Sketchcrawl Beijing

I really knew I was in the People's Republic of China when I couldn't access any blogs or Facebook. Nonetheless I went sketching. On the day of the Sketchcrawl I was at the Dirt Market (Panjiayuan) in Beijing, so named, I was told, because people used to raid ancient burial sites and bring the goods to market still coated with dirt. 

Its a huge antiques (mostly fakes, but good fakes) market in South Beijing that goes on row after row  with everything from snuff bottles, to beads, to jade, to furniture to statuary. 

From Wikipedia: It covers an area of 48,500 square meters, of which 26,000 square meters are for business. There are over 4,000 shops in the market, with nearly 10,000 dealers, 70% of whom come from all parts of China

798 Art Zone

 798 is the Contemporary Arts center in Beijing.

Former Bauhaus-designed factories were discovered after the Cultural Revolution 

and made into Galleries and Contemporary Museums. 

It's the hub of the very vital contemporary arts scene in China. Very exciting.

Wuzhen 

 a canal town in mid-south China, just outside Shanghai.Old wooden boats, stone structures. Very relaxing contrast to Beijing. 


I just returned and amidst catching up on my sleep, I'm working on organizing sketches and pics.  Will add a link to more later.