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With a history of over 1,000 years, thangkas are one of the most well-known Tibetan art forms. The influence of Nepalese art is obvious in their early development, and later the ornate style of traditional Chinese paintings became very influential. Used by traveling monks and ordinary people as a tool for communicating with the gods, it is highly admired not only for its practical function but also its unique beauty and craftsmanship. Shoppers in Beijing have a unique opportunity to check out some exquisite thangkas the amazing shops in the city. So get on board with a Beijing China tour!

Much like a scroll painting, thangkas can be easily rolled up for storage and unrolled for display. Travelers and monks like to carry a thangka when they travel to other places because it is very lightweight. Home-dwelling Tibetans also like to use thangkas in their homes because they are beautiful and can be easily be put on a wall.

Serving as an object for worship and meditation, thangkas often have images that depict prominent figures of Buddism, like the Buddha, bodhisattvas, and other gods. These figures, along with the depictions of their life stories that usually appear in the background, are intended to educate, enlighten, or enhance the contemplative experience of the people who study them.

The profound symbolism of a finely made thangka may have thousands of bits of information contained in the color, clothing, and positions of the figures that enable a Buddhist to learn the teachings of Buddhism by examining the overall image. A commonly item you’ll see is the Wheel of Life, a form of the universe in Buddhism.

When used by monks traveling from place to place, thangkas can serve as an excellent educational tool. Tibetan monks who carry thangkas have been traveling to remote regions and teaching Buddhism for hundreds of years. As a tradition, monks living in monasteries display their precious thangkas to the public during ceremonies or festivals.

Making a thangka is an extremely difficult process. To make one thangka, a trained painter will use a variety of techniques and paints to create pictures on a cotton canvas or a piece of silk. All of the details are to be correctly painted and must conform to a set standard. The standard is very strict because even a small mistake can distort the original meaning of the message. To do this, a painter needs to have excellent painting skills and a deep understanding of both Buddhism and Tibetan culture. One of the characteristics of authentic thangkas is that they use paints made of natural minerals.

Thangkas are divided into two major types: “Bris-Tang” and “Go-Tang.” The differences between these two are the materials used and the methods of manufacture.

“Bris-Tang”: Thangkas that are painted are called “Bris-Tang.” The five specific types belonging to this category are: Multi-Colored, Gold Background, Vermilion Background, Black Background, and Block Printing “Bris-Tang.”

“Go-Tang”: “Go-Tang” thangkas are thangkas that are embroidered or made of silk. There are also five specific types in this category: Embroidery, Applique, Glued Applique, Hand-Woven, and Block Printing “Go-Tang.”

There is a strict rule concerning the use of colors on thangka. Different colors are used to denote different themes or different characters. Red is often the main color for thangkas depicting the life stories of the Buddha. Black is mostly used to depict gods whose main duty is subjugating evils. Blue is employed when the emphasis is on joyous events. Green is used to represent activity. And white symbolizes peace and compassion.

When in Beijing, check out the beautiful, authentic thangkas in many of the city’s shops. For shoppers unfamiliar with the local business, it’s best to find a Beijing tour guide to help with the shopping.

Many brides and grooms choose the honeymoon destination together. It is one of the wedding planning items that the groom has no problem participating. Talking about and planning your honeymoon can be a great stress reliever during an otherwise busy and stressful time.

Caneel Bay, located in St. John Bay in the U.S. Virgin Islands, is a fabulous spot for a honeymoon. Caneel Bay is a luxury beach resort where the bride and groom can relax and be themselves after their long, tedious wedding planning is over! It is a great place to have a romantic stay, just the two of them.

Caneel Bay can be the perfect honeymoon choice as it may be everything you are looking for. This resort offers so much including beautiful rooms, seven different beaches, numerous activities to participate in and tons of amenities to make any honeymoon or vacation scream luxury.

When you depart the plane onto the island you will be picked up at the airport and given a bottle of island rum, what a nice way to start off your honeymoon! Among the many things you can do while you are there beach activities rank pretty highly. Some of the activities you might choose to participate in include swimming, kayaking, scuba diving and underwater slideshow.

Of course you can also just spend countless hours at the beach, sunbathing in the beautiful weather where you can enjoy the view of white sand and tranquil water. You can enjoy a good book, good company or have a drink or something to eat with the one you love. Of course you can discover your inner child while you are on vacation away from the big city and build a sand castle or two.

