“When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” So when in China, celebrate Chinese New Year!

This means eating the food, taking part in the festivities, and decorating your place! Usually, my Chinese teacher likes to give us a nifty set of simple decorations in a box set, which is easily ordered off Taobao. But this year, I found a couple of things that give my Chinese New Year celebration a little more meaning.

A few days ago, a local acquaintance reached out to me and asked if I was interested in buying some handwritten calligraphy scrolls. These traditionally come in a couplet or triplet and are to be pasted outside your door, ushering in well wishes for the new year. In this set, the horizontal inscription says “May your family be kind,” while the scroll on the right reads, “The mountains and rivers are beautiful scenery” and the one on the left says “May you have a rich life with happiness.” Incidentally, they were all handwritten by her 12-year-old son!

Now you might recall I myself had brought my 6-year-old son to attempt calligraphy once. It did not end well and we never went back. But I continue to be awed by the focus and patience of this almost-lost art. So I was impressed to discover that this local youth, Lynn, had been studying calligraphy for four years with professionals. In his mother’s words, “I am happy for him because he is doing something he really likes.”

Call me old-school but I like knowing the hand that paints my scrolls, instead of some soulless factory reprint. If you like what you see as well, feel free to scan the QR code below to place an order. Lynn is also happy to customize the scrolls if you have specific well wishes in mind. Prices start from RMB 38 for a set.

Reusable Cloth Red Packets

For a more sustainable touch to your CNY, consider giving your red packets in these stylish cloth hongbao from China-born eco-wrap brand Baluchon, of local beeswax wraps and furoshiki (exquisite Japanese cloth wrap) fame. Aside from being reused year after year, they can also be reused as a cute wallet after CNY because let’s face it, red never goes out of style in China! Prices start from RMB 108. These are also customizable with company logos. Scan the QR code for more options!

KEEP READING: Kids Camps for CNY Holiday Fun

Images: Pexels, courtesy of vendors, Liz & Po

One of the fantasies I harbored in anticipation of moving to China was of my child and I writing calligraphy alongside each other in a pavilion amid a zen-inspiring garden with a pretty little stream babbling beside us. If I’m being totally honest about this fantasy, my American husband is also serving us tea in dainty Chinese teacups and playing the erhu in the background.

Anyhoo, the point of sharing that fantasy was to introduce you to my fascination with Chinese calligraphy. My very first contact was when my parents paid a street artist in Tian Jin to write my name in “Chinese calligraphy”.

My Chinese name written in “Chinese calligraphy”

Yes, obviously that isn’t quite your traditional Chinese calligraphy. The artist took some liberties there. But to my young impressionable mind, it was unlike anything I had ever seen and absolutely stunning!

The next time Chinese calligraphy stirred my soul was its appearance in the award-winning film Hero by Yimou Zhang, where the swordmaster Broken Sword – played by the enigmatic Tony Chiu-Wai Leung – writes the character for 劍 jiàn sword, likening the art of swordplay to calligraphy.

The brush is equally as mighty as the sword

That made such sense to me: The discipline of the training, the power behind the deliberate strokes of the brush and sword, the fluidity in the movements… all of it drew me into the fantasy of Ancient Chinese culture, where Chinese calligraphy is purported to have origins way back in the Shang dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.) when it was inscribed on animal bones.

Today, calligraphy is more akin to Latin, lost and dying, if not already dead to most. But there remains a niche group of calligraphy enthusiasts who wish to keep this art form alive. In downtown Beijing, I came across two calligraphy centers that teach this ancient art to kids as young as 3 years old. Eager to witness the magic of calligraphy firsthand, I brought my kid and a friend’s daughter for a trial class.

Watch expat kids try Chinese calligraphy in the video below!

It would appear that my fantasy of writing Chinese calligraphy with my son will not be coming true any time soon, but I’m still happy to see that the next generation gets a chance to learn and uphold this magnificent tradition. Perhaps your child might wish to try their hand at this ancient Chinese art form? After all, you can always tell them it’s just practice for holding a sword.

