| |

Goodbye Shanghai

ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — SHANGHAI, no. 46

Shanghai

It is appropriate for friends and food to be at the center of my last night in China. Wang arranged for himself and his three university students who had been my guides to meet for an evening meal. After finding his first choice closed, we had dinner at a Xinjiang-style restaurant. Later walking on a dark street, we passed a group of people crouched on a dimly lit sidewalk next to a panel truck. Only after threading our way between their scattered work was it clear they were sorting hundreds of priority mail packages on the ground. We walked to the Bund where Pudong’s cartoon architecture and the Oriental Pearl cycled through a gaudy light show across the river. The whole night Wang carried a gift he’d brought for me: a traditional ceramic tea set. The case was repeatedly opened and searched the next day by security on my return through Shanghai and Beijing airports.

Shanghai

taking our dinner request

Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai

any sidewalk

Shanghai

Shanghai

the city at night walking to the Bund

Shanghai

the Nanjing Road at night

Shanghai

Shanghai

the Peace Hotel at night

Shanghai

with my fantastically generous hosts, photograph taken by a passing stranger

Shanghai

Pudong from the Bund, the Shanghai Tower half dark (right)

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

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

Save

Save

Save

Similar Posts

  • | |

    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…

  • | |

    Quan Shanshi Art Center

    ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — HANGZHOU, no. 32 After lunch in the tea plantation region outside Hangzhou, the bus delivered six of us to the Quan Shanshi Art Center. It is a private museum that displays, collects, and promotes oil paintings from around the world. The center includes instruction, research, and free public access. The special exhibit during my visit was 19th Century French Realist Painting. The museum is named for the Chinese painter Quan Shanshi…

  • | |

    Shanghai Tower

    ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — SHANGHAI, no. 35 Three days after arrival, following an unexpected bus trip to Hangzhou, I was finally able to see Shanghai. My colleague Wang assigned a new chaperone to me from his student pool. Mr Li’s daughter Jaiyi met me at my hotel lobby where we coordinated our plan for the day: her list, my list, and Wang’s list. First on his list was the Museum of Contemporary Art, located in…

  • | |

    China Art Museum

    ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — SHANGHAI, no. 37 The China Art Museum in Shanghai was originally built for the China Pavilion of Expo 2010. It is the largest art museum in Asia. The permanent collection is mainly Chinese modern art with substantial special exhibitions. The building design references several traditional forms of joinery, cap style, and bronze pots. It is enormous and visited by millions of people each year. detail of two ink murals on left…

  • | |

    Qingming Scroll

    ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — SHANGHAI, no. 38 The China Art Museum, built as Expo 2010 China Pavilion in Shanghai, houses an installation originally created for the fair. Based on a 12th century scroll by Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145 AD), the original Song Dynasty painting is one of China’s greatest cultural treasures. The painting depicts daily life of urban and rural people, animals, vehicles, and landscape at all levels of society engaged in diverse economic activities. Of…

  • | |

    Departure Haidian

    ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — BEIJING, no. 26 The opportunity offered by the Inside Out Art Museum for an artist residency in Beijing fulfilled my lifelong desire to go to China. While there, the museum made no demands on my time, in part because the residency manager left her job the week I arrived. Everyone else in the museum was busy installing and promoting major shows. I alternated studio days of painting and drawing with day…