Cecily Huang
The Art of Mothering
Muralist Jiang Zhuqing on creating art and family
On a recent Tuesday, painter Jiang Zhuqing had yet to put the finishing touches on work that would soon be on public display. As part of Common Ground, a digital art festival that takes place at the Huan Tie Art Museum from November 9 to 19, Jiang plans to show an abstract creation that use cassette tape ribbon and black hair clips to embroider a human shape.
Titled Li Yue (礼 乐), or “Etiquette, Music,” these works are part of a series Jiang calls Tian Ren He Yi (天人合一), or “The Combining of Humans and Nature.” She says she hopes to make people think about the important relationship between human beings and the world.
In a few weeks time, more than 40 artists from around the world will present works on the theme of the environment. Jiang, an associate professor at Tsinghua University’s Academy of Art and Design, decided to take part in Common Ground after she saw how innovative the other artists’ works were.
Let's Get Cookin'
Young Cooks Fire Up the Woks
Want to whet your children’s appetite? Are your young ones budding chefs? Do you want to be off kitchen duty for good? Let young cooks touch, feel, smell and discover more about the food they’re eating at the kids’ cooking classes at The Hutong, located in Jiudaowan Zhongxiang hutong near Beixinqiao subway stop.
Fuchengmen
Wander through the peaceful streets while soaking up Chinese history
Built in 1267 by order of Emperor Kublai Khan, Fuchengmen was one of the most important gates to the city of Beijing. Until the Qing dynasty (1648-1911), it was the main passageway for coal transportation, hence its other name, “Coal Gate.” Although the gate and its attached city wall were knocked down in the 1970s to facilitate construction, the area still bears the name Fuchengmen. Visitors won’t find any skyscrapers here – at least not yet. Instead, an assortment of historical and cultural relics awaits in this relaxing area, with tasty local snack stands to distract you on a sunny day.
Wantong Market
Fading Away
The slow disappearance of Beijing’s hutongs
When entering a Beijing hutong, it often feels more like the site of a temple fair. The narrow alleys are full of ringing bells from bicycles passing by, and all around there are hole-in-the-wall restaurants, fruit stands, tiny shops, snack vendors, barbers and peddlers of all sorts. It’s also common to see groups of elderly citizens playing mahjong or Chinese chess.
For many local residents, hutongs are more than clusters of intricate lanes and courtyards. They record the memories of the rapidly disappearing lao Beijing lifestyle.
Because of the close-knit way hutongs are laid out, with many families sharing the old siheyuan courtyard houses, neighbors tend to have strong relationships and bonds between each other. They help each other take care of their children, make collaborative renovations to their shared space and celebrate festivals together.
Local Lingo
In China, the saying goes:
乐不思蜀
(lè bù sī Shǔ)
“Too joyful to think of Shu”
Used to describe people who enjoy their time away so much that thoughts of home are pushed out of their minds, this idiom originates from the tale of the last King of Shu during the Three Kingdoms Period.
Shu was a prosperous kingdom established by Liu Bei with the assistance of militarist Zhuge Liang and generals Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. After Liu Bei passed away, his son Liu Chan took over, but Shu slowly lost strength under its new ruler; eventually, it was defeated by the kingdom of Wei. Consequently, Liu Chan was forced to move to Luoyang, the capital of Wei. He was greeted with a big banquet thrown by Sima Zhao, the ruler of Wei.
Balancing Act
Name: Ma Xiangsheng
Nationality:
Age: 36
Chinese
Instrument: Voice
Genre: Peking Opera
How old were you when you started performing?
We all learn Peking Opera as children. I started learning Peking Opera when I was 12 years old.
How did you come to study Peking opera?
I was in middle school in Ya’an, Sichuan province, when a group of strangers came to our classroom and walked around to check each student carefully. The strangers checked my bones – then asked me to kick, stretch my arms and bend my waist. They also tested my singing as well. They were selecting students for the Peking Opera Troupe of Panzhihua City, and I was the one selected in my city to go to Tianjin Opera School.
In the Spotlight
Name: Declan Galbraith
Age: 16
Nationality: Irish/Scottish
Instrument: Voice
Genre: Pop
How old were you when you started singing on stage?
I was singing from a very early age. I can remember singing at family parties when I was 5 or 6 years old. I used to watch and listen to my grandfather, Poppy Ben, who played and sang in a band. I suppose it was that influence that gave me the interest in music and singing.
How did you start singing?
One day when I was 6 or 7 years old, my mother took me to see a Dickens Festival in a town called Rochester, near where I live. The festival is very famous; a lot of singers, musicians and actors perform to the public in the streets. I loved seeing them all and asked my mother if I could sing a song. She laughed, but then realized I was serious. I started singing in the street, and very quickly hundreds of people gathered around. It was a fantastic experience. It was from that moment that I knew I wanted to sing.
The Halls are Alive with Sound
Watching a live performance of a symphony or a musical on a grand stage is an experience like no other – just once is enough to instill in any person a true appreciation for music. Part of the joy of it is seeing architecture designed for the sake of acoustics. To understand the composition of a sound wave and how it reacts to its surrounding space is no easy task, and it’s even more difficult to design a grand auditorium in which a pin dropping on the stage will be heard in even the farthest reaches of the room.
It is, perhaps, a testament to how highly humanity values music that in almost every major city in every corner of the world, there exists an elaborate concert hall to which a massive amount of time and energy was devoted.
Gongti
Looking at Workers’ Stadium with a family view
As the Olympics fast approach, the area affectionately known as “Gongti” is changing by the day, beginning with the recently refurbished Workers’ Stadium and Gymnasium and continuing with openings of new shops and restaurants, in addition to improvements to old venues. Walk around, and you’ll quickly realize it has more to offer than just bars and clubs. There are also plenty of wholesome activities that will appeal to both children and parents, including art galleries, bookshops, sports and playgrounds.
Peking Operatics
Colorful faces, dazzling costumes and kung fu acrobatics
Peking opera first surfaced in 1790 during the Qing dynasty, when the four largest opera troupes from Anhui province entered the capital. When the famous Hubei troupes began arriving in the north during the 18th century, they would often perform with these Anhui ensembles as well, and after 50 or 60 years they gradually combined to form the styles of what are now Peking Opera’s main melodies. Even if you are not a big fan of opera, you will be entertained by the visual spectacle of Peking opera!