KEEP READING: My Kid’s Favorite Cinema + Indoor Playground, All for RMB 160

Images: Vivienne Tseng-Rush, screengrab from 2002 “Hero” film 

In this column, Bizkids, we feature interviews with successful entrepreneurs and various professionals to share their advice to aspiring kids with entrepreneurial spirits. To send in your questions or advice, email cindyjenkins@beijing-kids.com.

Have you ever thought about turning your hobby into a business one day? Though you may assume it’s only suitable as a hobby, there’s a chance you can take what you like doing and turn it into a potential career. However, it not only demands your patience and passion, but also requires a model example to inspire you!

This time, our featured professional is AJ Donnelly, a British expat who arrived in Beijing in 1999 as a humble kindergarten teacher. Early on he saw the growing demand for experiences related to traditional Chinese culture, and wanted to find a way to help people better access them.

Having studied martial arts since the age of 8, and became a Daoist at the age of 14, he already had a good basis for understanding traditional Chinese culture. But after many years and obstacles, he was finally able to follow his calling as an entrepreneur and open one of China’s first foreign-run culture centers – Cultural Keys! Over the years, Cultural Keys has expanded to include the CK Culture Boutique, a bespoke Chinese art store, and CK Martial Hearts, which offers traditional Chinese Kung Fu courses. He’s also the founder of the Bootstrap Business Initiative, an organization that provides consultation services and helps first-time entrepreneurs access information and services for setting up low-budget businesses in Beijing.

Here, he shares his inspiring journey with us, from his passion for Kung Fu and Chinese culture, to sense of wonder, and how he turned his life-long interests into Cultural Keys, while unlocking China’s potential in the process!

What was your motivation to start Cultural Keys?

Looking back at the last five or ten years, there has always been a misunderstanding of China: people either think China is a terrible place, or they think it’s mysterious. But of course, neither of these is correct. And I just always wanted people to see the real China, traditional Chinese culture, and find as much as value in it as I find. Because I love it, not because I’m blind, but because I experienced it and I see how it improves my life and I want other people to understand it. That’s why we started giving people access to traditional Chinese culture.

When did your interest in Chinese culture begin? Why do you like Kung Fu?

I started martial arts when I was 8, and then I started karate, because throughout my childhood, from day one until I left school, I was bullied every single day. I watched The Karate Kid, and I was like “wow he learned martial arts, I wanna do that too!” So I took karate for several years, and I went from karate to kickboxing, then to Kung Fu and eventually found Shaolin Martial arts.

How about the Kung Fu part of Cultural Keys? What’s the story related to Kung Fu?

Kung Fu is where we started originally. When myself, my wife Nic, and our partner sat down six years ago and decided to start the company, we were thinking about the first product we could introduce and offer people. We said, “we have to choose something that is so big, so easily recognizable and so untapped, that people look at it and straight away say they know what it is.” Because I had a background in martial arts, we decided to do something with Shaolin Temple. After visiting many fake schools, we eventually ended up at the real Shaolin Temple. I walked up to a monk and said that I wanted to study there, and the monk said, “Okay, follow me.”

We got introduced to the leadership of the Shaolin Temple, and I trained there for a while. One day I sat down with the leader of foreign liaison department of the temple and told him about the company, and what we wanted to do. The leader said, “Yes, we have warrior monks in the Shaolin Temple, but we don’t do marketing, we don’t make money doing this. If Cultural Keys wants to help bring foreign students here to share the spirit of Shaolin and the idea of Buddhism, then yeah, we’d love to do that with you.”

From that meeting, it was about 18 months until the first program when we actually took students there. Because the advertisement took a year or so, and no one had signed up, we were close to giving up. I told the temple about it, and they said “It is normal. You must have patience; allow your soul to grow within the business like a tree, you can’t expect to sprout fruit immediately.” So I told myself to keep trying, and after another six months, we got a couple of customers who we were able to take to the Shaolin Temple, and it was a huge success. After that it just snow-balled. We did that for another two years, just building up a reputation, and when we realized it was going well, we decided to introduce something else. Step by step, we started other workshops like calligraphy, painting, and more. Now we offer 20-plus workshops.

