December 19, 2010

China is a place to go pick up handicrafts, traditional and modern ones alike

Location: Wuhouci, Chengdu, China (30° 39′ 35″ N, 104° 3′ 48″ E)
Date: 10 October 2008; 2.50pm
Camera: Canon 400D with Canon 70-200 f/4 L IS Lens

One of my favourite activities while travelling in China used to be shopping for handicrafts and collectibles. I enjoyed collecting unique handicrafts- those only produced in very small quantities and perhaps one-of-its-kind and not-too-perfect pieces rather than the factory mass-produced pieces. In the early days when China started opening its doors to outsiders, one can pick up many valuable collectibles at very good prices. For instance, I remembered buying a fabulous wood carvings from bed rests during my first trip in 1996 that used to have a vaunted place on my display shelf. However these days, anything closely resembles uniqueness are very expensive in China. That’s why I do not spend time looking for them anymore- only occasionally browsing just to see what’s in the market. Furthermore I do not have a big enough place to even showcase my current collection- adding more is just going to go to the storage.

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