Still think there is not enough to do or enjoy, looking for some down time that does not necessarily have to be in the water or on the beach? Caneel Bay can help you out there too. Just like any other vacation or honeymoon spot you can enjoy nice dinners, drinks at the bar, art and tennis lessons and of course access to relaxing massages.

Caneel Bay is an excellent honeymoon spot but if you really want to spend even more time here you might even consider getting married at Caneel Bay. This would be the perfect spot for a beach wedding, so if you are even considering getting married under blue skies it is a great idea to look more into Caneel Bay.

The largest pearl store near the Temple of Heaven

The famous Pearl Market is very close to Beijing Haige International Hotel. Visitors from all over the world like to visit the Pearl Market for various items. When I visit a shop named Fanghua Pearl and Jewel, I was very impressed their beautiful, natural pearl necklaces. If you also want to give yourself a more elegant and noble look, don’t miss this shop.

This well-decorated shop is on the 4th floor of the market. You will find numerous pearl necklaces neatly displayed in the shop. The colors included milk white, golden yellow, pink, and black.

As the No.1 retailer of high-quality peals in Beijing, Fanghua has been in the business for twenty years. According to the shop manager, the main categories of pearls here are fresh water pearls, sea water pearls, and South Sea pearls.

Ms. Carrie explained to me how to distinguish real pearls from fake ones. There’s a rule for judjing fine pearls: the rounder and shinier, the better.

Photos on the wall showed foreign dignitaries visiting the shop. I saw Margaret Thatcher, Putin’s wife, the Queen of Spain, and the Queen of Belgium. The photos are proof of the charm of the Oriental pearls.

An antique shop worth your visit

Last week I visited Chengtian Antique City, which is very close to the Guangxi Hotel Beijing. I found a shop that carried Chinese antiques, jade jewelry, and other kinds of art. They were great decorations.

Many antique porcelain wares were displayed in the shop: vases, bowls, and plates, just to name a few. Some of them were even made as early as the Qing dynasty.

Mr. Tang, the shop owner, greeted me. He showed me a porcelain statue of Empress Dowager Cixi, a female ruler of the Qing dynasty. She sat on a stone bench with a big spotted dog. She was wearing a big black hat and a colorful button-down robe. Embroidered peonies and butterflies decorated her robe. In China, a peony represents wealth and status.

Jade jewelery items are also very popular here, including the pendants and bracelets. Jade symbolizes virtue and brings good health.

Besides jade and porcelain, there are also some Chinese paintings, calligraphy work, and wood carvings in the shop. They are all traditional Chinese art forms. So be sure to come here while staying at your hotel in Beijing.

Johannesburg, Cape Town and many other cities in South Africa compare well with big world cities when it comes to shopping.

Shopping Malls are in abundance. In Cape Town, the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront Mall and Canal Walk are favorites. The Waterfront has convenient food stores to brand name stores and boutiques. Craft stores, bookstores and chain clothing stores can make choices hard. Numerous restaurants and coffee shops will provide sustenance for tired shopping bodies.

Johannesburg offers a mall around every corner. Located at the entrance to Johannesburg on the airport side is the Eastgate Mall. With its massive size, it will take visitors a couple of days to visit every shop. If your taste buds are craving the very best in breads, cakes and pastries, try visiting the Bread Basket. In addition, this mall offers name brand shops such as Hang Ten, Levi Strauss, Guess and many more.

Just outside Durban in Umhlanga Rocks is Gateway with approximately 370 different shops. Apart from the shops which includes fashion, homeware, food stores, pharmacies and many specialty shops there is also a Barnyard theatre. Barnyard is a unique South African theatre concept made possible by two theatre industry people in 1996.

The popularity of the Barnyard Theater has grown to over twelve theaters across South Africa. Each one offers the unique feel of a rustic barn while at the same time containing the proper equipment to provide patrons with a quality show. Ticket prices are generally lower than most other theaters and guests are welcome to bring their own picnic lunch or dinner. Drinks must be purchased at the bar and if anyone does not wish to bring a picnic, they have the option of purchasing food at a snack bar.

