February 2012 | Beijing Visitor Blog

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Calligraphy Brushes For Sale

書法

These beautiful calligraphy brushes are for sale in a hutong street market in Beijing.

The brushes come in all shapes and sizes and make for a great souvenir from China whether you practice calligraphy or not.

The art of Chinese calligraphy grew out of writing the Chinese characters of the Chinese language.

Chinese calligraphy brushes are made of wood often bamboo and the heads are made from animal hair (or feathers).

Friday, February 17, 2012

Shichahai

什刹海

Shichahai (lit. Lake of the Ten Buddhist Monasteries) is an area of three historic lakes Qianhai (前海), Xihai (西海) and the largest lake Houhai (后海) located north-west of the Forbidden City and Beihai Park.

The Prince Gong Mansion (恭亲王府), Zhengjue Temple, the Museum of Mei Langfang (the former residence of Beijing Opera star Mei Lanfang from 1949 to 1961) and the Prince Chun Mansion (醇亲王府) - the father of the last Chinese emperor - are all located in the area.

Shichahai was formerly the northernmost part of the Grand Canal connecting Beijing to Hangzhou in the south.