Bootstrappin’

This afternoon, I was wandering around Xi’an when I came across a lovely little art market, wedged into the alleys just inside the South City Wall. It’s one of those things I really should have discovered sooner, having spent the last three days walking all over the blocks just surrounding the market, but somehow I overlooked it until now.

Unlike all the “art exhibitions” I saw in Beijing and Shanghai, this place was bustling with actual artists, doing their craft – not just cheap, mass-produced watercolors of bamboo, horses and “the four seasons.” There were plenty of painters and calligraphy artists, as well as stamp-makers, jewelry-makers, brush-makers, fan-makers, and guys making hundreds of egg-shaped musical instruments, each one with a unique carving on the side.

Here are some of the pictures I took while I wandered around. I wish I could have bought a painting or two, but lugging art around in my pack for the next four months would be the definition of a pain in the ass. So photos it is!