[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
On the afternoon of Jan. 14, Newsgd.com invited a group of foreign friends to enjoy a gathering at the 289 Art Park in Guangzhou.
Kung Fu Tea, Chinese Calligraphy and classical Chinese furniture, the Spring Festival gathering with foreign friends in Guangzhou turned out to be an extraordinary cultural experience. The Kung Fu Tea charmed the expats, the expats’ calligraphy works wowed the Chinese fans, and the classical redwood furniture fascinated all.
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
Tea-tasting
The tea master introduced how to make Kung Fu Tea, smelling fragrance of tea leaves, adding boiling water into the teapot, holding the teapot to keep it warm and then enjoying your tea. After watching the demonstration, Dr. Sunil Kumar Sahu from India followed the tea master’s instruction to make a pot of tea, aroma overflowing. His moves of making tea seemed so sophisticated, even the Chinese onlookers were impressed.
Many foreign guests were also interested in the incense burned at the scene. The tea master told that different incenses will be burned to go with different teas, which will help the tea tasters to enjoy the tea better.
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
Calligraphy Practice
After tasting Kung Fu Tea, Ni Kuan, Visiting Professor of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts gave a brief introduction of Chinese Calligraphy. Since it’s the Year of the Rooster, Chinese character ji (鸡 means rooster) was the first to show. Other auspicious characters include fu (福 means blessing), ji (吉 means auspiciousness), and bao (宝 means fortune).
Professor Ni Kuan reminded that the character fu is only posted upside-down on a trash can or water vat, meaning the blessing won’t be thrown away. In most cases, the character fu should be posted the right way up, such as on the door.
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
After Professor Ni Kuan’s introduction, the foreign guests started to practice their calligraphy. Jirka from Belgium chose to write the character bao in traditional form which was very complex and hard to write. Gaspar wrote the character fu in joined-up writing. Kelvin’s calligraphy work even had hollow strokes (as if done with a half-dry brush) and that was really skilled pencraft.
When being asked how she liked calligraphy, Jirka told the reporter that it’s amazing to have so much meaning in only a few strokes, and she found it’s beautiful that as well the words as the lay out are balanced to create a Spring Festival couplet. She also said she liked the energy of Guangzhou and the speed of life here and enjoyed visiting the Guangzhou Parcs during the Spring Festival because she could better enjoy its beauty.
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
Kevin is from the UK and has been living in Guangzhou for two years. This is not his first time to write Chinese calligraphy, and that’s why he was pretty skilled at writing it. He chose to write the character fu because he thought the character was very poetic.
Jenny from Canada told the reporter that she has been living in Guangzhou for four years and this is the fifth Spring Festival she is going to spend in China. In the past, she would spend a traditional Spring Festival with her friends, but this year she needs to work during the holiday.
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
After the calligraphy writing, all the guests took a tour around the showplace to view the redwood furniture. Originated from the Ming Dynasty, redwood furniture is high-quality and conveys deep grand cultural connotations, which is far beyond its practical functions.
(By Monica)
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
[Photo: Newsgd.com/Xiaowen]
