclosure was built of stones, and on the front wall of the cottage hung strings of golden maize and red peppers. The villagers, made of pottery, looked quite happy in their simple clothes.

Each of their items is original and unique, so I bet you will not regret taking a visit to this outlet.

What I appreciated

Folk art, original design

What customers appreciate

The old Beijing style, and rural style

Known as the "health-giving tea" and "beauty-slimming tea" in China, Puer tea is something you won't regret trying out. This famous tea from the Yunnan province of southern China gives you both taste and health benefits.

For tea-loving tourists, the large Yunnan Pu'er Tea Market offers convenient location near the Tian'anmen Square. It is here on the second floor where I found Leyuanyu Pu'er Tea Shop.

The shopkeeper, Mr. Wang, warmly invited me to sit down and sample their fermented and unfermented teas. Decorated with unique items from the hometown of Pu’er tea, Leyuanyu provided me a great tea-tasting experience. The stone elephants, wooden decorations, and green plants soon led me into a relax state. Fermented tea looks red, and tastes kinda sweet. Unfermented tea looks like amber. They taste somewhat bitter at first, but give a sweet after-taste.

Mr. Wang said all their Pu'er tea comes from naturally grown trees without any human interference. They offer two famous brands: "National Chinese" and "Image of Washan Mountain". The former has won many prizes in Pu'er tea competitions.

Looking around, I found a wide variety of compressed Pu’er tea on display. The compressed nature makes them easy to carry. Some even come in nice small packages fit for presents or souvenirs. Prices are reasonable. One particular 250g "Tea Horse Ancient Road Pu’er Brick Tea" cost only RMB 50, for instance.

What I appreciated

Quality Pu'er tea, a wide variety to choose from

What customers appreciate

Prize-winning Pu'er tea, natural and health-giving tea

You An Kite is a shop located at You An Men Wai street, that sells kites of various types, large and small, all unique and beautiful. A large kite can be as large as the dragon kite, 100 feet in length, with hundreds of rings circling its body. A small kite can be as small as a miniature kite with a length of 0.33 feet.

One traditional Beijing kite is "Sha Yan". It is a lovely kite with a swallow's head on its main body, and four wings painted with different animals, like dragon, fish or bat, which respectively represents good luck, wealth and happiness. People believe that “Sha Yan” can bring good luck to any place it flies by. There are a lot of “Sha Yans” in the shop, and according to the shop owner, one such kite is always handmade, with bamboo as it frame and silk as its covering.

There are also kites that are machine-made. One such kite is in the shape of a triangle, and uses iron as its frame and ninon as its covering. You can easily fly it in the sky.

The smallest kites are the miniature kites with a length of only 0.33 feet. They look exactly like "Sha Yan", with their whole body painted with cute animals. They are priced at RMB 20 each.

Other beautiful kites are in the shapes of butterfly, dragonfly, fish or eagle. They are all handmade and with gorgeously painted wings.

What I appreciate:
Handmade kites with gorgeous painting

What customers appreciate:
Traditional technique, modern design

Lijiang in Yunnan Province is home to Naxi, an old ethnic minority group that holds a mysterious Dongba culture. I took a visit to Dong Ba E Zu, a handicraft shop in the 798 Art Zone, and it was a colorful experience.

The shops had many interesting items that had different colors and fancy shapes. Among them were pottery vases and teapots, one of them looked like a fence, another like a castle. A fence-shape teapot is an old item used by Naxi people. When the lid was removed, the air was instantly filled with the fragrance of the tea. Prices for these vases and teapots vary from RMB 300 to RMB 1000.

The woodcarvings also fascinated me. I found a round piece of woodcarving work that depicts an old story from this unique culture. Another piece features a goddess with an exaggerated bottom, symbolizing Naxi people's worship for reproduction. Prices for a woodcarving item is about several hundred yuan.

The batik fabrics and batik garments there were also lovely. A violet pleated skirt got my attention, one that is wholly handmade. I liked it because it not only looks Naxi, but also looks metropolitan on a Beijing street.

