Anqing and Jiuhuashan

Woke up and organized some photos while the guys slept. We left some laundry and heavy backpacks with the hotel. They kindly offered to hand wash the clothes for free. We grabbed some hot fresh noodles next door where a little girl sat shyly looking over at us..except when the camera was on her :). We grabbed a cab and started out towards the long distance bus depot. We passed some beautiful gardens en route. On the way Andy spotted a tower in the distance and we decided to take a detour there. It was a large Buddhist temple and monastery. Just past the entrance statues in the second room there were some amazing towering golden Buddhas. This place had a real sense of peace and holiness to it. More so than the one in Shanghai to me. There was an amazing garden in the complex and the tower ticket taker was happy to tell us more about this beautiful place. Some students introduced themselves to us and then came up with us up the tower. The wind whipped harder the higher we went, but the view all around was wonderful. The students asked us questions. Some entrancing singing led us around the corner, to two seated women slowly singing "". We sat down with them and Andy asked them to write down their chant for us. The were glad to share and before we knew it, were sitting in a row singing together. A few other people around the temple came down and sat with us. After singing for a while, we stopped and they insisted that we eat a melon like fruit. Coincidentally the ladies had purchased four that day and there were four of us guests. They insisted on each of us having one. We peeled the fruit and I cut mine up to share with the students and temple people and singers. I really had to coax people into taking a piece, and in the end only a few students out of all the people ate the fruit with us. The women said it was fate that they should buy 4 fruit for the 4 guests they were to meet later that day. We said goodbye and head back to the bus station from which we head off to Jiuhuashan. Mike as usual went in line to figure out and deal with our ticketing needs. Tickets had run out, but Mike figured out a bus route. We jumped on the first bus which I think called the next one and made it wait for us. We just jumped from one to the next several hours later from which we got on a third bus up the mountain to Jiuhuashan.The view coming up the mountain was gorgeous. You could see temples dotting the mountains above. Once there we got a place to sleep and walked further up the mountain. Beautiful temples were everywhere. Many had swooping, more traditional looking roofs. There was a bronze/gold colored tower further up. Exhausted before we even got there, we trudged up and met a monk by some more temples before we continued up to the tower. We lazed around took in the serenity of the tower temple. As the sun went down, the commando monk from earlier came by and hung out for a bit. We started back to the town below before it became dark. The town was well lit and full of tourist shops that sold low quality tourist trinkets as hawkers tried to rip us off. It was kind of annoying and we all had a negative feeling about the town. It was safe and clean, but the people working there just put us off in contrast to how beautiful the temples were.

