Thursday 15 December 2016

I'm baaaaaaak,

exhilarated, confounded, exhausted jet-lagged and even educated, so you know it was a wonderful China tour.  

You asked for photos, and since I've just started to edit the first 200 of 1275 in total, I'll give you some teasers from day one in Beijing:

Temple of Heaven dome;
 the Temple is constructed using no nails, apart from the tiles on the roof to ensure the roof stays on!

Brother Neal and I in front of one of the Temple outbuildings; note our colour coordination, both with each other and with the building signage.

Ornamental roofing area on Temple outbuilding

I'm pretty sure this script says 'Thank you Neal and Judith'

The promenade as we headed back from the Temple area

The promenade is lined with knitters, weavers, card-players, and gamesters of all kinds, and even in the cold weather it's a crowd!

Note the ornamental pieces on the corner of the roof  in the Forbidden City - the number of pieces indicates the level of  importance of the occupants or building use.

I think this is Falkor the Dragon from The Neverending Story, forever frozen in stone in the Forbidden City's courtyard.

You can see I paid attention to this sign

The rich colours everywhere had me totally captivated

And what would ancient buildings be without some artsy craquelure?
I was mesmerized by all the intense colour and the opulent patterning on every building.  Colour in China is deep with meaning.  Yellow is the most prestigious colour, being associated with emperors. Red is the colour of luck, joy and good fortune and is to be found everywhere, in all its permutations. Green means good health and connection to the earth, while blue is indicative of the heavens.  You'll note the tiles on the roof of the Temple of Heaven are all blue.  White is a colour representative of gold (and much less costly to paint), so many houses, particularly in the countryside, are painted white.  

As I move back into my Creston, BC life, I suspect this trip will keep showing up in whatever creativity is to come.  In the meantime, please catch me up in your comments below.  What have you been up to while I was away?!

34 comments:

  1. I see you found your colour fix and now you know what the colours mean - lol

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  2. I truly have to laugh at myself, Val - no matter where I go, it's the colour and texture that pulls me in. Many of the tour group were bemused at the things that captured my eye and camera!

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  3. I am just so happy that you got this wonderful opportunity because I know you will share and expand on every little thing you saw and learned and pass it all on to your friends and readers. I can't wait to see the rest of your pictures.
    Thank you so much for your comments and the encouragement that you leave on my blog I enjoy them all and appreciate the time you take to share your thoughts with me.

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    1. It was a wonderful gift, Deann...I'll be mining the colour, texture and patterns for months! And thank you for sharing such gorgeous artwork on your blog!

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  4. Wow, you really had an awesome trip and I can't wait to see more pictures!!! I love all the colors and the richness of the colors. Can't wait to see the art that will be inspired by this wonderful trip. hugs, patty

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    1. I could hardly take my eyes off all the patterns, Eileen - truly mesmerizing!

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  6. Oh my gosh - it's amazing! I am looking forward to see many of the photos and your china inspired artwork !
    oxo Susi

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    1. It certainly was, Susi - my muse will be feeding on this trip for eons!

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  7. Look at you go, barely home and a blog post up already. I'm going to love seeing your images - they'll illustrate what your travel notes beautifully described!
    Great first post, Win!

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    1. Thanks, Alice - I can only wonder in amazement at all we did and saw, and the photos are prompting my memory about things to add to the notes...there are plans afoot for circulating the notes and photos to some fellow travellers. What an amazing country!

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    2. Yes, especially if I can find the business cards with email addresses that I seem to have misplaced....;-)

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  8. Looks amazing, thanks for sharing photographs. Enjoy the festive season and happy jet lag :) xx

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    1. It really was, Shirley...it seems a bit surreal to come from China to Christmas in Canada, though! :D

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  9. Wow - how WONDERFUL - the trip and the post! I loved the photo of the 'coordinating' you and Neal best - of course! You both look GREAT! But yes - the colors are so INTRIGUINGLY LOVELY and that wall of crackle was INCREDIBLE - made me drool!!! And the designs... so fun. What a treat to see these first pics. Looking forward to more. Thankful you are safely home.

    On a personal note - thank you so much for your comments to me. They mean more than you know. Truly. Merry Christmas precious Win - to you and yours. Hugs. j.

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    1. Many thanks, Joi - lovely to hear from you, and peruse your posts, as always!

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    1. Thanks, Roz - it would be difficult to take a poor photo over there. It's beautiful no matter where one points!!

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  11. What an adventure you've had Win! The crackled paint is a winner!

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    1. It was/is on both counts, Laura. I'm still gob-smacked!

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  12. Wow! How exciting! Everything looks so wonderful and sharing the meaning of the colours just added another dimention to the visual images! Thank you so much for sharing your adventure with all of us. I am really looking forward to seeing more photos. I already know I will enjoy them. I would also be taking a shot of that wonderfully cracked paint if I was there, so I'm sure there will be scads of interesting and beautiful photos. And now, home for the holidays. We just got hit with some snow a few times in the last week, so it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here! Glad you are home safe and I am looking forward to seeing your inspired creations. Have a wonderful Christmas!

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    1. It was a fast, Kimberley - everywhere I looked there was something to drool over and photograph. I'm thinking that artists see the world quite differently, and it was amusing to see the looks from the tour members who saw me photograph that crackle. Explanations were definitely required. They eventually got used to me, though, and some even started pointing out things that had caught their inner-artist eye as well. I came home to snow as well, and more crackle - crackling cold at -20, and that's the same whether Celcius or Fahrenheit. It looks like Christmas, so I'm wishing you and yours the best of the season, and a creatively-rich new year!

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  13. Wow Win!! A great beginning to our tour of China with you! heehee Welcome home dear friend and I am ever so happy you have recorded your visit to share with us!
    sending love,Jackie xx

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    1. SO glad you all got to come along. :D It was marvellous and it's great to be back. Wishing you happy holidays, Jackie, and a great 2017! xo Win

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  14. Thank you for sharing your wonderful photos, Win! Impressive color tutelage, too!

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    1. Most welcome, Kay, and I loved hearing about the colour connection in China!

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  15. here's a cool bit of info... the "world's biggest movie set" is in China and includes a complete full-scale replica of the Forbidden City! copied to a more medieval period; after Tiennamin, they stopped movie making in the real location! lots of movies now made there; they can accommodate up to 25 productions shooting at once! meg

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    1. That's amazing, Meg - it's something the guides certainly didn't tell us! Thanks for stopping by to comment..xo

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  16. Wonderful photos Win! Glad you're back safely - what an adventure! It was interesting to read about the colours - they sure like their reds and yellows, don't they? Looking forward to some China inspired art!

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    1. They certainly do - red, especially, is everywhere. Since I'm such a strong proponent of 'Red is best', it was right up my alley!

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  17. Wow, I'm sure you'll have so much inspiration from your trip, Win.

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    1. I'm sure that it will be a gift that will go on for years, Tracy - it was an amazing experience.

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