How many people work with Cultural Keys? 

Just me and Nic. It’s not only having Cultural Keys, but we also have business events to organize as well, and people think it must be more than the two of us. Things like paintings and calligraphy; we have local experts in both subjects.

How do you usually reach out to people you want to collaborate with? Any tips to share?

First and foremost, you have to ensure you can offer something of high quality, and you have to be very confident in your product. When we started six years ago, the first thing I did was reach out to international companies and language schools, and said we have these great products, your teachers and staff will like it. But they didn’t want to collaborate with us. In the second and third year, after we’d done the first Shaolin program, they changed their attitude completely and introduced our program to their staff.

But you know in Beijing, there are also a lot of competitors. How do you compete with them?

If you are starting a business, you can compete either on price, or quality. Cultural Keys can never compete with price because there are some schools in Beijing where you pay RMB 50 for a calligraphy class. So we have to make sure that our products are the highest quality. Before we had our Guozijian experience, Nic spent a couple of weeks just walking around the hutongs, talking to people, finding out the real stories from locals who had lived there for the last 50 years.

It’s also about the personality; you can have a tour guide that just says lines like, “This was built in the 1950s,”  but you have to put your personality in it. When I go on walks with people, I put all my personality there and interact with people.

What do you most enjoy about the entrepreneurial experience? 

There is no such thing as freedom, but you know that everything you have is because of the effort you made, so whether you succeed or you fail, it’s about you. At least it gives you a sense of power in knowing that you are in control of what happens next. It’s not relaxing, or free, but it’s all about you. You are relying on yourself when you are an entrepreneur, and that empowers you.

Do you have anything else to share with kids who want to start their own business?

There are three tips that I’d like to give to any entrepreneur:

– Check things three times. Especially in China, you can get different answers from different people; you always have to check things three times no matter where you find the information.

– Make your own way. Anytime you hear meibanfa (impossible), anytime people tell you it can’t be done, don’t believe it. Because people don’t try, they will never know if there’s a banfa (possible).

– It’s always better to fail than to give up! In Kung Fu, there’s a basic posture called mabu (horse stance). When I teach horse stance, I tell people to hold it for one minute. Usually, after 15 seconds, people will stand up because it starts to hurt. However I tell them, if you have enough strength to stand up, you have enough strength to hold the pose for another five seconds, then you collapse, then you continue. You can’t learn anything through quitting, but you can learn from failure.

KEEP READING: Don’t Forget to Follow and Subscribe…: Are Beijing Teenagers Too Plugged In?

Photos: courtesy of AJ Donnelly

Did you know we have a family events WeChat group? Join two hundred other internationally-minded families for the latest information on what’s going on in Beijing. Send an email to editor@beijing-kids.com with your WeChat id or add vanessajencks on WeChat. Please note that readers should confirm with each organizer if events are cancelled or scheduled as planned.

Free
Western Academy of Beijing Open House, Mar 20
Grades 6-11. Western Academy of Beijing’s (WAB) Open House will bring you into the classroom to feel the schools experience first-hand. The school offers an innovative education, access to cutting edge technology and a warm and diverse environment. Free. 9.30am-12.30pm. Western Academy of Beijing. For registration, please email: admissions@wab.edu.

College Guidance Best Practices from ISB, Mar 22
Grades 8-11. The International School of Beijing (ISB) warmly invites parents and students to an informative talk on college admissions with ISB High School Counseling Team Leader Andy Mennick. He has over 20 years’ of experience as a college counselor, and enjoys sharing knowledge and ideas to help students transition to their best-fit college with confidence. Free. 9-11am. ISB. (8149-2345 ext. 1047).

BIBA & Roundabout Book Fair, Mar 22
Ages 5+ Beijing International Bilingual Academy (BIBA), in partnership with Roundabout, will host its annual book fair on April 22. The BIBA campus is located in Houshayu a few blocks to the north of Shine Hills mall. Free. 10am-3pm. BIBA. (info@bibachina.org, 80410390).

