Our Last Day

By Marin Hanson
Curator of Exhibitions

On our final day in China, we went to two more antiques markets in the hope that we might find some patchwork. We knew it was a long shot, and in the end we hardly saw any textiles at all.

One market, however, was right outside the gates of Ba Xian An, Xi'an's Daoist Temple. It was a beautiful temple, and very well cared for.

Some old folks were practicing some tai ji quan under the shade of ginkgo trees and many people were there to pray and burn incense -- it was quite peaceful.

The other market we went to had dozens of stalls, but many of them had exactly the same things. We did a little souvenir shopping, but overall it was disappointing that they had no textiles.

But none of this takes away from the overall success of our research trip. We will be leaving China tomorrow with so many wonderful experiences under our belt. Most importantly, we now have a greater understanding of not only what patchwork from this part of China looks like, but who makes it, and how and where they make it.

 

Further, we now have an idea of what kinds of research questions we may want to pursue in the future and we have a fantastic partner to work with as we move forward, the Art Museum at the Xi'an Jiaotong University.

Cheers from Xi'an! You'll hear more from us later this week.

Marin Hanson is the Curator of Exhibitions at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She holds undergraduate degrees from Grinnell College and Northern Illinois University and earned her MA in museum studies and textile history with a quilt studies emphasis from UNL. She is currently pursuing doctoral research on cross-cultural quiltmaking practices, with particular emphasis on China and the United States.

This 'n That

By Cindy DeLong
UNL Graduate Student

Marin and Amanda meeting at the Coffee House.

Yesterday we had nothing on the schedule, which was good because it was raining. Later in the day Dr. Crews and Marin were giving lectures at the American Exchange Center at Xi'an Jiaotong University, so they had preparation time this morning. We really couldn't go anywhere because the traffic in Xi'an is so bad that if we did, we might not get back in time.

Traffic. It's something else here. I have seen lots of traffic, but never anything like this, except, of course, in Beijing a week ago. And I have never heard so much honking. At first I thought the cars were honking at each other to express anger or say "get out of my way." That's not the case. They honk to warn other cars that they are there and to watch out for them. Here they also have street cars, buses and lots of people on motorcycles, scooters, bicycles and any other type of vehicle you can imagine. 

There must be some order to how people drive in this city, but heck if I can tell what it is. It is legal, and normal, to turn left from the far right hand lane. Go figure. Cars cut in front of each other constantly. The drivers have some sort of built-in instinct or antennae so they know EXACTLY how close they can get to another car without hitting it. 

These Xi'an streets are the most chaotic I have ever seen. For example, the side street next to our hotel has parking on both sides of the street. But people double-park all day long. The other day, there were almost as many cars double parked as those parked along the curb! In addition to the vehicles and bicycles driving, changing lanes, and turning every-which-way, there are lots of pedestrians crossing the street. Venturing outside anywhere near the street is truly taking your life in your own hands. The odd thing is that we haven't seen any accidents. Very strange.

Since we had some free time this morning, Marin, Amanda and I decided to go to a local coffee house for a cup of brew. It was very good. (The coffee at the hotel is reeeally bad.) We were able to wind down a little and "regroup." We reviewed some of our pictures, which of course sparked conversation and recapping of some of our adventures. We are all charmed by the Chinese children. They are adorable.  

It's a good thing menus have pictures.

There are a few more things about our dining adventures I have to share. First, napkins are optional. Sometimes you simply don't get one and if you do it's more like a cocktail napkin than anything else. I haven't seen a single dinner napkin since we've been here. Instead of ice water, the restaurants serve hot water in a glass they've taken from a thermos. I think it's been boiled so it's safe to drink. I am actually enjoying this new drink and will probably continue with it when I get home. 

Something else a little different is the way they serve the food. In the U.S., restaurants serve the entire order at once. Not here. Food is served as it is prepared in the kitchen. So I might have my food before everyone else. I guess I'm expected to eat it when it arrives, but since food is family-style, everyone just digs in. I'm puzzled. It's a little different.

