There’s a particular kind of magic that happens when you take a child to an exhibition that was clearly made with them in mind. You watch their usual restless energy settle into focus, wonder, that quiet hum of engagement that every parent recognizes as a small victory. The Love Monster: Spring Reverie of Love exhibition, running now at Li Gallery in Beijing’s 798 Art District, offers just that.

If you’ve been looking for something to do with your kids that feels a little more thoughtful than the usual weekend rotation, this one is worth the trip.

From the moment you walk into Li Gallery, your children will find themselves surrounded by the world of Love Monster. Instead of cold white walls and roped-off installations, the space has been transformed into something warm and inviting.

What makes this exhibition particularly successful for families is its pacing. It’s not so large that kids become overwhelmed or exhausted halfway through, but it’s substantial enough to feel like a proper outing. You’ll probably spend about 45 minutes to an hour inside, which for most young children is the sweet spot between “engaged” and “over it.”

And the best part, the entire exhibition is completely FREE!

Find it:
Li Gallery 骊画廊
Middle 2nd Street, 798 Art Zone
No. 2 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District
北京市朝阳区酒仙桥路2号
798艺术区中二街

Images: Toni Ma

Head over to Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) tomorrow (March 25) for the kickoff of Cultural Canvas. They’re firing up an actual steamroller for art!

This is your chance to witness the incredible spectacle of massive, hand-carved linocut designs being pressed onto paper by a full-size steamroller right on campus. It’s art on an epic scale, and you won’t want to miss it!

But this event is about so much more than the thrill of the roll. The stunning prints you see and can purchase on-site are the centerpiece of a project with a powerful mission. “The purpose of printing these artworks was to fund a project called Cultural Canvas,” a WAB student shared. Students at WAB are collaborating with an African traveling teacher to bridge continents through creativity. Together, they are working to help children in Uganda and the Congo to improve their digital literacy while uniting around a collective passion for art.

This collaboration is already sparking a beautiful cultural exchange. Inspired by the project, a student in Uganda, Maria Tereza, has begun using tablets to create content that shares her heritage. In one tutorial, she shows the world how locals in her community weave traditional baskets. Now, students at WAB are following her lead, using her instructions to weave artworks of their own, which proves that creativity knows no borders.

By purchasing a print, you aren’t just taking home a unique piece of art; you are directly supporting this incredible initiative. All proceeds go toward supporting Nyarutembe School in Uganda, helping to provide resources and digital literacy programs for students there.

The exhibition runs from March 25 through April 13 at Hub Link at WAB, so come celebrate the opening day, grab a print, and see how art is connecting kids across the globe.

Images: WAB

Winter break season is here, and while your friends may be traveling off to other cities or distant countries, you may find yourself with a problem that happens to almost everyone. You get bored. If you are not traveling, or maybe you have a week at home before you begin your winter break adventures, you might discover you have nothing to do. If you need ways to entertain yourself during your time at home, here are some tips so that you can prevent yourself from turning into a boredom zombie.

Are you an artistic person? If you are, then this one is for you. YMM Art Education, 汤旅级艺术教 is a wonderful place where you can test your art skills to the limit. You can find YMM at Indigo Mall, they also have a Solana Mall branch. This art studio can also prepare you for art competitions. Each class is typically one hour and a half long, art competition classes are four hours long. Like everything in Beijing, their class package can be very expensive; however, if your mother is a shrewd negotiator, you may be able to bargain for a good deal. If you really enjoy creating art, these classes may be worth the price!

Secondly, if you like the feel of being in the water and enjoy swimming. Fire Dragon Swim Club runs private and group lessons throughout the week at the Canadian School and East Hotel. You can take group classes which are based on your swimming ability, from beginners to advanced!

At Fire Dragon, you will be taught stroke mechanics with different drills and even diving and flip turn skills. The more intense coaches will have you do stretches before you swim, and there are benches near the pool where your family can sit and watch you as you swim. What my parents like about this swim club is that it is affordable. One group session is a reasonable RMB 190 for one hour, they also offer private lessons at the East Hotel is over RMB 300. The best thing about this swim club is that you do not have to really commit to a set of classes, instead of having to buy a huge package all at once, you can register for a class 24hrs in advance to reserve your spot.