Anqing

Arrived in Anqing via overnight train from Shanghai and met a bank employee on the way who was returning home. He told us about a tower but said there was not much else to see in Anqing. We got there off the train, tried to get tickets to Beijing for later, but only expensive 1st class tickets were left so we avoided an annoying ticket selling guy in the crowd and walked out of the station to check on buses. Mike met a famous Korean dictator who happens to drive buses in China (see picture). Mike's Mandarin is the whole reason we can communicate with people and get so much out of this wonderful trip. All praise Mike and his amazing Mandarin abilities. He's the best! Kim Jong graciously said that all we need do is call him and he would make sure there was room on the bus for all four of us. Special treatment for the rare foreigners to come to Anqing. Across the street Mike and Omar went to negotiate a hotel while Andy and I walked a bit further. A small mob of curious and friendly people came out of the woodworks to see us. They all wanted us to eat at their place and stay at their hotels. We figured it was the usual trying to sell you stuff thing, but these people really don't get many foreigners in town so more than anything they wanted to talk to us. So Mike and Omar joined, with the hotel owner they spoke to down the street in tow. We all sat down as they prepared some food for us. It took a long time and we talked for quite a while. They were very friendly, but we really wanted to get on with it and do things. We were also wary of intentions. We ate, paid for our meal, then walked over to the hotel. It was small and nice. After bathing, resting and hand washing clothes we went off to explore the town a bit. A couple of hours exploring later found us at a restaurant eating some of the best food of the trip so far. Across the street, the young owner of a Suzuki repair shop came over having seen us through the window eating. He wanted to take us out that night. After a bit of talking we asked about live music and found the closest thing...karaoke :). We agreed to meet later. While walking back a young guy asked if he could take a picture with us. Andy and Omar lifted him up and his wife took a photo. He dropped us off at his hotel in his car. Turns out he is a school teacher like Omar. Once we got back, we saw a huge crowd by the train station. After asking the teacher and our hotel owner, we found out it was local Anqing Opera singers doing a traditional street performance. The four of us were very excited and ran over there. As soon as they saw us, they asked us to play some songs. Again, they don't get many foreigners here. We agreed to sing a song. We have no instruments on this trip, so we just play with what is available. In his case, there were some interesting string instruments with bows and the women were amazing singers and performers. They gave us stools and sat us in front of the crowd with a great view of the performance. Honestly, in a situation like this I usually question the intentions of people involved just to be safe, but these people wanted nothing. They were just sweet and genuinely happy to see foreign guests and wanted to welcome us. After a few songs by them, we were extremely honored to go up and play. Omar grabbed a stool, Mike a small wood precussion intrument and Andy bravely borrowed a string instrument he had never played before. I setup my video camera as the guys setup, then joined them, kneeling next to Andy.I looked out at the crowd of young and old Chinese people of Anqing. They were so warm and sweet to us. Smiling and curious at these new guests. We started with a song we had played at the store in Shanghai. Usually I look down and away from the audience in the rare instances that I do sing in front of any number of people other than the bandmates. I'm really not a performer,  but that evening, I just had to look out at them. I can't even describe in words how heartfelt that experience was. Watching a crowd of kind and appreciative people welcome a bunch of weird strangers into their town and listen open heartedly to our music in languages they didn't understand was a moving experience. As we played, one by one a bunch of little kids squat down on their chubby little legs behind the video camera, watching the LCD screen with eyes wide open and cute little ears sticking out. There were probably 5 or 6 of them. Now and then one round little guy would put his little mitt in front of the camera to see his hand in the screen. It was so adorable. The people were so supportive and the opera singers asked us to play more. We probably played 4-5 songs in multiple languages. It was such a surprise. None of us expected such a spontaneous thing to happen. Then we had to leave to meet our Suzuki friend to go for Karaoke. Our host insisted on paying our way into the club. We went in and sang a bunch of songs in a private room, before checking out the automated rising and tilting dance floor with a fun live band and a great dj. The crowd was really friendly and kept giving us thumbs up as we danced. It was pretty funny. The moving floor was crazy and the energy in the crowd along with the music made everyone push until they could push no more. As the club closed we walked outside, tired and happy. Suddenly, we saw some kids running away, leaving a kid holding his head, crumpled on the floor. We went over the check on him. There was blood all over his arm and head. He was dazed. Some shirtless kids starting walking back towards him. My friends and I motioned for them to leave him alone. Thankfully they left. Some other kids came by and called the police. We took off, having done what we could for the kid, but it was a really sickening end to an otherwise great day.

Shanghai 3

 

 

Woke up at the hostel in Shanghai. Surfed the net, uploaded photos. The guys woke and went to get train tickets and drop off out heavy backpacks. From there we went to Duolin Rd which has many statues of famous Chinese political writers near their former homes. We checked out an excellent contemporary painting exhibit and many antique shops with Mao buttons and illustrated books. We walked down the street Andy tried out a Hulusi (interesting wind instrument) at an instruments shop along the roadside and I checked out some interesting inside painting done intricately on the inside of glass snuff bottles and spheres. Exhausted, we began walking back, when I saw a man in the distance down the narrow lane we were traveling. He had a long whispy beard and hat which looked like he might be Muslim. So we stopped in to say hello and find out. We walked closer and he saw is from across the street and waved for us to come in. We had just eaten, but agreed to order a small dish we could share. Our host and his family were so happy to see us (two of us are from Pakistan). He told us he was indeed Muslim and from Qinghai in the west of China. He had a large picture of the Khana Kaba in Mecca and one of a large Mosque presumably in Qinghai inside his tiny retaurant. We ate some tomatoes and eggs. After the meal we went to pay and they refused to take any money from us. We walked out to thank the owner and saw that he was performing wadu (ritual washing before Muslim prayer), so my friend Omar and I asked to join him in prayer. His brother Hasan and he (Isa as in Jesus) brought out 2 prayer mats, a cloth sheet and a towel for us to pray in the dining area (with the tables pushed to one side). Andy and Mike sat on one side and the entire family watched as Isa, Hasan, Omar and I prayed together. No language in common, but a shared religious tradition. It was a pretty amazing thing to share, and our way of connecting and thanking them. We talked a bit with Mike as translator before saying goodbye. We walked on, jumped on the metro and came back to the train station. By then we were hungry for dinner and grabbed some dumplings. Andy surprised us with some ice cream from a Burger King and Omar brought some coffee. Outside I saw this cute chubby little guy playing some stick ball on his own. His mother, a vegetable seller asked me to take his picture and I gladly did and showed it to her. She was happy, but did not want to be photographed herself. We got on the overnight train to Anqing.