What surprised me were the silver jewelry items hung on the wall. They were twinkling necklaces and earrings. The earrings were so huge! - And they were just for ordinary Naxi women.

What I appreciate:
Unique culture, excellent handwork

What customers appreciate:
Handicrafts representing Dongba culture

At a quiet corner of the 798 Art Zone, where most people don't notice, is an embroidery studio owned by Ms. Zhu Shouzhen. It would not have been a quiet corner, had people passing there known what fantastic embroidery works they could find in the shop.

The embroidery works on display were done by Ms. Zhu and her students. They come in four different types: original embroidery work, embroidery painting, portrait embroidery and embroidered cloth like curtains, sheets and tablecloth.

One piece that immediate caught my attention featured a girl with long blond hair, the  needlework of which was so delicate that I could even count the number of hairs. Another piece that featured a girl was a huge one, 10 x 5 feet in size, and took Ms. Zhu and her students many years to complete.

Portrait embroidery was what made this shop unique. Highlighting this uniqueness were a portrait of Elizabeth II, a portrait of Pabol Picasso,  and many other portraits of foreign dignitaries. In fact, Ms. Zhu was asked by these foreign dignitaries to make portraits for themselves. They include the president of Ireland and the president of Kazakhstan. The portrait of Pabol Picasso won Ms. Zhu a 3rd prize in the 26th World Art Festival in Britain.

Born in Suzhou, Ms. Zhun learned embroidery since her childhood, and combined her embroidery techniques with those of the western art in making her embroidery work. In the past 20 years, she has won numerous awards at home and abroad.

I checked out a bundle of silk thread used for embroidery before I left. One of Ms. Zhu's students told me that a piece of such beautiful silk thread could be divided into 256 threads. And in total 10,000 colors of silk thread are used in their embroidery. What an amazing art!

Ms. Zhu takes custom orders. You can send your photos to have your own embroidery portrait done. Prices for embroidery works range from several thousand to one million yuan.

What I appreciate:
Beautiful embroidery, Sophisticated skill

What customers appreciate:
Beautiful embroidery, overseas shipment

A Tibetan handicraft shop is in Fangyuan West Road, named "Jia Na Ma Ni". "Jia Na" means "monk"in Tibetan, and "Ma Ni" is the stones Tibetans pile together for prayer.

The shop owner had worked in Tibet for many years. In her recent visits to Tibet and the area around it, she brought back a lot of colorful items from Tibet and India.

The carpets there were very eye-catching. They are made of wool, cashmere, silk, yak hair or camel hair, and have sizes varying from 2 x 3 feet to 5.5 x 8 feet. Because of a special process in the making, the colors of the carpets won't easily fade. I couldn't get my eyes off a 5.5 x 8 feet red carpet, which has a typical Tibetan style and beautiful vertical stripes at the four sides. I couldn't get my hand off it, too, because 30 % of its material is silk, so it felt so soft and so warm. The price is RMB 25,000.

Jewelry there come in the forms of necklaces, earrings and bracelets, which are made from coral, agate, pearls or pipal seed. Tibetans believe that wearing such jewelry can bring them good luck. Prices range from RMB 100 to RMB 200.

For other beautiful items, there are the spoons made from yaks' horn, which are rarely seen in Beijing, and some colorful scarves, bed linens and hats that are from India.

What I appreciate:
Ethnic Tibetan handicrafts of fine workmanship

What customers appreciate:
Tibetan handicrafts, reasonable price

Huo Shu Tang: a snapshot of China’s finest handicrafts

As the Chinese place much emphasis on meanings behind objects, one of the best ways to discover China is to know Chinese handicrafts. Handicrafts are like kaleidoscopes, through which you can see the richness of Chinese culture.

Huo Shu Tang, though a small shop, offers more than 100 types of ethnic handicrafts from all over China, most of which are rarely seen. Items here include cloth works, batiks, bean arrangements, clay figurines, paper-cuts, shadow puppets, and embroideries. All of them are made by highly skilled craftsmen.