Winter break is also a perfect time for doing some shopping. Sanlitun Taikooli is a good choice for window shopping and get some good ideas.  But a warning, do not bother coming here for Page One Bookstore, this location is permanently closed much to our disappointment!  There are other Page One branches throughout Beijing you can visit. Sanlitun Taikooli is also home to a new French handbag brand, Polene.  My mother was thrilled when she discovered this storefront! This store interior is very nice, staff are super friendly and helpful, and they sell very good quality leather handbags. Don’t have to fly to Paris for your own Polene!  After your shopping time, you may get very hungry. Though there are many restaurants in this area, there is one particular restaurant that is my favorite-Pink.  This is a Vietnamese restaurant that serves legit Vietnamese cuisine. If you are craving an authentic bowl of pho, this place is just right for you.

If you want to keep your Chinese skills sharp during the winter break, you can sign up to go to the Bridge School at Guangming Hotel, where you can learn Chinese at your own pace. You will be assigned a teacher, and you can have a fixed time and a fixed day of class.  A package of 26 lessons at the Bridge School is RMB 160i per class.  Teachers are nice and flexible with time scheduling.

Lastly, being bored is not always a terrible thing. Being bored is a good way to explore your creative juice and indulge in your hobbies. You can order some supplies and do some arts and crafts!  For example, I spent a lot of time hand-drawing Christmas cards for families and friends. With this week free from school and afternoon activities, I was able to do some into creative writing.  It’s also a good opportunity to learn a new skill too, I am hoping to learn how to knit or crochet! This is also a chance to spend some quality family time by grabbing lunch with your working parent. I don’t get to eat lunch with my father during the weekday,s so it is nice to be able to catch lunch with him during this winter break! Anyhow, the possibilities are endless.

So there’s another article from Clark Yap! Happy Holidays Jingkids Families! And as always- Stay tuned, stay reading!!!

Find it:
Fire Dragon
Contact: Kelvin
Weixin ID: dfkhua

Find it:
Bridge School=
Contact Lily
Weixin: TheBridgeSchool2021

Images: Clark Yap

It’s a sunny Sunday in the CBD, in the cool, high-ceilinged gallery space of Espace Louis Vuitton Beijing – an outpost of the Louis Vuitton Foundation art museum in Paris. The “LV” could stand for little-visited, compared to its better-known retail sibling at Guomao (China World Mall). Find this outdoor storefront and next door you’ll step into the gallery, which hosts changing, thoughtfully curated exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. Currently, “Painting from Nature” is on display until October, showcasing works by abstract expressionists Joan Mitchell and Megan Rooney.

But today, a group of children are enjoying Espace LV not only as museumgoers but as budding artists. They are under the tutelage of Jennifer Chung, known to her young clientele as “Ms. Jen,” the founder and director of JEN Art Academy. She begins with a tour of the artworks, drawing out children’s interpretations: “The yellow looks happy,” says one child about a vibrant triptych by Mitchell, while another sees “a magical forest” in Rooney’s echo of Monet’s Waterlilies.

Next, the children settle at their workstations to create: silk paintings layered with gold foil and mounted on canvas. Drawing from the exhibition’s expressive vision of nature, their silk-and-gold creations echo the exhibit’s themes while reflecting something entirely their own. It’s this kind of intentional, layered learning that Jen imbues into every program she leads.

Jen’s own journey took her from high school in Hong Kong to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) – often dubbed the “Harvard of art schools” – for a degree in textiles. “RISD was life-changing,” she reflects. “I found a community of passionate, like-minded creatives who pushed me to grow and consistently develop original ideas. Anticipating today’s AI-driven world, RISD gave me the tools to lead with creativity.”

After graduating, Jen entered the fast-paced world of luxury fashion, working with brands like Dior, Versace, and Van Cleef & Arpels in Hong Kong. “Understanding the business side of global luxury was eye-opening,” she says. “I was fortunate to gain that firsthand.”