The other night we went to a place up the street to have noodles. We saw a woman picking up a carry-out order. Yes, it was in a Chinese box just like at home. Well at least something's the same. 

Dumplings and Steamed Buns...ummumm GOOD!

Steamed Buns and Plum Juice.

A very common dish here is a dough that is stuffed with different things -- vegetables, spinach and egg, shrimp, beef, etc. The dumpling is then steamed until it's done. A steamed bun is the same thing except it's pinched at the top instead of folded. These are delicious, just yummy. Yesterday for lunch we had nothing but a variety of different kinds of steamed buns, and a couple of vegetables dishes. It was a great lunch and we had all we could eat. For seven people the bill was 164 RMB -- about $4 each.

That reminds me, we drink bottled water of course. We can buy it is a quick shop for 2 RMB which is about 35 cents. At the grocery store, water is 1 RMB.

Today, we're taking the bus to the Muslim Quarter. Wish us luck!


Cindy DeLong is working on a master's degree in textile history with an emphasis in quilt studies at UNL. She has a bachelor of sciences in home economics (clothing and textiles) and journalism from the University of Missouri. She has worked at the New England Quilt Museum as a curatorial intern and the International Quilt Study Center & Museum as a collections intern.

Rainy Day Fun

By Amanda Lensch
UNL Graduate Student

Today was a calm day. It was the first time we didn’t rush off right away and bounce from one thing to the next all day long. And I think we all appreciated the little bit of downtime to simply regroup from our whirlwind adventure.

Although, Marin and Dr. Crews couldn’t rest much since they each gave a presentation this afternoon at the American Exchange Center at Jaiotong University! Both were well attended and Marin and Dr. Crews did a fantastic job. Of course we would expect nothing less!

Marin spoke about what we do at the IQSCM, and Dr. Crews gave a lecture on Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers. Each lecture was translated into Chinese so our friends could easily understand. They had some extremely insightful questions about quilts as well as the work we do at the end of each one. All in all, I would say a very successful day!

As it rained all day today, we were extremely thankful for this relatively tranquil day as tomorrow will be another story.

Stay tuned!


Amanda Lensch is working on a master’s in textile history with an emphasis in quilt studies at UNL. She has a bachelor’s degree in apparel merchandising, design and production with an emphasis in museum studies and a minor in entrepreneurial studies from Iowa State University. She is a graduate assistant working in collections at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum and previously interned at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Ky., and Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

A Budding Alliance

The ancient history exhibition.

By Cindy DeLong
UNL Graduate Student

One of my favorites from the folk art exhibition.

Last Monday, soon after we arrived, Dr. Crews, Marin, Amanda and I met Professor Li, Vice Director of the Xi'an Jiaotong University Art Museum. He introduced us to some of his graduate students and gave us a tour of the museum.

We finished the tour yesterday. We were all quite impressed. The museum building is new and beautifully done. There is lots of exhibition space and a wide variety of different subjects are on display. 

The upper level of the museum has a large exhibit of calligraphy. Huge displays cover the walls. It is elegant! We toured the permanent exhibit of ancient historic objects including urns, figurines and tools. A very exciting and colorful Chinese Folk Art exhibit is also permanent. It was flat out fun! A new opera exhibit displayed exotic costumes, puppets and head pieces among other objects. Still two other galleries exhibited photographs and ceramics by a well known Chinese artist. 

We were given a tour of museum offices, the conservation laboratory, and the photography studio. Then we were treated to a short demonstration of some of the technology they are planning to use for visual presentations. We wore 3D glasses and saw a short movie clip. The basic idea is to take museum visitors to the archeological dig sites through the magic of technology. Although not developed yet, this is an important project to the Jiaotong University Museum.

Aren't we cute in 3D glasses?!?

See why we were impressed? 

After this wonderful tour, Professor Li invited us to a sitting room for an informal meeting. He suggested that his museum and ours form a partnership for research and exhibitions. The idea of trading exhibitions was tossed around and agreed to in general, although many, many details will have to be worked out as well as funding. Supporting and sharing research and possibly hosting scholars was also agreed to in principal, although the details and funding would have to be worked out for that too. 

