A visit to any part of China would not be complete without taking a look at their famous handicraft mostly made of stones and jades. Joanne brought us to a wholesale market one morning, mainly selling art, stone statues, jade and the like. Since it was a wholesale market, there was very minimal or no price haggling involved.
The most complete collection market in China
Upon arrival, we were greeted with many stone statues placed across a large open area. Most of the statues were those that we could see in temples, namely statues of lions, Buddha, pagoda and so on. They looked very solid and extremely heavy to me.
The God of Mercy was also in the collection, although her 'home' seemed to have cracked.
God of Mercy
We proceeded to walk inside, under the very cold weather, and saw rows and rows of shops lined up. Of course, for a Chinese-blind person like me, I had no idea what those shops sold at first, until I had to walk in to discover them myself.
Rows of shops
Notice how those chairs were empty? Because it was freezing cold outside! Anyone sitting here would be crazy!
Empty chairs and tables
We came across numerous stalls selling various stones that resembled jade.
Stones
Girls would love it here because there were plenty of jewelery sold here made from precious stones or jade. If it wasn't for the cold weather, I'm sure the business would be more brisk.
All kinds of bangles
Oh look, they also have a stall selling Chinese stone stamps! You could probably ask the seller to carve your Chinese name onto the stone and use it as your personal stamp. :) Very elegant and royal.
Chinese stone stamps
I spotted this bicycle full of goods, wondering whether they were doing a delivery? If they were, I'd say it looked pretty dangerous and fragile to me, especially since the goods all looked expensive and delicate.
Delivery?
More and more shops greeted us as we walked further inside.
More shops
And my mom was attracted to one of the crystal shops, displaying lots of brilliant purple crystals. They were all so shimmery and pretty and huge!
Crystals
My mom was almost tempted to purchase one, if only they didn't weigh so much. A small one was already weighing at about 15kg, which was almost reaching the limit of our allowed luggage weight. The price there was relatively cheap, because for the same size that my mother was looking at, it was selling at about RM1.5k in Beijing, whereas my uncle bought a similar one in Malaysia for about RM3k.
Brilliant crystals
As for me, I saw these very cute jewelery boxes made of porcelain and they were oh-so-pretty! Each box came with a mirror as well, for us vain girls. :) I'm going to use them to keep my earrings!
Mini jewelery boxes
We only stayed at the market for a couple of hours, even though there was still much to be explored, because it was simply too cold to stay outdoors. I couldn't feel my feet when we were on our way back home. Thankfully, by the time we reached home, Joanne's worker was already preparing lunch for us. It was a huge bowl of home-cooked noodles mixed with amazing pork gravy and mushrooms and loads of vegetables. Yummy!
Home-cooked noodles
Lots of green vegetables
The texture of these noodles was very alike that of the Zar Jiang Mian I had a few days before. The Beijing noodles were simply delicious and tasted much better than our own yellow mee in Malaysia. I wish there would be noodles like this sold here in the future!
Delicious noodles
After lunch, we took a cab and headed to the Summer Palace, which was gorgeous! Look out for the post soon!
The most complete collection market in China
Upon arrival, we were greeted with many stone statues placed across a large open area. Most of the statues were those that we could see in temples, namely statues of lions, Buddha, pagoda and so on. They looked very solid and extremely heavy to me.
The God of Mercy was also in the collection, although her 'home' seemed to have cracked.
God of Mercy
We proceeded to walk inside, under the very cold weather, and saw rows and rows of shops lined up. Of course, for a Chinese-blind person like me, I had no idea what those shops sold at first, until I had to walk in to discover them myself.
Rows of shops
Notice how those chairs were empty? Because it was freezing cold outside! Anyone sitting here would be crazy!
Empty chairs and tables
We came across numerous stalls selling various stones that resembled jade.
Stones
Girls would love it here because there were plenty of jewelery sold here made from precious stones or jade. If it wasn't for the cold weather, I'm sure the business would be more brisk.
All kinds of bangles
Oh look, they also have a stall selling Chinese stone stamps! You could probably ask the seller to carve your Chinese name onto the stone and use it as your personal stamp. :) Very elegant and royal.
Chinese stone stamps
I spotted this bicycle full of goods, wondering whether they were doing a delivery? If they were, I'd say it looked pretty dangerous and fragile to me, especially since the goods all looked expensive and delicate.
Delivery?
More and more shops greeted us as we walked further inside.
More shops
And my mom was attracted to one of the crystal shops, displaying lots of brilliant purple crystals. They were all so shimmery and pretty and huge!
Crystals
My mom was almost tempted to purchase one, if only they didn't weigh so much. A small one was already weighing at about 15kg, which was almost reaching the limit of our allowed luggage weight. The price there was relatively cheap, because for the same size that my mother was looking at, it was selling at about RM1.5k in Beijing, whereas my uncle bought a similar one in Malaysia for about RM3k.
Brilliant crystals
As for me, I saw these very cute jewelery boxes made of porcelain and they were oh-so-pretty! Each box came with a mirror as well, for us vain girls. :) I'm going to use them to keep my earrings!
Mini jewelery boxes
We only stayed at the market for a couple of hours, even though there was still much to be explored, because it was simply too cold to stay outdoors. I couldn't feel my feet when we were on our way back home. Thankfully, by the time we reached home, Joanne's worker was already preparing lunch for us. It was a huge bowl of home-cooked noodles mixed with amazing pork gravy and mushrooms and loads of vegetables. Yummy!
Home-cooked noodles
Lots of green vegetables
The texture of these noodles was very alike that of the Zar Jiang Mian I had a few days before. The Beijing noodles were simply delicious and tasted much better than our own yellow mee in Malaysia. I wish there would be noodles like this sold here in the future!
Delicious noodles
After lunch, we took a cab and headed to the Summer Palace, which was gorgeous! Look out for the post soon!
Posts
8 comments:
Wondering if you visited Beijing at the wrong time - winter! Oh... maybe it's cheaper to go at that time.
But I don't see snow in the picture???
wow! thanks for sharing...
really LOTS of greens ... hahahaha ...
u made me wanna go Beijing again.
last time din snap much, and vague memories only.
only rmbr the haggling part, with my half-boiled Mandarin, and the ruder than average vendors.
Yeah, is it better to visit during the warmer months? Or maybe winter is non peak, so cheaper and less crowds?
Wow! The purple crystals were indeed cheap! I guess those sold in Malaysia were hiked for profit! It's always more worth it to buy from the country of origin.
khengsiong: Well, not really a wrong time for me, and you'll know why I say that soon! :) Plus, it's not crowded at all during winter, which is a good point when you go travelling. :)
三股东: You're very much welcome! And thanks for visiting :)
J2Kfm: Oh yea, should visit again! I'm sure they have changed tremendously, especially after the Olympics :)
foongpc: Well winter is definitely cheaper and less crowds, and I actually wanted to go there during this time because I've never experienced winter before :) There's another reason also, which you'll discover soon. :) Oh yea, the crystals are much cheaper over there. I bet with some haggling, can even get cheaper! :)
Very nice pictures! And RM125 is a steal for leather boots.
I'm salivating over the pictures of noodles in your previous post too. It looked absolutely delicious!
P/s: I hope they didn't play remix Chinese songs in the clubs. :P
MisSmall: Thanks Missmall! :) Oh don't even remind me of the songs :/
Have you tried dumplings and roast ducks? They are the famous and traditional Beijing dieshes. And also bird's nest soup? Its a delicacy in China.
Enjoy your days~~~
Gillion
www.geocities.jp/hongkong_bird_nest/index_e.htm
Post a Comment