After moving to Beijing in 2017, Jen deepened her experience in educational leadership – first as principal of a local arts high school, and later as art education director at Dulwich College Group, where she designed a specialized arts track. “The pathway allowed students to spend three out of five school days fully immersed in art and design,” she explains. “I developed a comprehensive curriculum that combined concept and theory classes with foundational skills training. Most importantly, they completed their entire university portfolio during class time – giving them the preparation to get into their dream schools and thrive once they got there.”

In 2023, JEN Art Academy was born from a gap Jen encountered over and over in her work with students and families: Many young people dream of entering creative fields – architecture, fashion, animation, game design – but lack the structured support to get there.

“There’s a real gap,” Jen says. “So many talented students don’t know how to build the kind of portfolio top-tier universities are looking for. That’s where we come in.”

Located in Beijing’s Chaoyang District near the Western Academy of Beijing (WAB), JEN Art Academy offers a clear, age-based progression to support students from the earliest stages to competitive college applications:

• Grades 1-4: early exposure programs that spark curiosity and build foundational skills through weekend classes and summer camps
• Grades 5-8: pre-portfolio foundations with a focus on drawing, design thinking, and visual storytelling
• Grades 9-12: intensive portfolio preparation for students applying to leading global art and design universities

The Academy’s curriculum is built on the RISD approach, leveraging creativity as a tool for original problem-solving. “It’s never just about technique,” Jen emphasizes. “We teach students to think like designers, starting with observation and exploration then moving into self-expression, innovation and confidence.”

This summer, JEN Art Academy invites young creators ages 6-13 to explore three immersive camp themes that spark imagination and build hands-on design skills. In Super Mario Game Design, kids reimagine their favorite game universe by designing characters, power-ups and fantastical worlds. Primitive Pioneers takes campers back in time to invent tools, build shelters and experiment with tribal-inspired fashion. And in Historical Horizons, students journey through ancient civilizations, bringing history to life through architecture, jewelry-making, animation and more. Each five-day camp is led by Jen’s team of educators and taught in English, with bilingual support available.

 For high school students aiming for top global art and design universities, JEN Art Academy offers a rigorous College Prep Program. Drawing from her experience as a former RISD admissions officer, Jen has crafted a curriculum that mirrors the creative rigor and originality elite schools expect. Students develop concept-driven portfolios tailored to institutions like RISD, Parsons, and UAL, while receiving one-on-one mentorship throughout the entire application process, from idea generation to personal statements and interview prep. With a blend of real studio practice and design thinking, the program equips aspiring creatives to apply to top schools – and it currently boasts a 100 percent acceptance rate.

“I am super proud of our students and of our team who nurture their talents,” Jen says. “We’re growing fearless, original thinkers for the future.”

Find it:
JEN Art Academy
B02, Cathy Plaza, 2 Xiangjiang Beilu, Chaoyang District (next to Rivera/Roundabout)

 Images: Tara Fegelein, JEN Art Academy

If you’ve ever visited a temple fair or been to a food or night market in China, then bets are you’ve probably seen sugar paintings being sold off to eager passersby. This Chinese sugar art is a traditional Chinese folk art with a long history dating back hundreds of years.

Sugar painting (糖画 tánghuà) was part of popular street culture back in the olden days. Although much less common nowadays, you’ll still find them at temple fairs during Chinese New Year, on sale in some parks, and on sale at a few shops in Beijing.

These edible “paintings” are made from boiling saccharose and maltose, and the first key thing to making these intricate shapes is to control the temperature properly. If the temperature is too high, the syrup will be too watery to shape; if the temperature is too low, the syrup will become hard and difficult to stretch. The hot sugar syrup is drizzled onto a marble slab in the desired pattern and then becomes solid as the temperature cools, which means that another key part of making a perfect sugar painting is speed!

Sugar painting should be done smoothly in one continuous stream, and there can’t be any breaks in the painting process. Sugar painters don’t use stencils, and instead rely on images they’ve memorized in their minds.

