ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — ZHOUZHUANG, no. 42 Another thing that I did not understand, in addition to the legend of Wansan pork hock and the location of tea plantations, is why on the return trip from Zhouzhuang to Shanghai our next stop was The Museum of Mystery of Life. The bus group disembarked at a warehouse-style building. Tickets were arranged and a guided tour began, this time entirely in Chinese. The first exhibit of a…
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 it. It had to do with multi-family intrigue, commercial competition, the sound of his name being similar to the word for pig, and his enormous…
ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — ZHOUZHUANG, no. 40 Early in my China artist residency in May 2015, I’d visited an imitation river town built in the 18th century for the enjoyment of imperial concubines. It was designed to recreate actual river towns such as Zhouzhuang, ninety minutes west of Shanghai by bus. It is one of thousands of similar towns with varying degrees of historical significance. Artifacts of civilization in the area date to 770 BC….
ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — ZHOUZHUANG, no. 39 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…