In January of '03 Marv Bjurlin organized a travel group to Yunnan province in southern China. A frequent exclamation among the 12 participants was "Oh My God!" The group visited kiln sites, museums, paper and textile workshops, temples, and much more. Enjoyment was considerably enhanced by the five Chinese traveling companions including Li Jiansheng, his wife Ying and sister Wenying. Please feel free to order prints from this site, or share the web site address with others interested in China.
Date(s): January 20, 2003. Album by Marvin Bjurlin. 1 - 101 of 101 Total. 11378 Visits.
wonderful set! Am orderng prints - Ann Mortimer, Tue, 28 Jan 2003 7:04AM
1 Alaska from 35,000' The view from the plane when traveling 'up and over' from Minneapolis to Narita, Japan, is a stunning panorama of swirls and textures!
2 Mr. Li's furniture restoration workshop This site in Zongshan, near Macao, was the location of our first buying frenzy! Twelve pieces of antique Chinese furniture will be added to my house alone. Everyone made purchases which will be delivered to Toronto this spring.
3 The first group shot The Chinese love to take pictures of groups of happy folks. I guess we did too.
4 Chinese Banquet! Tong Lik, a Chinese artist/businessman has a pottery studio behine this beautiful restaurant. The fish dish was fabulous!
5 Fractured fish In the better restaurants in China, food presentation is important.
6 NangFeng kiln site assembly This was the location where I worked for three weeks in 2000. It was great to see the development in only two years.
7 Li Jiansheng Jackson had completed a large group of maquetes for firing in the Nangfeng (Southern Wind) dragon kiln in Shiwan.
8 Tile roofs in Shiwan This view was from the tiny tea room at the top of an artists studio behind the Nangfeng kiln in Shiwan.
9 400 year old root system An ancient banyan tree grows out of the the side of the NangFeng kiln. Its exposed root system offers a wonderfully complex texture.
10 Lunch ingredients We were taken to a fancy restaurant in Shiwan where most of the ingredients were layed out for examination in the lobby.
11 Street vendors in Kunming We experienced unseasonably cold and wet weather once we reached Yunnan province.
12 Golden Buddah on the distant hillside As we headed south by bus toward our first overnight in Mojiang the roadside vistas were endlessly startling. OMYGOD, look at the big golden buddah on the hilltop!
13 Temple and steps leading to the golden statue. The Kunming region was experiencing its first snowfall in very many years. This was my first view of show in China.
14 Not fruit In Yunnan, meat is often preserved by drying. Pieces are dredged in red pepper before being hung from a convenient tree.
15 Probably tobacco Many substances are preserved by dehydration. This tradition provides travelers with visually interesting photo opportunities.
16 Sagger wall Kiln waste is often incorporated into mud wall and fence construction. What is Jim doing behind the wall?
17 Fired and unfired clay texture The Chinese waste very little, recycle a lot.
18 Waster fence Ann is going up a stairway edged completely in over or under fired pots. Dragon kilns always produce much waste product which must be adapted to alternative use.
19 Pottery still life composition At every kiln site, the accumulation of product randomly stacked gave us interesting images to photograph.
20 Zhou Ying One of the prettiest women in China is from Toronto.
21 Pickle jar profiles The framed view is a particularly beautiful way to compose an image.
22 On top of the kiln This 300' dragon kiln was being prepared for firing. Such kilns recline partially submerged on the hillside. It is easy to walk on top of them.
23 Dragon kiln view Kiln wasters, pieces to be refired firewood fuel all litter the kiln roof.
24 Potting or getting potted In China the bamboo bong is used to water cool their homegrown and unrefined tobacco.
25 Mud wall Everywhere we saw exposed construction it is evident that pottery shards are part of the texture of China.
26 Red door / Green plant Much of the construction in Yunnan province is of thick walled adobe brick.
27 Door curtain This bead curtain was made entirely of recycled tin cans and paper clips.
28 Round gate in a narrow alley In this ancient Ming village we visited many traditional private homes. The juxtaposition of square and circle has a special satisfaction for the Chinese.
29 An school room Some of the spaces in this ancient Ming village have been converted into an elementary school. What a beautiful way to preserve tradition.