The most popular patterns are dragons, phoenixes and the 12 Chinese zodiac signs, however these folk artists are also able to paint all kinds of animals and flowers. The paintings can be completed in as short a time as one minute! As soon as the painting is finished, a bamboo skewer is pressed and attached to the syrup. Once the sugar painting cools, it will be removed from the marble slab using a spatula-like tool.

Sugar painting can be traced back to the Ming dynasty when people used syrup to cast statues of Buddha figures for religious rituals. In the Qing dynasty, this was gradually simplified and popularized, with peddlers creating various patterns that represent good luck and fortune rather than Buddha figures, and the treat soon became a popular sought-after snack for children.

In 2008, sugar painting was listed as one of China’s Intangible Cultural Heritage items. Although it is not so commonly seen on the street now, the artistry continues to be passed down from generation to generation, and for many Chinese people, these edible paintings carry sweet memories of our childhoods.

It’s no wonder why little kids today are still obsessed with stopping for a few minutes to linger in awe every time there’s a sugar painting stand nearby. My daughter is obsessed with them, and being the arts and crafts addict myself, learning how to sugar paint is pretty high on my to-do list.

But, finding someone who can teach you how to make everything from scratch and let you practice on their equipment might not be an easy task. That’s where Taobao comes in. You can find everything on there, even a kid-friendly pen that lets you sugar paint at home with very little effort for less than RMB 100.

Much like a 3D pen, this comes with sticks of hardened sugar that heat up and melt once they’re inserted into the cute carrot-shaped pen. It comes with stencils and a cooling rubber pad for kids to trace their favorite designs on. Like with the real street artists, these also cool relatively quickly and makes for a pretty fun afternoon activity at home and is definitely a hit at school fairs and house parties.

Images: Taobao, Canva

For kids and parents who are infatuated with the wonders of the ancient world, the newest mummy exhibition at 798’s Meet You Museum is a must-see. This exhibition, titled “Meet Ancient Egypt: Mummy Life and Death in Ancient Egypt,” has drawn the attention of many history and culture enthusiasts.

Currently on display until Feb 16, 2025, this exhibition showcases a remarkable collection of 123 pieces of precious ancient Egyptian artifacts sourced from the Museums and Special Collections of the University of Aberdeen in the UK. Among the highlights are two extremely rare female mummies along with their coffins. Additionally, there are mummies of animals, mummy wrappings, noble jewelry, statues of gods, murals, canopic jars, and cosmetic utensils from ancient Egypt.

Divided into four sections – “Mummies and Immortality,” “Beauty and Protection,” “Gods and Humans,” and “Offerings and Rituals” – the exhibition presents the mysterious history and the concept of eternal life in ancient Egypt from various perspectives. The spatial design replicates the architectural style of ancient Egypt, and the display of exhibits recreates their actual usage scenarios and arrangements, with a pyramid-shaped display case adding to the authenticity.

For the kids, the exhibition features several interactive elements. Visitors can explore ancient Egyptian temples and interact with ancient Egyptian deities. There is also a “Papyrus Research and Learning” activity where visitors get a more immersive experience and better understand ancient Egyptian culture by making papyrus themselves. It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to step into the world of ancient Egypt and unlock its secrets right here in Beijing.

The exhibition is open daily and tickets start from RMB 36.

Find it:
Meet Museum · Beijing 798 Art District, E02-1, Ceramic Street, 798 Art District
遇见博物馆·北京798馆，798艺术区陶瓷一街E02-1楼

Images: Dianping

On a cold winter morning, I put my toddler in a Didi and headed out to Haidian. Without sounding like a stereotype, but once you move out of Haidian, it’s hard to find the will to make the long trip back for fun. But, this was a special occasion. One of the coolest exhibitions has come to Beijing and they’re exhibiting at Wukesong in Haidian.

On Didi, it said we were in for a 40-minute drive, but you know how unpredictable Beijing traffic is. We were in the car for a good hour or so… Was it still worth it? Yup!

Kind of like how in Ratatouille Chef Gousteau says, “Anyone can cook,” in the realm where art meets the unexpected, Pigcasso emerges as a sensational and utterly unconventional painting prodigy and living example of “anyone can paint”.