Dulwich College Beijing Drama Production: The Red Shoes, Mar 22 and 23
Ages 10+ Sit back and enjoy as our girls Charleston over the hilltops, samba through the forest, and tango down the aisles. The themes of the play are dark and the ensemble style of the piece requires plenty of patience from our young performers, as they are challenged by the complex characters and are pushed out of their comfort zones. Free. 7-8.30pm. Wodehouse Theatre @ DCB.

Free Calligraphy Class, Mar 23
Ages 10+ The purpose of writing in calligraphy is to try to write in an artistic style, to look elegant, or to meet a special need. Take part in this calligraphy class to learn more about this discipline. Free. 2.30-4pm. Beijing International Chinese College. (Info@hibicc.com, 65072401).

The Music Man (Theater), Mar 24 and 25
Ages 9+ Join Keystone Academy students in their production of The Music Man by Meredith Willson. RMB 20 (students), RMB 50 (adults). 6pm (Fri, Mar 24), 6.30pm (Sat, Mar 25). Keystone Academy Performing Arts Center.

Hyde Academy Open House, Mar 25
Adults. Would you like your child immersed in a caring and cooperative learning environment that provides a rigorous academic program? Attend Hyde Academy’s Open House and connect with both Administrative Prinicipal Jennifer Sachs and Admissions Director Lian Peng for an informative meeting and tour. Free. 10-11.30am. Hyde Academy. (admissions@hyde-education.com, 01080467085).

Roundabout Lido Flea Market, Mar 25 and 26
All ages. Get rid of your winter rubbish and find some spring treasures to replace it with at Roundabout’s Flea Market. Free. 10am-5pm. Lido Place.

Krav Junior in Beijing (Free Trial Class), Mar 26
Ages 8-11. Krav Junior is the most comprehensive self-defense, anti-bullying, and life skills program in the world today. The program covers all aspects of self-defense and street awareness training for kids and teens, from the physical and technical aspects, to the educational aspect (self-control, violence prevention, stranger danger, functioning under stress etc.), to simulation training. Free. 10am. Krav Maga Global China. (WeChat ID: KMG_BJ, 15010246131).

Unique
Parkour Camp, Mar 16 – Apr 14
Ages 7-16. Experience leaping into foam pits, jumping on trampolines, balancing on a slack line, climbing on a bouldering wall, and so much more! All Imagine activities are run by highly trained professionals from Western countries who speak fluent English. Imagine uses detailed, British systems of health and safety management in all activities, from start to finish. RMB 700 (RMB 600 early bird). 8.30am-6pm (times change depending on date and location). One Jump Trampoline Park.

Discussion with Director of China, UNAIDS, Mar 22
Adults. Join Viva Beijing in their discussion with Dr. Catherine Sozi, Director of China, UNAIDS. She specializes in family medicine and has worked in the AIDS and health sector in the United Kingdom and Uganda and other governmental groups with a focus on HIV prevention and AIDS Care management for men, women and children living with HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health Care for young people and adolescents. RMB 180 (member), RMB 220 (non-member). 6.30-9.30pm. Beijing Four Seasons Hotel.

Jim Gaffigan Standup Comedy, Mar 22
Adults. The wildly popular, Grammy-nominated comedian will stop by this Gongti venue to perform to standup sets, one at 7.30pm and one at 9.30pm. RMB 300. VSports. Tickets can be purchased here.

Hike: Huanghuacheng Great Wall, Mar 23
Ages 8+ Hike the Huanghuacheng Great Wall in Beijing’s Huairou District. Start off on an unrestored stretch and follow it over the hills to a restored section. Then climb up, over, and down a mountain to finish at a countryside restaurant near a scenic reservoir. RMB 400, RMB 360 (members), RMB 200 (under 12’s). 8.30am-6pm. Beijing Hikers.

