The gallery is located in one of the 8 watchtowers that used to exist along the outer city wall of Beijing. It is the only one left, and is quite amazing to see. Built during the Ming period [1500s – pretty recent by Chinese standards]. Last night went out to Bei Gao which is a whole area of studios of local and visiting artists out to the north west of the city towards the airport – an absolute rabbit warren and easy to get lost. Even the taxi drivers had trouble both ways. Met quite a few artists again and we were looking at Madeline Churchill’s drawings that tie up her time here. She returns to the UK tonight. Afterwards we ate at Ta Dong a local ecological restaurant that grows all its own fruit and vegetables in a mini-ecosystem that is the restaurant – you actually eat amongst the growing trees and bushes. Amazing.
During the hot evenings I have been going back to the Tuanjiehu Park where many people spend their time. There was a performance of dancing/movement to traditional Chinese drumming. The instruments were a drum, two cymbals and a Chinese sounding metal cymbal – don’t know its name. Men played the instruments and women danced with two red fans each. The dance snaked around a smallish paved area at the South entrance to the park for about 20 minutes at a time. It seemed to be a community activity and everyone was enjoying participating or watching. Also people were painting Chinese characters on the pavement with 2′ long brushes water – calligraphy perhaps. Still have not found out what this is in relation to.