But who is Pigcasso? She’s a pig with the most humble of beginnings.

“Bleat, bleat, bleat!” Here comes the adorable penguins made by Carmel Watson’s Pre-Nursery, Seahorses Class. All you need are some basic craft supplies and, voila, the kids are in for an afternoon of crafting that lets them explore their own creativity. British School of Beijing, Sanlitun students Evelin Hlusickova, Gemma Zhu, Nihit Singh, Austin Su, and Mia Marangone show you how it’s done.  

Materials:

•  Craft paper (white and colored)
•   Black felt
•   Scissors
•   Cotton wool
•   Glue
•   Googly eyes

1.  Cut 1 large oval shape (black). This step can be done with craft paper or felt.

2. Cut 5 pink medium size hearts of the color of your choosing.

3. Cut 1 large-size heart.

4. Cut 2 small white circles and 2 small black circles.

5. Cut 1 small triangle of the color of your choosing.

6. Glue the large heart at the bottom of the oval to make a penguin’s tummy, glue the cotton wool onto the white heart to add texture and to make the penguin’s tummy cute and fluffy.

7. Add the triangle for the beak.

8. Glue the two white circles for the eyes and the small black circles on top of the white circles to complete the eyes.

9. Glue 2 hearts on the sides of the penguin’s body to make the wines and 2 hearts on the bottom to make the feet. 

This article appeared in the jingkids 2023 Graduation Issue

Jenny Jin and Bella Li G10：Untitled

oil on canvas

This artwork depicts our friend group sitting in a restaurant, which aims to express our love and appreciation towards our friendship and the years that we have spent together. Through this artwork, we used both realism and impressionism through the contrast of level of details between the subject, the people, and the background. This allows us to make the faces of our friends more outstanding, thus attracting the audience attention to the main topic of this artwork. This will also add layers on the artwork as the abundant use of colors and lower level of realism on the background compares to the realistically depicted faces, providing the viewer with a more lingering charm. When the audience views this artwork, we want them to feel a sense of warmth and friendliness.

Yuqiao Chen G12：Unconscious Boundaries

Acrylic on Canvas, 23 x 39 inches

Everything is in constant movement and this rings true in the boundaries between dream and reality. Slashed upon the canvas, the chaotic bright streaks of yellow and red break out of the confines of recognizable shapes and outlines to represent the simultaneously existent and invisible line that defines dream and reality. 

Luofan (Felisa) Gan  G10: Monster 

Clay, wire, wood, 50cmx35cmx25cm

This work is an inventive narrative piece depicting an original character. The sculpture’s bust and size, position, and stature reflect the stoicism of the character while there are also whimsical circles, dots and flowers incorporated throughout. This work employs both additive and subtractive methods and the movement in the hair along with the decorative elements  creates interest through the entire form.

Patience Ma G12: Fading Palace

oil painting, acrylic, watercolor, spray lacquer, 40cm*80cm

Due to the development of modern society and the globalization of different cultures from different countries. The Forbidden City is a very symbolic feature of Chinese culture. I drew it using a contemporary style – abstract expressionism. Splashy strokes created by spray lacquer create a bursting feeling for the erupting sense of national confidence. This painting expresses my passion for conveying Chinese culture and increasing the cultural confidence of the Chinese. There are abstract and expressive expressions in this painting, but also some very detailed strokes which created the shiny golden roof of the Forbidden City.

David Fu G12: Serenade of a Nightingale 

Oil paint on canvas and digital editing, 50cm*40cm

Music has a way of bringing back memories and imagery. The violin has a significant effect on me, sounding like a singing bird. The nocturnal and mystical nightingale in this work is placed to the ear of a tree to symbolize melody and beauty. “To dream of these birds is often symbolic of joy and hope” the ear on a tree is shown to represent the awakening of nature. Bright colors are used to emphasize the wild vitality of Spring and the nightingale’s song awakening something inside of me. 

Images: Courtesy of school

This article appeared in the jingkids 2023 Graduation Issue