Shanghai 2

I woke in the morning in Shanghai and sent a few more emails. Then we left our heavy backpacks at the hostel and took smaller bags out. We grabbed train tickets to Anqing from around the corner and then took a taxi to Qibon. We walked around lanes and alleys of a bazaar that reminded me of streets in older parts of Karachi and Lahore, but cleaner, and not all broken. I saw an amazing artist gallery of an apparently well known Chinese sculptor on his 100th anniversary (I'm assuming he is no longer living). There was a tribute gallery from his students as well. I also some art books and spoke to a man named Aaron about them. I greeted him with a "Nee how" and he assumed I knew mandarin and started speaking...but when he saw the confused look on my face, he switched to some pretty good English. I spoke for a bit then ran ahead to call my friends back to check out the music instrument shop next door. We returned and Mike broke a guitar string while tuning. Andy played Guzheng (kind of a tabletop string instrument). Omar grabbed a stool and started drumming after hitting different parts of it to get a feel for the sound. I drew a not so great sketch of them as they jammed on a song we had played before much to the delight of the woman who owned the shop and Aaron from next door. A crowd gathered in the narrow lane in front of the shop and people enjoyed seeing them play music and seeing me do my crude little pen sketch on a scrap of paper. I gave the sketch to our gracious hosts then joined the guys on a song. It was such a sweet experience to break out of that tourist looking to buy something and store owner looking to sell something mode and to just share a beautiful moment using music to communicate. The people were so sweet and gracious, it was very touching and beautiful to be there and share that. They refused to let us pay for the broken string.We exchanged contact info (I gave them my cards with the watercolor sketches on them) and we walked on across a canal with interesting boats on it and head over to the Buddhist Temple (7 treasures). Entrance fee was 5 rmb (less than a US dollar) paid to a sleeping attendant woke as soon as we snuck, I mean walked up to him. The temple was a beautiful tower in a larger walledcompound, with a garden and building with statues dedicated to military heroes. We walked up the tower, each floor with what I believe was a representation of the Buddha as people bowed down, lit incense, and walked up. Mike met a group of mostly younger girls who started asking him questions about us. They in in turn told us more about the temple. They joined us for a bit and asked for all of us to take pictures with their family out in the garden. We did and they were very sweet, and seriously had crushes on Mike haha. We went to a pool with statues of the 7 treasures before saying goodbye many pictures later and checked out the military heroes statues before heading to a restaurant outside for another amazing vegetarian meal.We rested there a few hours before grabbing a taxi to M50, an industrial complex converted into an artist area. We knew we had arrived when we started seeing tons of amazing graffiti along a long stretch of wall. We got out at a gallery and started exploring. This was the most amazing creative arts place! Many excellent galleries. The spaces were as fascinating as the art in them. Tons of variety. It was truly humbling to see the excellence of contemporary Chinese art along side some foreign art. There were younger people spray painting more great graffiti on designated walls. We spent a lot of time exploring before sitting in a beautiful coffee shop to decided a route to walk, following the Souzhu canal to the Bund. 

 

Along the walk we got to see some old housing amid colossal apartment complexes and old shops in grimy streets. We freaked out a lady at a recycling center we happened upon in the dark by standing around and discussing with each other as Andy wanted to ask to take pictures for his sustainability research. He wanted to explain to them what he was doing, and create some dialogue with them, but we spooked the lady who seemed to be in charge, so when Mike went to ask her, she freaked and yelled at us and told us to leave...so we did. Andy did manage to chat with a friendly police officer about a pile of metal scraps down the street. Our interest in it fascinated many passers by too :).  

We kept walking and passed through what I think were some old buildings from the French Concession before finally making it to the beautiful night view of the Bund. Beautiful light and a mixed bag of architecture. Another amazing meal before we head back, exhausted to a bus..which died and let all of us out followed by a taxi home. Exhausted..what a day!

Shanghai

So...the format of this blog is going to change for a bit. I'm traveling through China and a few other places, so I'll be posting some travel stuff for the folks back home.

I flew out of Los Angeles on China Eastern Air. They were really nice, my friend Omar had forgot to ask for a vegetarian meal so the flight attendant gave him hers, but it wasn't vegetarian so no luck. Oh well he got stuffed with some extra bread. There was also a funny video for the passengers to do some exercises before we landed as the flight attendants acted them out and we all followed along. Nothing like a plane full of people with their arms sticking up with a cheery flight attendant running through cute little exercises. After 13.5 hours we arrived in Shanghai around 6:15pm on July 1st.