30 Architectural detail Ming dynasty architecture utilized elaborate joinery to create structural integrety and at the same time great beauty.
31 Elementary school chalk board I just bet this said, "Be sure to run to school, children, so that you are never late!"
32 Flowering bush Yunnan is known for its vast variety of flowering plants.
33 Potter at work At this kiln site, large storage vessels were made by coil throwing the top half on an already partially dry bottom. The entire form made in two stages out of one lump and one coil.
34 Mountain view Between Mojiang and Xishuanbanna we spent 15 hours on the bus. This mountain road was solid curves.
35 Mountain view We all got used to enjoying the beautiful views when we had to stop the bus to find some convenient bushes!
36 Mountain village Nestled among the terraced mountain side were small communities consisting of 15-20 homes.
37 Fish lunch At a roadside eatery we often had very fresh fish soup. It was fun to watch food being prepared for us.
38 Vessel with ring texture The potter makes this form using the hammer and anvil technique to expand a wheel thrown cylindar. With the anvil held inside the form, a paddle with a ring design is used to pound the exterior.
39 Fired storage jars Often we found entire rooms full of beautiful jars. We all wanted to take examples home, but alas, there was no room in the suitcase.
40 Bamboo fence, terraced gardens It seems that all of China has been hand carved! Almost no space is wasted. Even the ridges separating the terraces are planted.
41 Expressway construction In two years a mountain highway will be completed which will reduce our 30 hours of travel between Kunming and Xishuanbanna to two and a half. This is a very impressive project with dozens of major tunnels and massive bridges.
42 Mountainside gardening It is no wonder these folks are trim. Can you imagine carrying the produce home after a day of cultivating in this context?
43 Near and far This is my version of a typical framed Chinese vista.
44 Cock boxing In this version of a cock fight the winning cock is the one who pushes the other out of the ring.
45 Well dressed kiln tender This small noborigamma style wood fired kiln was being stoked during our visit to this studio.
46 Mountain restaurant We had a fabulous lunch in this beautiful open air pavilion near Xishuanbanna.
47 It is the same around the world! Babies must bathe. This street vendor was taking a break to bathe her little boy right on the sidewalk.
48 Kiln top still life These bottles were slightly undefired and will probably be included in the next firing.
49 Embroidery detail In Xishuanbanna, our local guide, a potter and his wife had collected this beautiful example of ethnic minority handcrafted textile.
50 Temple interior view The minorities often combine their own ancient traditions with the more mainstream Buddist iconography.
51 Temple food These trays of fresh produce were placed by the alter in a Xishuanbanna temple.
52 Chinese basketball Its the youngs monks against the neighborhood guys. A toddler watches from the sidelines.
53 Hanging out...
54 Street clothing vendor Ethnic minority ladies love the color. Most clothing in the smaller villages is sold in this way from tables on the street.
55 Women at work with clay At this roof tile factory virtually all of the workers were women. Here they are moving a huge pile of clay through a pugmill.
56 Sundried color These freshly washed garments were placed upon the thatch roof to dry.
57 All kids are curious It is not uncommon to find young children at the worksite with their mothers.
58 Fire hole One of the Ming stytle hive kilins was being fired at the tile workshop. These kilns have a 15 day firing cycle.
59 Weathered roof tile Near Xishuanbanna at this tile making site, a flat tile (rather than curved) is used. Each tile has a small clay hook at one end which is used to hang it over a bamboo strip on the roof.
60 Fish preparation Chinese folks seem to be very comfortable squatting for both work and relaxation. I took no picture of what we called the "Squatty Potty!" Use your imagination.
61 Cooking as theatre! It was very interesting to stand near the kitchen and watch as our food was being prepared. Lots of fire was involved.
62 The roadside kitchen Most often the restaurant women chopped the raw ingredients and brought them to a man at the stove. This was an exception. These wok stoves often burned kerosene oil.
63 Grandma and the kid Many versions of baby transport are utilized, in this case just a long strip of fabric.
64 Gate and bamboo bridge At this eatery on the other side of the river, we had the most consistently "HOT" food. It was definately an OMYGOD lunch. Fortunately there was an abundance of beer to put out the fire.