Yale Women’s Leadership Program, Mar 24-26
Adults. Are you a senior manager or executive who’d like to become even better at her career? Join the Yale Center’s three day leadership course, level up your skills, meet other women in management, and receive a Women’s Leadership Program Certificate from Yale. The course explores decision making biases, how to create great teams, crisis management, negotiation skills and personal branding. The course will be taught in English with simultaneous translation into Chinese. RMB 7800 (15% discount for Yale alumnae and groups of four from the same company). 9am-5pm. Yale Center Beijing.

Panda and Mole (China Puppet Theatre), Mar 24 to 26
Ages 9+ The China Puppet Art Theatre has been delighting audiences since 1955, and have won multiple awards, toured widely, and published several works about their art. They come to the stage with a new work “Panda and Mole,” a puppet show for children. RMB 47-338. 7.30-9.30pm (A matinee performance will also be held at 2.30pm on Saturday and Sunday). Beijing Comedy Theatre.

Camping and Hiking on the Great Wall, Mar 25
Ages 9+ Hike the Great Wall and camp in a tower on this two-day Great Wall adventure. Beijing Hikers will take care of the heavy lifting and have things delivered direct to the campsite; you’ll be free to enjoy the scenery, sunset, stars, and sunrise without all the sweat involved in a full-on camping expedition. Beijing Hikers will supply the camping equipment, water, snacks, and main meals. Bring your camera and get ready to enjoy yourself! RMB 1680. 10.30am-3pm. Beijing Hikers.

Kids Writing Workshop, Mar 25 and Apr 1
Ages 6-12. R3 Discovery will host a writing workshop for kids to boost their ability to share experiences, feelings, and to communicate their inner thoughts more effectively. RMB 2000. 2-4pm. R3 Discovery.

Ballet/Salsa Dance Class, Mar 25
Adults. Part ballet, part salsa, this ladies-only dance class will help you get in shape, improve your posture and get in touch with your inner rhythm. Taught in Chinese by professional dancer Na Yi, the class incorporates aerobics, barre and strength elements. Participants need to reserve in advance and should bring socks. RMB 20. 7-9pm. World Starlight Dance Studio. Tickets can be bought here.

The ‘Little Pilot’ Family Fun Adventure, Mar 25 and 26
Ages 5+ Come with your family and experience a fun-filled discovery flight departure from at Hilton Beijing Capital Airport, and come closer to your child’s flying dream. To explore children’s own ideas and make their own discoveries at LEGO hands-on lesson, participate in DIY aircraft cookies, airplane model assembling, visit the National Aviation Museum, and play in a fully equipped kid’s center! RMB 1395. All day. Hilton Beijing Capital Airport.

Panda’s Home (Theater), Mar 25 to Apr 2
All ages. Following the footprints of a giant panda, kids will travel together to the panda’s hometown – China, to start an imaginary journey in exploring the beauty of the natural landscape, the harmony in the traditional music, the interaction and relation between things and phenomena as well as the composition of nature. RMB 280. 10-11.30am. China Millennium Monument Premiere Theatre. (ponypiao@damai.cn, 10103721).

Forbidden City Walk and Discussion, Mar 26
Ages 10+ This walk and discussion looks at what life was like in the palace for the men and women who lived and worked in the Forbidden City. The group will talk about the differences between the Ming and Qing dynasties. RMB 300 (non-members), RMB 260 (members). 1-3pm. The Forbidden City.

Children’s Magic Show, Mar 26
Ages 4+ Kids will enjoy the ‘Magic Journey’ live action magic show, which helps children to discover the ‘magical world.’ With help from the audience, the magician in this popular show guides kids through a series of tricks and enchantments which thrill and delight younger audiences. RMB 100-200. Legends Small Theater. Tickets can be purchased here.

