I had less really impressive photos in my second semester. I guess I did most of the cool touristy stuff so I didn't have as much good materiel. I remember I had way more food and drink photos.
2 Comments
Today, a friend of mine and I went to the 50th Anniversary Show for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, an award for exceptional story writing and artwork in children's literature. Once every two years the International Board on Books for Young People will award one artist and one writer a Hans Christian Andersen Award for their work. At the last awarding of the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2016, Chinese children's author Cao Wenxuan (曹文轩) won in the literature category, making him China's first Hans Christian Andersen Award winner in ether category. Consequently there was a showing of the art award winners in Shanghai. Many of the artists who work on pictures for children's literature are actually very talented artists in their own right. It was actually really interesting to see some of the original drawings for this stuff. They had quite a number of the lithographs from the 1970 illustration winner Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are along with lithographs for some of Maurice Sendak's other works. I remember reading Where the Wild Things Are when I was little so it was actually really neat to be able to see some of it in person, My friend particularly liked the images from the 2000 illustration winner Willy the Wimp by British author and illustrator Anthony Browne, because my friend grew up with the Chinese versions of his works. It was a small exhibit that was a bit pricey, but I guess it was worth the money just to see the Maurice Sendak stuff.
With the year coming to a close it is a good time to revisit my favorite places in Shanghai before I go, check out the stuff I haven't been to yet, and buy souvenirs for my friends and family. Today, a friend of mine and I decided to do all three. Besides being the former home of Mao Zeidong and Shanghai's most famous Buddhist Temple the Jing'an Temple District (named obviously for the temple) is now one of Shanghai's nicest. We actually couldn't get into the temple because it closes at 5:00 and we got there at around 4:50, but we got to go to Dunkin' Doughnuts Shanghai! The doughnuts were actually very different from the doughnuts served in the US, they even just introduced the "new" dunkin' doughnut with the handle (you know, their first product ever). The coffee is on point just like it is in the US. Hopefully Dunken' will expand in Shanghai since I like Dunken' Doughnuts coffee more than Starbucks. We walked around for a bit before deciding to go to Yu Gardens since it is the more interesting neighborhood. I actually wanted to buy a few things for friends and a Mao bust for my room next year at Juniata. Mao stuff is actually kind of hard to find in Shanghai since Mao's Red Cult isn't dominant in modern Shanghai. Most Shanghaiese are big fans of Comrade Deng Xiaoping; it is not like they don't dislike Mao they just like Deng more. The other issue I have is that it is actually kind of heavy; I might just mail it back to the US if only so I can confuse the poor customs agent who opens my package for inspection. I also got to check out a new cafeteria style restaurant in Yuyuan Gardens. It was basically the same as my old stand by Yuyuan restaurant except it has way more of that golden plastic materiel and seems has a giant plastic soup dumpling in the dining area. I am continuing to knock stuff off my final Shanghai to-do list and I even got some time to study for my Philosophy final.
Today my Chinese Cinema class took a field trip to the China Art Museum, Shanghai to check out the animated version of Along the River During the Qingming Festival. If you remember back to my first semester at ECNU, I judged a English contest for the Communist Youth League at the China Art Museum. The original Along the River During the Qingming Festival in Beijing, know as China's Mona Lisa, depicts the Song capital of Bianjing, modern Kaifeng, during the Qingming Festival. The animated Along the River During the Qingming Festival was the China Pavilion's big hit during the Expo 2010; when the China Pavilion of Expo 2010 became the China Art Museum, Shanghai, they kept the massive video exhibit in tact. To be honest, the animated Along the River During the Qingming Festival feels like it would be better taught in a Chinese Gaming class rather than a Chinese film class; the work reminds me more of video games like Banished or the civilian campaign in Stronghold 2 than any film. It is a work you can watch for half an hour, though this may be because I tried to find the Jews of Kaifeng in the work (I think I found one). With so much going on and so much motion it is almost impossible to view the whole work quickly. It is a very interesting piece of multimedia art and is worth checking out if you have some extra time in Shanghai.
