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 - 21 of 101 Total. 14700 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.