Shopping is however not only reserved for Malls. Flea markets are still going strong and street vendors are all over. On the way to the Kruger National Park you will find many stalls along the roads where you can buy anything from a basket to a wood carved product for a fraction of the shop price.

The Bruma Lake Fleamarket provides shoppers with a wide array of authentic South African products and is massive in size. The Greenmarket Square in Cape Town’s inner city is open for shopping every day but Sunday. The Rooftop Market in Rosebank, Johannesburg and the Milnerton Fleamarket on the West Coast road offer visitors authentic African products and collectibles such as clothing, pottery sets and jewelry.

Shoppers will be mesmerized by the Western Cape as linens. materials, shoes and clothing are offered at rock bottom prices in many factory outlets.

Always be sure to bring plenty of money and bags to carry your unique finds when shopping in South Africa.

Snuff bottles have earned their place in the hearts of Chinese art connoisseurs with their exquisite form and spectacular beauty. A late invention in China’s history, it nevertheless asserts itself as one of the most admired and sought-after art forms in the country. In its early development during the 16th century, they were mainly used for their practical functions – holding powdered tobacco. But later its unique aesthetic value gradually rose. When shopping in Beijing, you can find elegant, high-quality snuff bottles that make for ideal gifts and beautiful decorations.

[I:http://phila-airport-parking.com/blog/wp-content/uploads//2009/08/AndyLao41.jpg]Art lovers sometimes are at a loss of words to describe the beauty of snuff bottles. Famous bottles made in the past were usually made of some of the most precious materials – gold, jade, emeralds, pearl, or ivory – and adorned with the most expensive artwork, like cloisonne, paintings, calligraphy, or lacquer. Bottles originally made for the rich are even more beautiful and complex, since these bottles were used to symbolize their power and opulence.

Chinese snuff bottles were invented based on the snuff box used in Europe. They were first developed in the late Ming dynasty, after tobacco was introduced to China. They gained popularity during the early Qing dynasty, when it became fashionable to own an exquisitely made snuff bottle to show one’s status and taste in art.

Smoking tobacco was actually banned during the Qing dynasty, but an exception was made for people who used snuff bottles and inhaled tobacco through their nose, because snuff was believed to be an effective remedy that could cure many illnesses. Many Chinese emperors during this period were lovers of snuff bottles. The Emperor Daoguang even ordered a workshop be built inside the Forbidden City to produce such bottles. In the 1970s, Artists revived the art of making snuff bottles after decades of political turmoil and began to use modern techniques to create new kinds of bottles.

A unique variety of snuff bottles are especially liked by art lovers: “inside painted bottles.” A new invention from the late Qing dynasty, it quickly became the most sought-after type of snuff bottle. Created by manipulating a thin stick to paint images on the inside walls, they are admired for their unique beauty and prized for their excellent, complex craftsmanship. Beginning in the 1970s, such bottles gradually came to dominate the market.

Cultural Note: It is said “inside painted bottle” was invented in the late Qianlong era of the Qing dynasty. A low-ranking official went to Beijing on an assignment. He was one of a few good people who were disgusted by rampant corruption and were unwilling to give bribes under any circumstances. Because of this, he was ignored by the corrupted officials in the imperial court, who told him to wait indefinitely in the city.

The waiting was endless, and before long the official had used all his money. To survive, he had to move into a Buddhist temples and live with monks. He was a smoker and used a snuff bottle to smoke. One day when he tried to scrape out the last remaining tobacco powder in his bottle with a stick, a monk sitting next to him noticed something. The monk found that the scraping of stick inside the bottle could produce images on the surface. Later he used a sharpened stick dipped with ink to do the scraping, and the first “inside painted bottle” was created.

[I:http://phila-airport-parking.com/blog/wp-content/uploads//2009/08/AndyLao42.jpg]In order to give a specific look to the work, a large variety of materials have been used to create Chinese snuff bottles. But six types of materials are most commonly used: glass, porcelain, jade, amber, agate, and tourmaline. Bottles made of each of these materials are considered different styles. A snuff bottle lover will usually collect at least one bottle in each style.

Shop for exquisite snuff bottles in the local shops when you are in Beijing, because they are too good to miss. Some great shops have bottles made by famous artisans in China. You can find a personal shopper to help you find the right places to go shopping.