Yesterday, my Chinese Civilization class took a field trip to the Shanghai Museum located at People’s Square. Most Chinese provinces (including provincial level cities like Shanghai and Beijing) have very impressive museums. Shanghai’s Museum is one of the more impressive of the bunch though. Furthermore, it is relatively easy to get in and it’s free so all the better. Getting there was no problem, each of us was able to get there on our own using the subway during morning rush hour. I did get a bit lost after I was let out since the subway exit I wanted to use was closed. I actually went to the Shanghai Museum once before with my Mom, but we were only able to do the top three floors. This time I got to do the final, first, floor and got to go over some of my professor’s favorite items. It was cool to get basically a private tour (while the class has about 17 students, only 8 of us were on the trip) of the museum with a top academic. My favorite pieces are still the camel ceramics, the camels are just so expressive you really get the sense for how little they actually want to be doing anything. My class and I also got to see the bronzes and sculpture exhibits on the first floor. The Shanghai Museum probably has the best collection of ancient Chinese bronzes on Earth. The exhibit takes up half of the first floor and includes countless bronze bells, food vessels, wine vessels, and some weapons. The sculpture exhibit felt kind of like the museums of South East Asia (Vietnam and Thailand mostly, particularly the National Gallery in Hanoi and the little museum at the Temple of the Jade Buddha in Chiang Rai) with the large number of old Buddhist sculptures. Interestingly enough, the Buddha and his close disciples are actually depicted as Indian, not Chinese. The historic Buddha was an Indian Prince before he became a religious figure so this does makes some sense. It is just interesting to compare the depictions of the Buddha as Indian in Chinese art (like he actually was) with the depictions of Jesus as European in Western art (which he wasn’t). Though, I noticed that most modern Buddhist temples tend to have a standard depiction (which does vary with Buddhist tradition somewhat) of the Buddha which doesn’t really line up with any possible human depiction. I sincerely doubt the Buddha had metallic gold spiky hair and skin (like how the Thai depict him) or had snow white skin with gold hair (like some of the Norther Thai and the Burmese depict him). While Jesus’s ethnicity does seem to change depending on the tradition creating the image, he is usually shown as at least human looking.
After the Museum, we had lunch ad LobsterXChicken that serves, unsurprisingly, lobster which they claimed was American, Hainanese chicken (海南鸡), and steak (I guess LobsterXChickenXSteak was a bit too long of a name). I previously mentioned that the small island province of Hainan is nationally known for their chicken and chicken product. I actually really liked the chicken, it was a bit plain but it had enough taste on its own that it really didn’t need much extra. The lobster half I got was alright, it was a bit small, pregnant, had a thousand island sauce, and had the small claw. I guess I can’t complain too much about 15USD lobster and chicken. Funnyly enough, the cups at LobsterXChicken said “FUCK YEAH” on them so I guess they don’t get many native English speaking customers despite trying to look American. Once we finished eating, we took a 20 minute walk to the Shanghai Confucian Temple. The Confucian Temple seems to be one of the older buildings in the city. Most of Shanghai’s historic architecture seem to be from the Century of Humiliation or relegated to the small water towns on the outskirts of the city so it was nice to see something old in the city proper. While the grounds were nice, there didn’t seem to be any worshipers, most of the people at the temple looked like tourists. I think going to temple is a tourist thing for many urban, non-religious Chinese. While there were offerings to 孔子 I didn't see anyone actually making an offering. The Temple did have an impressive collection of rocks since Confucian scholars are super into fancy rocks (my professor called the curvy rocks). I am not sure where this compulsion to collect rocks came from, but any proper Confucian Temple should have a court yard displaying their rock collection. Some of the rocks on display at the Shanghai Confucian were very nice, they had a bolder from Anhui province that they said looked like a crying dragon and tiger which must have been quite the project to get to Shanghai back in the day. I can state that classrooms now and classrooms in the 1400s are actually quite similar. There is a lectern where the teacher stands facing desks for students. The only difference was the desks were shorter since they had those Chinese kneeling chairs and all the furniture was a bit nicer than what Livingston High School or Juniata College bought for their classrooms. Overall the Temple and the Museum was a nice trip. I am a bit tired from all the walking and standing though. A few weeks ago in my Chinese Cinema class we watched a movie called Farewell my Concubine (霸王别姬) about the world surrounding traditional Peking Opera from the waning days of the Great Qing Dynasty to Reform and Reopening under Deng Xiaoping. While Farewell my Concubine touched on several interesting topics from the Cultural Revolution to gender roles to raising orphans to the relationship of childhood friends in adulthood, the topic that most peaked my curiosity was Peking Opera itself since I actually knew very little about it. Thankfully, my Chinese midterm gave me a great opportunity to do some research, since it is a presentation on Peking Opera and its many meny complexities (可是,我只好用中文为我的汉语口语中考试). Unsurprisingly, Peking Opera has an extremely long history with some of the traditional plays coming from ancient Chinese stories, though what we would now call Peking Opera really developed in the late 1700s. Peking Opera remained relatively popular until the Cultural Revolution, since the Red Guards saw it as old therefor something that should be destroyed. Interestingly enough, Farewell my Concubine actually depicts Red Guards humiliating members of the Opera troupe, a sight still extremely rare in Chinese cinema. While Peking Opera did live on in the Nationalist controlled Taiwan long enough for the mainland to drop the madness of the Cultural Revolution it never regained the popularity it once had. Since most of the operas themselves are quite old, they use archaic language that most modern Chinese can't really understand, even the Chinese in China have to have Chinese subtitles to understand the Chinese. There have been attempts to rejuvenate Peking Opera for the modern age by introducing new shows; apparently you can watch Peking Opera interpretations of Mao's war against the Japanese and Shakespeare. Still the traditional divisions of martial & civil operas, serious 大戏 & fun 小戏, and the four traditional forms of performers (生旦净丑) remain even while the actual costumes, production management, and training have been changed and adapted for the modern world. Chinese films, particularly by the 5th Generation of Chinese Directors like Farewell my Concubine, have come to embrace Peking Opera as a way to help tell their story. Peking Opera has also been embraced by the growing tourist trade, both domestic and international. If you are in the capital of Beijing, why not see the capital style of opera (the 京 in 京剧 literally means capital while the 剧 is some type of theater)? I have read some complaints though that much of this new Peking Opera is a bit gimicky since most people in the audience of a Peking Opera don't actually know what Peking Opera should be like. Still, it is nice that Beijing Opera is kind of hanging on.