65 Bus food Wenying often stopped the bus at a roadside fruit vendor to provide us with snack food while underway. We had oranges, bannana and often a very large thick skinned citrus which was like a sweet grapefruit.
66 Tea Vendor High in the mountains between Xisuanbanna and Yuanjiang is a town called Pu'er, famous for its fine green tea. Here Jiansheng is negotiating on our behalf for bags of the best.
67 Tweezer picked hog hair I am sure that this leg was going to be someone's fine dinner.
68 Bannana leaves This picturesque view was actually taken out the back window of the gentleman's latrine behind one kiln site.
69 Chinese agriculture Almost no mechanized machinery is used to produce food. However I did see many uses of plastic for weed prevention and greenhouse control of crops. In other cases mesh was used to provide semi shade for some crops.
70 Rice delivery In the Chinese market economy, farmers are encouraged to sell as much of their product on their own locally. The surplus is sold to the government to be delivered to other regions where that crop cannot be produced. It works for them.
71 Now, that is a smile! Chinese adults are quick to offer their welcoming smile. Younsters see a caucasian and they immediately use the one word they know: "Hello!"
72 Tied fabric at the indigo workshop Here Ying was examining the fabric prepared for the dyeing vat.
73 Indigo textile This sample has been dyed but not untied.
74 Life on the bus All together we rode for more than 3500 kilometers in our little private bus. This hardy Toyota served us well on the rough mountain roads. I think we had four 15 hour days plus numerous shorter rides with our dependable driver Mr. Wang. "Is that my buddy Ron in the front. S..." View Comments...
75 Road obstruction Our bus stopped for may reasons almost all of them picturesque.
76 Polychrome carved wood In this mountain Taoist temple we found extensively carved architectural detailing, most often richly painted.
77 Pavilion in a pond Chinese have a wonderful way of celebrating space, offering intimate enclosures for private enjoyment.
78 Majong player This eldery gentleman along with three others were concentrating intensely on their game.
79 The resident monk This man, a lifetime resident of the Taoist temple near Dali was thrilled to have visitors. He insisted on serving his strong bark spiritual health tea and talking at length about his philosophy.
80 Dai ladies at work We visited the studio where this extended family of sisters were busy in the indigo tie-die busines.
81 Drying fabrics After being submerged in the the dyeing vats these cloths are hung out to air dry.
82 Concentration Most Dai women wear these fancy head coverings, often protected with thin gause fabric. That protections comes off for the camera.
83 Dai textiles In addition to indigo textile, the Dai folks make and market many varieties of embroidered goods. This showroom had both new and antique pieces for sale.
84 "Yingerute" Nikolai This and the following candid shots of the members of our travel group.
85 "Zhudisi" Graham
86 "Kaer" Shanahan
87 "Zhenite" Lancos
88 "Haosite" Meyers
89 "Rang" Meyers
90 "Dawei" Bryant
91 "Luxi" Bryan
92 "An" Mortimer
93 "Maake" Eveson
94 "Paity" Reno
95 "Jimu" Reno
96 Li Wenying "OK, LETS GO!" Doctor Wendy really took good care of us. She basically took charge of the China land package details. We are greatly indebted to her for her help.
97 Zhou Qin Yings lovely sister, Qin, was a part of the group. Even without any comand of English she added to our experience with her quiet smile.
98 Li Jiansheng Jiansheng (Jackson) provides the vision and passion about his beloved nation which makes it possible for western travelers, mostly potters, to have an inside experience of the vast history, tradition and culture of China. His supervision of our diet enabled us to taste as well as see indiginous regional Chinese culture. Thank you Jackson!
99 Mr. Wang Our beloved bus driver took us safely on a Yunnan rollercoaster ride. By western standards we had numerous close calls all of which he took in his stride. His hearty laugh and happy face provided much pleasure to us all.
100 "Mawen" Bjurlin You can find it all in China! This self portrait, where we stopped to buy warmer clothing was taken on January 6, my birthday, right after the group had given me a new Chinese hat. My thanks to all. You were a great bunch to travel with on the OMYGOD Yunnan '03 Tour.
101 Friends Ching, Wenying, our special guide, Harry and Mr. Wang all became our friends while we were in China.
