If you’re in Beijing on December 10 come out to the first Handmade Holiday Fair from 11am to 6pm at No. 32 Qianliang Hutong, Dongsi, Dongcheng District (tel: 6404-6297/13436702545)  featuring the very best in art, designs, home furnishings, clothing, plants and more.  Visit the Paper Tiger Shanghai table and say hi to Juliet!  Food and free mulled wine will be on hand to keep shoppers happy.   Map to the cafe below.

12月10号周六11点到晚6点 又到了为亲爱的人挑选礼物的季节。我们搜罗远近，找到最珍贵，最有个性的手工礼物。第一个纯手工礼物市集，艺术的，设计的，家居的，织物的，植物的，还有更多！ 欢迎早来参加抽奖。可口小食，圣诞热酒。温馨提示：只能接受现金。另外，胡同里不好停车，请乘坐地铁或公交，或者无惧严寒的你骑车来吧！ 地址：北京市东城区，东四北大街，钱粮胡同32号.  电话： 010 6404 6297 / 134 3670 2545

Quick, get this one into your calendar

After almost 2 years in Beijing, I finally got myself to Panjiayuan Antique Market on Saturday with my friend Juliet.    More flea market than antiques, the open-air market features trinkets, ceramics, vases, books, textiles, silver, jewelry, furniture, jade and more.   No bargain basement prices here, unless you’re prepared to haggle hard for stuff that can also be found at Gaobeidian and Dongjiao market, at better prices with less hassle.  However, if you look hard, there are some cool finds that I haven’t seen before.   The ‘antiques’ of the market’s namesake are long gone, but still worth going to see for the number of vendors and the amount of wares laid out.  Also fun to do if you like a good ‘hunt’ for something unique.  The market’s open from 4:30am- to 6:00pm Saturday and Sundays and from 8:30am-6:00pm Monday to Fridays.   A few of our ‘finds’ below:

A) Cute ‘Nong Jia’ (country home) home-made crafts, textiles and bags found towards the back of the market.  B) Mix of old vintage signs, cameras and these old address plaques.  This stall owner had alot of these –would be fun to make something out of all of them; cover a wall perhaps or a door? C) No shortage of pottery, ceramics and plateware.  D) Lots of stones and rocks being sold outside by the wall.  If I had a garden or a fountain I would surely line it with these.

A) Horse-hair (the tail) brushes tied with twine at the brush table.  Good for cleaning jewelery?  B) Flat ceramic painted ‘dolls’ found outside by the wall .  C) Bought this cool little vintage (looking) metal food container.  It was randomly amongst some old looking tools.   D) Silver cutlery and serving spoons.  E) Wood-handled tools.

A) One of a few retro tables at the market  B) Etched ceramic vase found outside by the wall  C) Silver ornaments perhaps hung from belts  D) Taxidermic bird found perched along with fellow birds and a couple of dogs outside of the market.  E) Tibetan beaded headpiece.  F) Zeiss film projector found in one of the shops that line the market.

Staircase in the Yi Art Hotel at 798.   Nice Art-Deco style.

A friend recently took me to the new Easy Style home wares shop not far from Chaoyang Park.   Fitted out to feel like a Cape Cod-style boutique, the shop features retro metal furniture and accessories from Dulton, designed by Yasuaki Sasamoto;  glass vases, jars and bottles,  and my enduring favorite—Chinese-retro vacuum flasks.  The shop is by the team from Lost and Found and a little tricky to find as the signage is small.  but once there, you’ll be treated to an interesting collection of retro wood furniture, clothes, kitchen wares, clocks and more.  Best to call the shop: 6599-6018.  After shopping, head upstairs to their cafe “Structures in Time” for tea, coffee and free wifi.

I recently had a chance to watch a photo shoot for a fashion magazine at a photography studio located in a former cotton warehouse in Beijing that is now called Jin Yuan Art Center.  It’s located a little southeast of the CBD and is now home to creative industries— agencies, studios and the like.   Most of the brick buildings seem original and most that have been transformed, have been done well.  Thankfully, some of the old buildings have retained their old prohibition signs such as the one in the lower left, warning not to light matches.   In a city of either really old—hutongs, and ancient—temples and the Forbidden City or super new– skyscrapers, CCTV modern, what caught my eye about this area was how normal it was and how it wasn’t trying to be anything—old or new.  So it was a nice surprise that it was 50 years old and transformed to what it needed to be—a home for creatives—functional and aesthetically appealing without too much effort.