Incense burner and huā 花 niǎo 鸟 chóng 虫 yú 鱼

Incense burner from Hua Niao Chong Yu ©IBM

Hua niao yu chong ("flower, bird, fish and insect") is a common expression for a special kind of Chinese culture where the practitioner indulges in raising and growing small plants and animals, recreating a simile of nature in an urban environment. Crickets, birds, turtle, goldfish and ornamental carp are the typical animals and the flowers, of course, are endless, although leaning towards ones that have symbolic meaning like peonies, orchids, narcissus etc. Without knowing it I have been trying to create my own little hua niao yu chong world on our apartment terrace. I have a pond for my eight koi carp, flowers and plants galore and numerous trinkets to play with when drinking tea (usually coffee for me). I perfectly understand the need to retreat from the maddening crowd and spend time surrounded by beautiful things. This ideal life was of course reserved only for the rich in the China of the past, but today anyone with a few yuan can put a goldfish in a bowl of water and watch it swim around in circles. 

As I mentioned yesterday I have found a wonderful shop in one of Jinli Street's newly opened back alleys where I can buy all sorts of delightful ceramics from Jǐngdézhèn in Jiāngxī Province. The name of the shop is appropriately called Niao Hua Chong Yu and they have created a wonderful logo from the characters, painting them to look like what they represent (bird, flower and fish are originally pictographic representations. I don't know about worm/chong though, here is how it is written in traditional chinese 蟲). There is a very Japanese feel to this little shop, and I have to force myself to stay away. Latest purchase (actually my mother bought it for me as an early birthday present) is the incense burner above (xiāng lú 香炉). On the way home it only took a second to buy sandalwood incense (tán xiāng 檀香) in one of the many Tibetan stores on Wuhou Hengjie. 

huà niǎo chóng yú 花鸟虫鱼.

Check out their website: hcny.blogbus.com

# 23 Today's picture 090220

Chinese Blue Qing Dynasty and modern © Ingrid Booz Morejohn

# 22 Today's picture 090219

The Sunday Bazaar, Kashgar, Xinjiang ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

Panjiayuan Market Beijing

Panjiayuan Market, Beijing ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

Panjiayuan Market (潘家园旧货市场 Panjiayuan Jiuhuo Shichang) in Beijing is one of the most interesting markets in China. I try and pay a visit to Panjiayuan every time I come to Beijing, and every visit is different from the previous, with new bargains to be had and new trends to be caught. Much of the souverirs that you find in other tourist shops in Beijing are sourced here by shopsellers, at much lower prices and in a greater selection. Panjiayuan has seen huge development in recent years, but many years ago it started as a cheap market with all the goods laid out on the ground. Locals knew it as Dirt Market or Ghost Market (because of its early morning hours). Today Panjiayuan is an established market area with covered walkways and numerous enclosed shops. The prices are still much cheaper than regular stores but the end price is up to your skills as a bargainer. You can find just about anything here to tickle your fantasy of recreating a little bit of olde China back home: "antique" furniture (newly produced in old style), lanterns, ceramics, sculptures and buddha heads (an entire parking lot full of them), embroidery, boxes, knick-knacks, paintings, trinkets and doo-dads, you want it, they've got it. A recent trend are fake paintings of famous Chinese painters. The originals sell for millions, at Panjiayuan you can get them for a few hundred. Name your artist or just bring a picture of the painting you want to grace your living room wall and they will produce it for you. You must, of course, leave your morals and intellectual copyright scruples aside.

Panjiayuan is open all days of the week, but it is only on weekends that all the stalls are open and all the small sellers that lay out their goods on the ground are present. This is the time to visit. Come as early as possible, the first weekend sellers arrive at 4.30 am! Weekdays: 8.30 am - 6 pm. Caveat emptor: 99% percent of the so-called antiques at Panjiayuan are fakes, set your initial offer price with that in mind.

Address: Southeast corner of the Third Ring Road, just east of Longtan Park (潘家园桥西).

©Ingrid Booz Morejohn