Best of Next Week
3-Day Great Wall Trek, Mar 29
Ages 5+ This is an epic Great Wall trek that covers four fantastic sections of the Great Wall. First the group will hike the amazing Wild Jiankou Great wall, then the Wild Gubeikou Great Wall, and finish in style with a trek to Wild Jinshanling Great Wall and over the restored section of Jinshanling all the way to the Simatai Great Wall. Both nights the group will stay at a local farmhouses with a view of the Great Wall. RMB 2,800 (10% discount for kids 7-18, 20% discount for members, 50% discount for kids younger than 7). Meet at 9.30am. The Great Wall.

The Emperor & The Lama, Mar 30
Ages 9+ The Hutong will be hosting a walk and discussion at the Lama Temple and Confucian Temple. Join the group and walk among the ancient stone walls where emperors and royalty had once walked. RMB 300 (non-members), RMB 260 (members). 10am-1pm. The Lama Temple.

Imperialism, Opium, and Nationalism, Mar 31
Ages 9+ The Old Summer Palace contains the ruins of Yuanmingyuan. Explore its rich history and walk among the Palace’s ruins with The Hutong on this visit through time. RMB 300 (non-members), RMB 260 (members). 10am-1pm. The Old Summer Palace.

Stage (Comedic Theater), Mar 31 to April 9 (excluding April 4 & 5)
Ages 9+ Stage, an operatic comedy, will be staged at the Beijing Comedy Theatre. It is a hilarious portrayal of a troubled opera company and includes more than 20 different characters. While the production explores some of the stereotypes and foibles of Peking Opera, it does so with a loving eye. The language of the production is Chinese. RMB 94-827. 7.30-9.30pm. Beijing Comedy Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.

Bricks in the Wall Hike, April 1
Ages 8+ In celebration of QingMing Jie, Beijing Hikers will lead you through roads and hill trails in and around tiny villages northwest of Beijing, making easy climbs on hill trails and a really steep and tough climb on a rather rundown stretch of the Great Wall, with fine views the whole way. RMB 380 (non-members), RMB 340 (members). 8am-6pm. The Great Wall.

Hike the Great Wall Spur, April 1
Ages 9+ During QingMing Jie, the Beijing Hikers will be visiting a remote stretch of the Great Wall that was completed around 1580 AD, during the reign of Emperor Wan Li. After a good long (some say tough) climb up a hillside trail, the group will follow the Great Wall along a ridge, enjoying great views the whole way. There is plenty of the Great Wall to see in this area, and on a clear day it is extremely picturesque. Price includes lunch after the hike. RMB 420 (non-members), RMB 380 (members). 8am-6pm. The Great Wall.

The ‘Little Pilot’ Family Fun Adventure, April 1 to 2
Ages 5+ Come with your family and experience a fun-filled discovery flight departure from at Hilton Beijing Capital Airport, and come closer to your childs’ flying dream. To explore children’s own ideas and make their own discoveries at LEGO hands-on lesson, participate in DIY aircraft cookies, airplane model assembling, visit the National Aviation Museum, and play in a fully equipped Kid’s Center! RMB 1395. All day. Hilton Beijing Capital Airport.

MINDS AT PLAY Presents: Easter Improv for the Whole Family, April 2
Ages 6+ Minds at Play’s international troupe of actors is performing an Easter-themed, bilingual improv show for the whole family. After the show, the troupe will have a workshop for kids that teaches them how to do the things they just saw on stage. Please note that children MUST have a ticket to enter. Paper tickets will not be given; after confirming your reservation electronically, you can enter with with your payment confirmation link. RMB 80 (pre-sale price; scan/extract the QR code below); RMB 100 (at door). 10.30am-noon. All ticket sales are FINAL – no returns and no exchanges. Penghao Theater.

For our column, Ask an Educator, we turn to educators, whether teachers, tutors, or principals, to answer frequently asked questions from parents. To send in your question, email jessicasuotmaa@beijing-kids.com.

This week, our question is:

“Why Should My Child Learn Chinese Calligraphy?”

Answering for us is Li Jiao, Chinese Teacher at That’s Mandarin.

Calligraphy is widely known as a traditional Chinese form of writing with a brush and ink. While today calligraphy is mainly used for decorative purposes, it is actually more than just an art form. Practicing calligraphy offers plenty of advantages for both adults and children.

