Unusual Gifts: Ya Xuan Handicrafts from Beijing
The area around the Forbidden City abounds in interesting Chinese handicraft shops. You have to separate the wheat from the chaff, of course, as numerous shops only offer items of a mediocre quality.
When you have spent some time in Beijing, and you have seen a great number of these shops, it become easier and easier to recognize if their offer is attractive – both in terms of quality and prices – or if the owners try to make a quick buck on your back.
I found one of such cool shops in Nan Chi Zi Street, with a large selection of handicrafts from all over China.
The good thing about this kind of shops is that though they are not specialized in any region in particular, they bring to Beijing a whiff of what’s so special about the Chinese ethnic minorities.
Such is the case of their happiness dolls, small wood sculptures originating from the region of Hebei, north of Beijing; or of the Yunnan figurines, handcrafted by the local minorities. Hanging from the ceiling, you cannot miss the Shandong lanterns and lucky pendants.
Known as ‘Huan Xi Wa Wa’, happiness dolls are believed to bring good luck and fortune, and for some models to promise life-long bonds to newlyweds.
The Chinese people place a great importance on such symbols, and they frequently offer each other things which mean luck, wealth, good health, longevity, and love.
The typically Chinese cotton knots and pendants are braided in shapes of fish, zodiac animals, Peking opera faces, and ‘auspicious’ Chinese characters. In a Western interior, they would make intriguing and exotic ornamental accents.
If you check this shop out, don’t overlook the painted clay figurines reproducing gates of old Beijing residences. Made according to ancient clay-modeling techniques, these genuine works of art bear a rather exquisite level of details.
The clay figurines reproduce with great accuracy the time-worn doorsteps of these courtyards. The artist even added a super realistic touch: the weeds which adorn the walls and tiles of many a courtyard home.
In my book they would make a very cool gift for passionate collectors or for a child interested in small-scale models and mini-dolls.
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