But I'm back and been mentally writing this blog post in my head over the last week. On Saturday, I ventured to the Panjiayuan aka "Dirt" Market in Beijing. It is a market that is open everyday, but weekends are especially adventurous because local vendors from the countryside make the journey into the city to sell their goods. They come on Saturday morning and stay until a.) their stuff is sold out or b.) Sunday evening rolls around and they need to leave the city to go home. It's basically an open flea market/craft fair - China style.
I had no idea what to expect. I didn't know if it would be bust or bank. I just knew that it opened at 4:30am and the thought of the "good" stuff being picked over before I got there was a threat to me; therefore, I was going at 6am. So I texted my driver, Mr. Yang, the night before and said, "Panjiayuan Market. 6am." He showed up on time, seeming slightly excited for 6am. "Good market," he said. Hum.... still not convincing. The whole slang "Dirt Market" had me slightly skittish. Not to mention the air quality was already over 200.
We pulled up and I didn't really see any big building or entryway. Mr. Yang said, "Ok, here." I replied, "Um, where? Where do I shop?" He laughed and said, "Everywhere!" pointing on the other side of the parking garage.
Here's what I saw when he said that:
So, I walked around a bit and came across the entry area. I found out real quick why it's called "Dirt Market." The vendors bring in their goods and set them up on the ground. Most have a blanket and line up their treasures. It made me smile instantly. I knew today was going to be fun.
The front part of it is open-air. Of course, it happened to be the most polluted day that I have lived here thus far. My luck.
If jewelry is your thing, there's plenty here to chose. The stones are gorgeous, colorful, and cheap. Note the missing stone in the center of this board. It is now in my possession. Also note cigarette butt in bottom right corner of picture (review: Dirt Market).
This is broadly known as an antique market. People bring goods they say are "thousands of years old" or perhaps used by rulers hundreds of years ago. Usually it's a hoax and you have to be a very good historian to know what's real and what's not. Anybody wanna pay for broken pottery that Mao used?
Or perhaps one of his books?
And while the goods here are amazing and there's diamond in the ruff for everyone, the real joy was communicating with locals. Honestly, it was one of my best China days yet. I really thought it was going to be a sad, boring alone day since my buddy couldn't go with me, but I enjoyed it. The vendors don't yell at you. They don't chase you. They sit at there station and if you wanna look, look! It is not like the Pearl Market or the Silk Market. There was a total of 4 non-Chinese people I saw the entire time. Nobody speaks English.
This was the best vendor. He was hilarious. He didn't speak English and I don't speak Chinese, but we laughed and somehow joked through gestures and awkward vocal sounds until we agreed upon a price. When he first got out his calculator, I simply shook my hand and started saying numbers in Chinese (that's the only thing I can say right now, don't be too impressed). He was like, "Ah Ha Ha. Wawawa!" Like, 'I'm impressed'! He instantly dropped his price. If you could have sat there and watched us, you would have laughed.
Speaking of sitting and watching, everyone wants to watch the white western girl barter. Each vendor has a little, teeny tiny stool (the guy in the above pic is actually sitting on it, you can't even see it and it's a miracle my big hindy fits on it). When you want to start negotiating, you sit in the stool and grab a cane (you can see them in the above picture as well) and point to what you want. The negotiating begins. Each time I sat down, a flock of people would come and stand over me. I don't know if they wanted to see how well I could negotiate, what I wanted to buy, or how stupid I was for paying the prices I did..... I'd like to think it was my negotiating skills.
About half way through the day my camera had a meltdown. It kept flashing "bulb" and wouldn't shoot in manual mode so I had to shoot in the dreaded auto-mode. The only thing worse than forgetting your camera is having a malfunctioning one.
I think there's like 1.4 billion people that live in China? Well, 1.3 billion of them were at this market Saturday morning.
This is the covered back part of the exhibition. I don't think this area is a "weekend only" part - I'm thinking it's here everyday, but I'm really not sure.
There really is something for everyone here.
Handmade calligraphy pens.
Antique music and electrical items.
Of course, tea sets.
Handmade silk boxes.
Lanterns.
Old-style artwork.
Modern-style artwork
And somewhere between the purple-glazed pottery I know my sister-in-law would scream about to the hippy-styled polka dot bag and scarf my Atlanta neighbor would totally dig... I got kinda sad. I couldn't stop thinking about how I am in the most amazing situation of my life and have the most eye-opening, spectacular, you-gotta-see-this moments - yet nobody is here to show it to. So instead I'm writing and trying to convey in these pictures what I see on a "typical" Saturday. It's simply amazing, jaw-dropping, did-you-just-see-that? experience.
I did purchase several things. I only bought a trinket or two for myself and mostly spent my money on gifts for people back home. I couldn't help but buy that special something that reminded me of my loved ones thousands of miles away.
Perhaps the item of the day was this. I saw in the calligraphy section a personalized stamping booth. I saw a stamp that had a dragon carved out of the middle of the handle... it was beautiful. It is the year of the dragon here so you see them in a lot of pieces. I chatted with the seller for a bit (she spoke some broken English) and told her I wanted to personalize this stamp with a friend's name from back home. She said she could not sell me just this one stamp. You see, it had a "mate" (the male dragon) that matched it and had been carved from the same stone. In Chinese culture, it is not good to separate things. She said this pair of dragon stamps were carved from the same rock, and what nature made man can not separate. She offered to sell me a different dragon stamp that was even cheaper, but it was not as beautiful as the one I originally wanted. It took me about 0.5 seconds to think of a special couple I know who cannot be separated and are solid as stone. Needless to say, I bought the two stamps and had them personalized for the couple.
The collection of handmade stamps.
You can watch the stamp being made right in front of you.
I chose to have only the Chinese symbol written on each stamp. Some people want the English and Chinese names etched.
Definitely authentic.
The whole process takes about 45 minutes per stamp.
She put them and a porcelain ink dish in a handmade silk box. I'm in love with them and made a mental note to get myself a stamp made before I leave.
So there you have it. Panjiayuan Antique Market. Just another Saturday in China for me.