.Last Sunday, one of my Chinese friends and I went to the Shanghai Power Station of Art (上海当代艺术博物) to check out the 11th Shanghai Biennale, Why Not Ask Again: Arguments, Counter-Arguments, and Stories. The Shanghai Power Station of Art is an interesting building itself, even without the art. Established in 2012 in a renovated power station on the site of Expo 2010 the Power Station of Art maintains an industrial feel; one of the massive ceiling mounted cranes from when the Power Station of Art was just a power station still hangs over the lobby and the area around the Power Station of Art is dominated by the Power Station's now dormant smoke stack (now used as a giant thermometer). The plan for Why Not Ask Again: Arguments, Counter-Arguments, and Stories is to "emphasize the possibilities of South-South dialogue;" basically discusses issues the countries and the people of the Indian subcontinent face such as nuclear war (an issue since both India and Pakistan are nuclear powers who don''t like each other that much), poverty, poor working conditions, immigration, and pollution. While I wouldn't hang any of it in my house, the individual pieces on the three massive floors of art varied from the very interesting to the very weird. Their was one piece about the futility of nuclear war which I quite liked that let you walk through the simulated nuclear wastes while blasting the hit North Korean propaganda song No Motherland Without You or Ode to Kim Jong-Il. Other pieces involved light shifting based on your position in the room (it is hard to describe and was impossible to photograph) and a room filled with strobe lights that felt like one of the CIA's "enhanced interrogation techniques." Why Not Ask Again also included a large amount of rather artsy multimedia displays. We saw about 2/3s of Why Not Ask Again before getting hungry. Since my friend had to return to the Minhang campus, we had lunch at a beef hot pot place I previously visited in Global Harbor and knew was good. I am pleased to stay it was still good the second time. Finally we got fresh juice and strawberries in Global Harbor before walking back to campus and parting ways. While I enjoyed both the juice and the strawberries my juice (pineapple-mango-pear) would have been significantly better with some rum.
Today my friend and her friend wanted to go to Yu Garden to buy stuff and I decided to come along to buy myself a proper name seal. Originally I didn't want a name seal, I thought they were a bit touristy, but after my Mom and I saw the seal exhibit at the Shanghai Museum I knew I needed one. Seals in a large part of Asia are serious business. In mainland China and Taiwan, seals are legally and functionally the same as a written signature. Some Chinese prefer them since seals are harder to copy than signatures. I have also noticed that organizations, like the International Education Office of East China Normal University or the Huawei Store, use seals to represent the organization instead of the signature of a representative. From what I read Japan and South Korea take seals even more seriously, placing legal requirements on seals (regulating the size and content of seals) and demanding people register their seals with the government. Prices for seals in China can vary from 20RMB to 2000RMB depending on size, stone, and quality of the craftsmanship. I went for a 200RMB seal that included a decorative seal made of a harder stone, a nice box, and some ink. The guy carved my Chinese name (马杰瑞) into my pig seal (I Chinese zodiac animal is the golden pig) right in front of me. Interestingly enough, after carving he actually damaged the sides of the seal a bit as a form of primitive anticounterfitting. While a skilled and scummy artesian could copy the carving on a seal, they would find it difficult to copy damage pattern on the sides of the seal. I got to play with my new seal a bit when I got back to my room and it feels way more satisfying to stamp something than to sign my name. My seal has some weight so it makes a lovely "thud" sound whenever you press it down on the paper. The major question is what can I do with my seal? As I mentioned, in China I can use it instead of my signature. I also read that in some common law jurisdictions, I believe including my home state of New Jersey, sealed contracts are more binding than unsealed contracts. Wikipedia (source of all truth) says that seals can serve as a form of alternative consideration, making deals that aren't contracts contracts, because sealing something requires extra effort on the part of the parties. From wihat I read, normally in these jurisdictions people who want to take advantage of this just write "seal" or "l.p." since most people in modern America don't have formal seals. I believe that, in theory, I should be able to use my formal seal in place of writing "seal" if I so choose. More research is needed before I accidentally invalidate the contract to by my first house by being a weirdo who insists on using a stone seal for some reason. Regardless of legal standing, my seal is still cool and I am very glad I now own one.
|
AuthorI am a junior at Juniata College spending a year studying abroad at East China Normal University. Please feel free to join my on my journey to China and beyond. Archives
November 2021
Categories
All
|