If you stroll around the Forbidden City, you will notice the presence of many handicraft shops in the neighboring streets. This is one of the pleasures of this area: there is an abundance of small joints carrying folkloric items from the Chinese provinces. Oftentimes, these will make great gift ideas.
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.
Nan Chi Zi street harbors a number of such shops, and I found one there which I think should be told about. Like many others, it offers handmade objects from the Chinese minorities, but also some “purely Beijing” items which are worth a second look.
The owners chose not to specialize in any particular style, but to offer an assortment of the minority crafts found in the Chinese provinces such as Hebei or Yunnan.
Amongst the articles offered, I noticed a pendant from Shandong made in a red cotton cord; a “happiness doll” from the province of Hebei; several ethnic minority figurines from the Yunnan province; and small clay sculptures which had been handcrafted in Beijing.
In the Chinese language, the happiness dolls are called Huan Xi Wa Wa (pronounced as something like ‘Juan Chihuahua’ with the “J” pushed out from the throat like “Juan” in Castillan Spanish). They are a symbol of life-long bonding for newlyweds. The perfect gift for a wedding, you sure won’t be copied by anyone else.
The Chinese people love symbols, and are die-hard buyers of objects which symbolize luck, prosperity, wealth, happiness, and other such good fortune-bringing decoration items.
Among the other decorative objects offered by the shop, you can’t but notice the braided pendants. Shaped as fish and Chinese zodiac animals, or Chinese characters such as ‘Luck’ and ‘Love’, these red pendants are great handmade gifts.
Standing on a shelf a series of clay figurines depict old Beijing neighborhood scenes. Modeled in clay using ancient techniques, these figurines are a few inches high. They represent nicely detailed characters standing at the gates of the old Beijing ‘courtyards’, family homes built in a square around a patio.
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.
I love these original figurines. Their naive character make them one-of-a-kind, unique gifts.
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