| |

River Towns

ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — ZHOUZHUANG, no. 39

river towns

On the second to last day in Shanghai, Wang arranged for me to join a student bus trip to Zhouzhuang, ninety minutes west of Shanghai. Blurry photographs taken through the bus window were washed out even more by the overcast day. In small corners of the images the camera caught people working — on rivers, in fields, and laying tile. They appeared to have stepped directly from the Qingming scroll of 1100 AD, seen the day before at the China Art Museum.

river towns

river towns

river towns

river towns

river towns

river towns

river towns

river towns

river towns

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

To see all blog posts in this topic, select tab above marked TRAVELS > CHINA.

Save

Save

Similar Posts

  • | |

    Shanghai Old City

    ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — SHANGHAI, no. 45 The area within the original city wall of Shanghai remained exclusively Chinese during the period of foreign concessions that followed the defeat of the Qing dynasty by the British Empire in 1839. Unfortunately most of the old city has been replaced by a new city that pretends to be old — in a completely artificial way. It is a commercial development designed to accommodate hordes of tourists. Beyond…

  • | |

    The Bund

    ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — SHANGHAI, no. 43 On my last day in Shanghai and first time in a week I found myself unexpectedly on my own for two hours in the city. I set out to walk the length of Nanjing Road to the Bund, mostly emptied of tourists by Monday morning rain. The Peace Hotel, formerly Sassoon House and Cathay Hotel, has a storied past. It was meticulously restored in 2007 to it’s 1926-29…

  • | |

    Art Districts

    ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — BEIJING, no. 4 On Saturday the Inside Out Art Museum academic director Liang Shuang and I attended openings in two art districts in northeast Beijing. We saw a wide spectrum of work in museums and galleries. I felt unbelievably lucky to meet so many people working in contemporary art. And it was inspiring to see the range of work and exhibition venues. ABOVE: Today Art Museum, Building no. 1 — towers…

  • | |

    Zhouzhuang Lunch & Temple

    ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — ZHOUZHUANG, no. 41 There is a story about why the popular local meal Wansan pork hock is named after Shen Wansan, the richest man in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasty in Zhouzhuang. It was explained to me several times but I could not comprehend the meaning. It had to do with multi-family intrigue, commercial competition, the sound of his name being similar to the word for pig, and his…

  • | |

    Palace Museum

    ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — BEIJING, no. 15 So far in photographs of Beijing I have minimized the presence of people at popular sites. That is not possible at the Palace Museum, commonly called Forbidden City. It is the first listing in every tourist guide book and travel website and always crowded. Beginning this month, the daily visitor count will be limited to 80,000 people per day. As many as 122,000 have crushed through on a…

  • | |

    Liangzhu Museum

    ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — HANGZHOU, no. 33 Hangzhou is known as “a paradise on earth” for its picturesque wonders. The threadbare hotel we stayed in must once have been elegant, its broad marble stairway having since been roped off. Photographs were prohibited inside. Elena and I shared a spartan room on the second floor. I slept well despite the smell of cigarettes and street noise coming through the window we opened to move the air….