National Art Museum of China Visit

Here's a few pictures. The top row are (L-R): the picture of the door leading up to my school, the painting of Roddy and his buddies right outside the school, and Bartholomew being a little freaked out by Roddy. The last picture is of the outside of the National China Art Museum. The whole building is very beautiful, outside and inside!

Today was my day off. I spent the morning watching some American TV online and cleaning up my "flat" a bit. This afternoon I attempted to find the art museum again after my failed attempt last Wednesday. This time I took my guidebook and asked for help. Of course, it was in Chinese, but a lot can be read by hand gestures! I thought of the scene in the movie "Gung Ho" where Michael Keaton is searching for an office in Japan and ends up telling his life story while asking for directions in a lot of places, including a rice field, around Japan with kind people just listening and gesturing. Ok, so only my Mom and siblings are going to get that reference, but it's how I truly feel sometimes!

So I tried to follow the hand gestures and just kept walking and walking. Eventually I hailed a cab, pointed to the directions in Mandarin, and the cab driver said "ok." He drove me straight back to the subway station and kept on going the other way! OHHHH! Oh, well. I finally got there and didn't ruin another day off.

The museum is just as beautiful as the Guggenheim in New York, but with it's own beautiful Chinese flavor! There was an International traveling exhibition of art from the Aboriginal people of Australia. Everything was so beautiful and the colors were very rich. There was also a featured exhibition of a Chinese artist that showed his life in picture. My favorite gallery in the museum was of the famous water color paintings on canvas. There was a room with these huge, huge canvas water color paintings of trees and sunsets. I sat in that room for awhile soaking it all in.

I bought a book of postcards there so watch out for mail!