Writing with a brush requires much more complexity than holding a pen and running it across the paper. Calligraphy requires a high level of concentration and patience. There is a certain way to hold the brush, and there is the right way and the right order to “draw” each line of a Chinese character, which is known as “strokes”. The direction of, and the pressure applied on, the brush are equally important to produce beautiful calligraphic writing.

Since there is a thought process that goes along with each stroke of the brush, children who regularly practice calligraphy can benefit from a boost of creativity and imagination as well. In addition to training their patience and cultivating a good sense of Chinese artistry, calligraphy can also improve their dexterity.

In our classroom, children are encouraged to explore the different calligraphy styles, each reflecting a different personal character, and to find one that suits their own personality. Not only will learning calligraphy improve their handwriting and character recognition, it will also give them an understanding of the Chinese cultural state of mind. In a way, learning calligraphy can provide a solid foundation to both Chinese culture and language.

Photo: courtesy of That’s Mandarin

Last summer, beijingkids’ Beijing Baba columnist and blogger Christopher Lay took the Chinese Landscape Painting Class at China Culture Center (CCC). You can read all about Lay’s experience here.

Chinese Landscape Painting is synonymous with Chinese art and culture. Lyrical, epic, romantic – these sweeping depictions of idealized Chinese scenery form the oldest continuous artistic tradition in the world.

For anyone wishing to understand the genre, or to add to it, CCC is again offering Chinese landscape painting classes. Take up your brush next Saturday and the Saturday following, on August 23 and August 30, from 10am-noon.

The class is in English, the group size is small, and you can sign up for one or both classes.

Anyone can join the class; from complete beginners to those who have tried the art form before. All materials are supplied: ink brush, ink, paper(made of rice & bamboo), and ink stone. 

To find out more about Chinese culture, visit CCC’s website or call their office at 6432 9341.

One of the dangers of being an expat who has lived in one spot for too long is the tendency to fall into a routine that robs you of new cultural experiences. China is full of opportunities, but in a city like Beijing, you have to sometimes go looking for them. In an effort to broaden my horizons and gain an understanding of Chinese art, I signed up for a landscape painting class at China Culture Center (CCC).

According to CCC’s website, I was going to learn about one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world, and that it would involve the same techniques as calligraphy – in other words, done with a brush dipped in black or colored ink (oils are not used). This was reassuring, since I don’t know calligraphy and haven’t painted since high school (curse of a photographer, I guess).

Fortunately, the website blurb assured participants that no experience was necessary. Landscape painting (called 山水画, shanhui hua or literally “mountain and water painting” in Chinese) is one of the three major schools of Chinese painting, the others being bird-and-flower painting (花鸟画, huaniao hua) and figure painting (人物画, renwu hua).

The class was led by shanshui master Jasmine Zhang. She posted on the whiteboard an example of what we would be painting in under two hours; I suspected I would need closer to two days. We began with some meditation (very relaxing and important for proper brush handling) and some calligraphy, and then continued on to the landscape painting. There was only one other first-time student in the class (my friend); the others had taken numerous lessons already and spoke highly of the classes.

Sessions usually run for two hours; ours went a little bit over. The RMB 200 fee covered all materials and a hot beverage (I recommend the tea). Show up empty-handed and leave with your own version of a Chinese classic landscape ready for mounting on a scroll. Or, in my case, for attaching to the refrigerator with magnets (my daughter told me I had to display my artwork next to hers). I really enjoyed the class and look forward to taking more lessons with Jasmine in the future.

In addition to landscape painting, CCC offers classes in bird-and-flower painting, calligraphy, qigong, foot reflexology, Zen meditation, hand-pulled noodles and dumpling-making, and more. They also have an extensive array of tours in Beijing and around China – my favorite is hiking and camping on remote sections of the Great Wall, which I tried last year (read about my experience here).

To find out more about Chinese culture, visit CCC’s website or call their office at 6432 9341.