Beijing's Temple of Heaven Blog: Travel, Sightseeing Hotels Guide

Have High Quality Jade of Your Own in Beijing Hongqiao Market

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:53:54 -0500

caption id="" align="alignleft" width="320" caption="Beijing Baigong Fang Jade Shop near Temple of Heaven "/caption

Although not well known in the west, Jade is a very popular jewelry among Chinese people, especially women.

Jade is known for its graceful color and elaborately carved patterns, as well as mythical powers in chasing away bad luck.

At Beijing Baigong Handicraft Museum near the Jiang Xi Grand Hotel and Temple Of Heaven, I found a shop specializing in jadeite ware.

The shop assistant guaranteed that all of their jewelry is made of top grade jadeite.

Raw jade is imported from Burma, and they are then carved by master craftsmen in Guangzhou.

For ladies, the shop offers bracelets and necklace pendants with Buddha and Ping An Kou (literally means button of protection).

A bracelet usually costs several thousand yuan.

For men, they have pendants such as Guanyin (the Goddess of Mercy) and Pi Xiu (legendary animal which eats and retains wealth).

A yellow-colored Pi Xiu cost about 600 yuan.

Also on display was a big, crude, black-colored jadeite stone.

The shop assistant turned on a small flashlight against the stone, so I could see beautiful, charming green light shining into it. It was amazing to see graceful jadeite ware made from this kind of stone.

Old Beijing Handicrafts, Paper Tigers and Warriors

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:24:15 -0500

caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Old Beijing Paper Cutting Shop Near Forbidden City"/caption

One of China’s most time-honored traditions is the fine art of paper cutting, which has been around since ancient times.

Zi Yi Xuan, a Paper-cutting shop right near a lot of Beijing Hotels, offers a large selection of paper-cutting works in the center of Beijing. They make paper cuttings of all sorts of themes, including shadow puppets, peacocks, playing children, opera figures, and court ladies.

Mr. Li, the owner, said one of the most popular items is the set of 12 Chinese Zodiac animals, believed to bring happiness and success to their owner. The works look lively, and the animals seem to pop out from the paper. The set sells around RMB 900.

I also picked up a colorful fish paper-cutting commonly seen during the Chinese spring festivals. People use them to adorn their doors and windows during Spring Festival. The fish express their wishes for more wealth. It sells only for RMB 25.

Other popular themes include historical tales, auspicious animals, and daily life scenes. I even found some Fuwa mascots for the Olympics.

Mr. Li speaks a little English. Communication should not be a problem.

Tea Shop in Beijing features natural Pu'er tea, Beijing Shopping

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:13:32 -0500

Tao Cha Ju near the Hongkun International Hotel is filled with a collection of Pu'er cakes on the shelves.

Beijing Travel: In tea shops, when you see tea compressed into a variety of shapes, like cakes, bowls, or brick, the tea is undoubtedly Pu'er tea from Yunnan.

Beijing Carved Lacquer Shop, Beijing Shopping

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:12:20 -0500

Beijing carved lacquer, or Diao Qi in Chinese, originated in the Tang Dynasty over 1,400 years ago. It used to be made only for the royal family in China. Xiang Hong Lacquer Ware near the Beijing Haige International Hotel located on Zhushikou East Street near The Temple Of Heaven.

Beijing Shopping: Chinese Antique Furniture Shop in Beijing

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:26:38 -0500

Beijing Shopping: This clip focuses on a Beijing-based antique furniture shop which is located in the Sanlitun area near the Beijing Taiyue Suite Hotel of Chaoyang district in Beijing.

A clip of Beijing Shopping - Himalayan Tibetan Handicrafts

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:13:20 -0500

This Beijing clip refers to a Tibet handicraft shop in Beijing Drum Tower area near the Beijing Phoenix Palace Hotel, where focuses on all kinds of beautiful artworks from Tibet.

Beijing shopping: A Beijing Shop Offers Tibetan Object of Marnyi Stone Favorite

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:03:01 -0500

Beijing shopping: This video focuses on a Drum Tower area shop in Beijing near the Beijing Ning Xia Hotel that offers the Tibetan object of Marnyi stone, which is rare to see outside Tibet.

Guyazhai,Beijing Antique Shop

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:17:28 -0500

Beijing Travel: Lijiang in Yunnan Province is home to Naxi, an old ethnic minority group that holds a mysterious Dongba culture in China.

Beijing Tea-pillow Shop Near Temple Of Heaven

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:39:12 -0500

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Combining Chinese traditional Tea culture with Eastern medicine, Hanyilou shop on Beijing’s famous tea street Maliandao near the Beijing Hong Kun International Hotel carries a series of healthy tea pillows.

Tea pillow has a long history in China. Many Chinese in ancient times made simple tea pillows to treat headache and insomnia.

The shop owner, Mr. Zhang, told me they use natural green tea, Oolong tea, or flower tea.

All teas are gathered from in natural tea gardens located above Mount Taimu in Fujian Province, and then used to fill the pillow’s heart.

A fragrant pillow could improve sleep quality, rejuvenate one’s mind, and reduce stress. Prices vary from a small cushion for RMB 118 to an adult pillow at RMB 236.

The shop also displays some cute tea-pet figurines, like the “dragon fish” and “two lions fighting for a ball”. All these are symbols of blessing in China.

Tea lovers like to raise their tea pets on the tea set, by splashing them with extra water used in teas.

Due to the special of the materials used, the pets become shinier the more hot tea they absorb.

Prices vary from RMB 15 to RMB 50.

Beijing Hotan Jade Shop Near The Temple Of Heaven

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:48:22 -0500

caption id="" align="alignleft" width="320" caption="Beijing Hotan Jade Shop Near The Temple Of Heaven"/caption

Jade is believed to bring happiness and luck for the people, keeps away evil, and good for one’s health.

With its clear jadeite qualities, Hotan Jade has enjoyed a good reputation since ancient times. Its history can be traced back to 1200 years ago.

Jade Family is a Hotan jade shop near the Jiang Xi Grand Hotel, which sells finished jade accessories as well as incomplete jade materials that you can design yourself.

From jade necklace and bracelet, to large jade home adornments, Jade Family carries a large selection of jade merchandises.

The shop owner, Ms. Cao, told me their story of jade collection in Xinjiang.

She said that the mountains south of Hotan City are called Jade Mountains, and the river beside the Hotan city is called the Jade River.

Even today, you can find people picking jade from the river. Only in the Jade river one can find the best quality Jade, but the mountains are still mined for cheap jade product.

She showed me a top-quality jade horse. Even though I know little about jade, I still appreciated its whiteness and brightness. The item is sold at RMB 30,000.

Another piece I liked was the “Jade Mountain.” It had a shape of a mountain, with three old men standing by pine trees. All these represent longevity in China. It costs RMB 2500.

Jade Family also sells some daily items, like ceramic ware, tobacco bottles, and fingerstalls popular back in the early 20th century.