Special Gifts: Chinese Folk Handicrafts
The area around the Forbidden City abounds in interesting Chinese handicraft shops. You have to separate the wheat from the chaff, of course, as numerous shops only offer items of a mediocre quality.
That’s of course an easier task for those of us who live in Beijing, since we see many such little shops and can identify more quickly if what they carry is worth a look, or simply junk not worth using for gifts.
Nan Chi Zi street harbors a number of such shops, and I found one there which I think should be told about. Like many others, it offers handmade objects from the Chinese minorities, but also some “purely Beijing” items which are worth a second look.
The good thing about this kind of shops is that though they are not specialized in any region in particular, they bring to Beijing a whiff of what’s so special about the Chinese ethnic minorities.
Such is the case of their happiness dolls, small wood sculptures originating from the region of Hebei, north of Beijing; or of the Yunnan figurines, handcrafted by the local minorities. Hanging from the ceiling, you cannot miss the Shandong lanterns and lucky pendants.
Known as ‘Huan Xi Wa Wa’, happiness dolls are believed to bring good luck and fortune, and for some models to promise life-long bonds to newlyweds.
Chinese families often give each other such small but meaningful gifts, to wish wealth, prosperity, good health, and good fortunes to their families and friends.
Among the other decorative objects offered by the shop, you can’t but notice the braided pendants. Shaped as fish and Chinese zodiac animals, or Chinese characters such as ‘Luck’ and ‘Love’, these red pendants are great handmade gifts.
I noticed a beautiful series of painted clay figurines representing old Chinese people sitting or standing at the doors of the old Beijing homes called ‘courtyards’. You can still see a few of these houses in the hutongs (the old alleyways). They tend to disappear though, to leave room for new construction projects.
The artists even thought of adding the familiar weeds typically found on old roofs in the Beijing Hutongs (the old alleyways), and the worn-out stone stairs leading up to the richer courtyards (traditionally, the higher the flight of stairs, the richer the home owner).
Truly good examples of naive art which would make a cool gift for collectors and children alike.
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