This past weekend Pazi and Adan were invited to go antique shopping with friends. The two other couples from school had done some research about a small town about an hour and a half south of Dongguan called Zhongshan. This area is well known for antique Chinese furniture making and restoration. We decided to give it a try and see what Zhongshan had to offer.Our day started early for a Saturday morning. We hired a driver and he picked us up at our apartment complex at 8:30am. Unfortunately for the Grants, Terese became very ill the day before and decided not to make the trip. That meant our group went from six to five. We bought some snacks at the nearby convenience store and we were off.
The drive from Dongguan to Zhongshan was quite relaxing. The scenery on the way was fabulous. Getting out of the city really allowed us to take in the views of the rural sites of south China. We saw several marshy wetlands with all kinds of crops from rice to bananas! We also took in views of the famous Pearl River Delta. Best of all, the traffic on this particular Saturday morning was especially good.
After about an hour and a half we arrived in Zhongshan. The town is known for its tens and tens of furniture factories, but three showroom markets are set up for the average buyer. We first stopped at Ming Qing Furniture Market. This complex consists of over 400 hundred shops! The market literally covers a full city block. This market by far had the best selection of actual antique furniture. The majority of dealers had an abundance of door panels either completely intact, or if damaged then sold in pieces. These items were priced according to how detailed the wood carvings were and their condition. Most of the real antiques probably dated back 150 years at most.The second market, Hua Cai Market, almost butted up to the first marketplace we visited so it was extremely close. Here we found just a few items of interest. This market appeared to be new and was just being developed into a full-fledged market. Sue and Prentis purchased a beautiful Chinese plate for their home in Colorado here. Pazi saw some decorative Chinese balls that were 6 yuan each (less than a dollar!). This "find" grabbed the attention of both Sue and Warren, and after seeing Pazi's purchase they decided to buy some too. This market was really lacking so after no more than an hour we left.
The last market was called Huge Dragon Curio City. This complex was by far the most developed. The entrance and buildings leased by the shop owners seemed to be new and of a higher quality than the previous two locations. There were even numerous gazebos spread throughout the market for resting. Unfortunately, what this market lacked most was not aesthetics. It lacked realistic dealers. The "antiques" we looked at were in the 7,000 RMB price range! That is roughly $1,000 dollars. We knew this market was not for us when at one shop Sue accidentally stepped on a carved antique panel and split it in half. The owner demanded she pay for it but Sue felt it was the owner's fault for putting it on the ground. She walked out with an angry shop owner fuming. We decided to take off at this point before the authorities could be called in.
With time to spare before going back home, we decided to go back to the Ming Qing and browse a bit more. This turned out to be a good idea for Pazi and Adan. The second time around the market gave them the opportunity to uncover a gem. Pazi really liked one shop and bought a few pieces, but more importantly made sure to get contact information. The larger furniture they had was very affordable and of high quality. Adan and Pazi are contemplating buying furniture to ship back home to the states.Guangzhou Zoo
Pazi and a couple other teachers from QSI decided to take their classes to the zoo. It was a fun and exhausting field trip to China’s third largest zoo. Pazi’s 4 year old class took an hour long bus ride to the zoo. After arriving, they hopped on a train and took a tour of part of the zoo. They got a chance to ride along side spitting camels, gigantic giraffes, happy and playful elephants to lazy kangaroos, lions and white tigers. With only 4 hours to tour the spacious zoo, Pazi’s kids had serious trekking to do. After 2hours of excitement, the group decided to find some shade and eat lunch. Later the kids headed to feed the giraffes. That was definitely the highlight of the trip. Unfortunately because of time restrictions, we didn’t get to see the entire zoo and the over 200 animal species it holds. Guess that means Pazi and Adan will have to make a special trip to Guangzhou together to see the rest of the animals.