  

The airport was really nice, and lucky for us, it very empty. We grabbed our stuff and hopped on the #6 bus toward the metro. We had directions from my friend Mike to our meeting point, but Omar and I have no Chinese language skills so it was a bit tricky. I memorized the characters for the place we were going, to see if I could keep track. We asked a few times, but it was trickyto communicate. Finally we asked again after traveling for a long time and not hearing our stop called out. The ticket taker and driver just nodded and laughed, repeating the names of our stop then dropped us off several blocks before our stop :(. So we "talked" to some very nice people at a convenience store who did hand gestures to tell us where the metro was. Very appreciative, we head there, hopped on the metro and went off to East Nanjing Road, where there are all kinds of trendy stores. We met lots of people who wanted us to buy stuff. We waited for our friend Andy, but he wasn't there, so we grabbed some food using a piece of paper that said Buddhist Meal in Mandarin (courtesy of a friend of Omar's in LA). Vegetarian food is a somewhat misunderstood concept, but we were able to find it. Waitre staff etc at restaraunts are so nice. They wait at your table and serve serve serve.

  

After eating we head over to the metro stop again and waited. We met an interesting kid who kept telling us (in a very robotic tone) "Hello, I am a child of fifteen years old. I want to talk to you. I don't want any money, just to talk to you. If you won't speak to me I will lose hope in society. Can you buy me some food. If you cannot by me some food then you can give me some money. Maybe 10 rmb. I am just a child. I am not trying to sell anything. All I want to do is talk. Look at me when I talk to you." Omar felt guilty and kept looking at the well rehearsed "child" until we just ignored him and kept walking away..he ended up walking away eventually Omar and I sat down as everything closed and a large cleaning crew started hosing down the walkways. The metro closed and we figured our friends were a bit late and would come by taxi as we had planned as a backup.

Finally Andy walked over in a dress shirt and tie and the three of us traded stories and sat around. He started teaching us some Mandarin in a robotic sounding tone. We cracked upand so did some Chinese folks sitting behind us. After a while we saw Mike in the distance with his huge red bag. Omar ran over and grabbed him. It felt surreal that the 4 of us had met up across the world like that, and everyone was very relieved.

We grabbed a taxi, with the most hilarious female taxi driver. Mike sat in front as he speaks Mandarin and told her where we were going. Andy chimed in with some Mandarin bits here and there with Mike's help. She had this really joyful laugh, even when she yelled at some other driver to go die when he got stuck in the road for a bit, blocking us. We got to the hostel which was amazing and threw our stuff down before running out to Mcdonalds (only place still open and close by) and grabbed some food before coming back and collapsing to sleep.

Who dis?

  

Okay...I don't remember who these bands are...but I have scanned and uploaded my backlog of sketches. Been working on animation only lately..but I think I'll be sketching again soon!

Saul Williams

Saul Williams at the Troubadour.

Rockstar Part 4

Last of the Rock star set of corel painter sketches from a live model on my gateway tabletpc.

Rockstar Part 3

Rock star set of corel painter sketches from a live model on my gateway tabletpc.

Rockstar Part 2

Rock star set of corel painter sketches from a live model on my gateway tabletpc.

Rockstar Part 1

I started to get bored with the watercolors. Not because I feel like I know a lot, rather I just needed a change of pace. I brought in my tablet pc (which I could draw on directly) for this session and created these in Painter and Photoshop. It was actually very difficult to do these very quick sketches. Every time I switch to something new, there is a learning curve. That is obvious in the varying quality of these sketches.

Sailor Part 2

The rest of the Sailor sketches from this session.

Sailor Part 1

 

Here are some watercolor sketches from a Drawing Club Session.

Drawing Club: Mime

 

This weeks theme was a Mime. We had a very talented professional Mime who came and posed for us. His name is Mark Wenzel and you can see more of him here. See what other artists came up with here.

Drawing Club: Silent Film Actress

This weeks theme was a Silent Film Actress. Take a look at how others interpreted it here.

UCLA Indian Classical Students Show

Did some sketches in the dark at a cool little show put on by very talented traditional Indian Classical music and Dance students at UCLA.

Andal Tiruppavai Vaibhavam

  

I went to the Andal Tiruppavai Vaibhavam Sangeetha Upanyasam by Thiruvaiyaru Sri S. R. Krishnan. Say that three times as fast. During the sound check the musicians sounded amazing, but the actually performance was more of a lecture without any music. I'm sure it would gave been interesting, but I don't understand Tamil, so I did some drawings, and after two hours left. Still, it was very nice of the host family to open their home to complete strangers for enjoy the performance.

Drawing Club: Matrix Part 2

 

Drawing Club: Matrix Part 1

 

  

 

Drawing Club: Santa Claus 2

 

  

The rest of my Santa sketches. See what the other artists came up with here.