I found myself amused by a clay work of a thumb (RMB 300), which featured a tiny frog at the tip. It turned out to be a prize-winning work in the shop, and it means “approval and appreciation”. I also appreciated a cute bean arrangement work named “Countryside Chophouse” (RMB 280), which used beans in various sizes, shapes and colors to feature people, animals, and other objects.

Prices vary quite a bit. For example, a cloth tiger costs RMB 30, while a fine piece of jade engraving costs several thousand RMBs.

The shop owner is an interesting person who speaks a little English.

What I appreciate

A wide variety of handicrafts, the bean arrangement works

What customers appreciate

Exquisite Chinese handicrafts, quality service

A ceramic ornament is made of ceramic scraps bound with silver. Recently, it has become a fad among Beijingers.
 
At the 798 Art Zone, I found a shop called Ancient Ceramic Fashion, which features beautiful ceramic ornaments. They offer necklaces, bracelets, rings and hairpins, all made of ancient ceramic scraps unearthed from the relics of old kilns.

One particular bracelet was especially eye-catching. The middle is an oval-shaped ceramic with a beautiful pattern of lotus. It matched well with the huge silver band carved with leaves.

A brooch in the shape of a bird also looked cute. The body was weaved with silver wires. The artist used an ancient technique for making phoenix coronets.

Every step is done by hand, due to the delicacy of ceramic straps.

Prices vary from RMB 600 to RMB 2000.

What I appreciate:
Unique ceramic ornaments, beautiful design

What customers appreciate:
Ceramic ornaments reflecting  ancient culture

As a versatile artist, Mr. Wang Hongxiang is good at both sculpturing and various styles of paintings. At his studio on Liu Li Chang street, you can get both a painting of yourself or a clay figure in your likeness. In addition, Mr. Wang offers a large variety of calligraphies, oil paintings, traditional Chinese paintings, and clay sculptures.

His desks are filled with various clay portraits. They are depicted very vividly, especially the eyes. One figure depicting a middle-aged man really stood out. You can even count his eyebrow hairs.

It doesn’t take a long time for Mr. Wang to produce a clay portrait. You just need to sit here for 30 minutes, and your portrait will be complete.

The clay is specially processed. Not being fired in a high temperature, yet the clay sculptures are quite firm.  Each one costs from RMB 100 to RMB 200, depending on the size. 

Mr. Wang's painting works combines the art of oil paintings with that of traditional Chinese paintings. Each one is inscribed with beautiful Chinese calligraphy. If you want a photo painted, but can't visit the shop, you can send your photo by mail. A regular portrait painting costs RMB 500.

What I appreciate:
Fine workmanship

What customers appreciate:
Fine workmanship, reasonable price

Even within the Liulichang Culture Street, a center of traditional Chinese craftwork, artistry and antiques, Mr. Xu Bi's calligraphy shop is quite unique. For his writing brush weighs 4.5 kg, or 10 pounds.

Mr. Xu told me he had used this heavy brush for 17 years. With it, he can write a Chinese character 7 feet tall and 3 feet wide.

The heavy brush is made up of a regular brush and a piece of iron. Writing with it exercised Mr. Xu's wrist to the point where he can now write for several hours without feeling exhaustion.

In addition to the large characters, I also found some calligraphy works featuring characters which are as small as an ant. Mr. Xu said he use the tip of a brush to write these tiny characters.

Mr. Xu started to learn calligraphy at the age of six. In the past forty years, he has never stopped practicing it. His calligraphies adopt poems and essays in ancient Chinese literature.

Prices of his Calligraphy vary quite a bit. My favorite work, which featured 5000 tiny characters, cost RMB 5000.

His shop also offers a special service: designing signatures for customers.  It costs RMB 100. With the Olympics held in Beijing, this business is doing quite well.

What I appreciate:
Great art of calligraphy, calligraphy shown on the spot

What customers appreciate:
Names written in beautiful calligraphy