Professor Li visited our campus in Nebraska in 2007 and toured the International Quilt Study Center then. Now we have visited his museum. Also, Marin has exchanged emails with Jack, Professor Li's assistant for a long time. We've developed a good relationship for many years and now with our visit to Xi'an, it seems everyone is comfortable with each other and would like to build a more formal relationship. It is an exciting and a wonderful outcome from this long-anticipated visit!


Cindy DeLong is working on a master's degree in textile history with an emphasis in quilt studies at UNL. She has a bachelor of sciences in home economics (clothing and textiles) and journalism from the University of Missouri. She has worked at the New England Quilt Museum as a curatorial intern and the International Quilt Study Center & Museum as a collections intern.

A Wonderful Partnership

By Marin Hanson
Curator of Exhibitions

We spent the morning at Xi'an Jiaotong University Art Museum, going on a tour of their beautiful new facility and having a meeting with the staff about possible future collaborations. At the meeting, we gave Vice Director Li a gift for their museum's collections: a nineteenth-century American Log Cabin quilt.

They reciprocated with a quilt for our collections: a thirty-year-old bai jia bei, or "One Hundred Families Quilt."

It was made by a woman in Gansu Province for her son, who was once a student at XJTU and is now an art professor specializing in Chinese calligraphy. This was a really exciting moment for me, because although I had heard about a bai jia bei tradition, and we had seen new ones being made at the village we visited yesterday, I had never seen an old one. This is the confirmation I've been looking for that this is a tradition that has been around a long time.

It is a small, fairly plain quilt, but it is wonderful to me because it was made especially for a child's everyday use. It is evidence of an embedded tradition, proof that patchwork bedcovers are not simply a tourist market craft. Even if we find nothing else in our remaining days, I'm feeling like we've had some true success on this research trip.

It was a really good day, and I am so grateful to our XJTU Art Museum partners -- they've been wonderful collaborators on this project.

Marin Hanson is the Curator of Exhibitions at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She holds undergraduate degrees from Grinnell College and Northern Illinois University and earned her MA in museum studies and textile history with a quilt studies emphasis from UNL. She is currently pursuing doctoral research on cross-cultural quiltmaking practices, with particular emphasis on China and the United States.

Another Wonder of the World?

By Amanda Lensch
UNL Graduate Student

Of course! We saw and conquered the Terra Cotta Warriors, located just outside of Xi’an.

Holy cow, what a sight!

In 221, Qin Shihuangdi (no I can’t say this either) united all of the separate kingdoms of China in 221 BC, declaring himself the emperor. During his reign he demanded that an elaborate tomb be made with plenty of warriors to stand guard after he entered into the afterlife. They were made by craftsmen and slaves of his day.

The site wasn’t discovered until a farmer decided to drill a well in 1974, some two thousand years later!

To date, there are more than 8,000 warriors that have been discovered, and excavation continues. By all appearances, these anthropologists have a lot of job security!

Anyway, the awesome thing about them is every single soldier is unique – as in different faces, different hands, and apparently even different stylized finger nails (or at least this is what our guide said). The craftsmanship on these pieces is unbelievable! The theory is each man is modeled after an actual soldier. I can’t decide if this is really really cool, or creepy… In terms of research, a whole host of things can be examined. Rank can be identified through hair and clothing styles, types of weapons, who was on the ‘front lines’, etc… The list goes on.

Three Fun facts about the Terra Cotta Warriors:

1. The armor of the original/live soldiers was made out of leather, and if you happened to be lucky enough to be of higher rank, you may get multiple layers of armor. Personally, I don’t know just how much good leather would do against an arrow, but it must have been the best option.
2. All of the terra cotta pieces were originally painted! But once excavation started and these pieces were exposed to oxygen, the color disappeared. They had used different minerals to paint the soldiers in vivid colors, but oxidation occurred, eliminating the color. They are trying to determine ways to prevent this from happening to the soldiers who haven’t been uncovered yet.
3. Due to the roof collapsing, among other issues, most of the warriors were found in broken pieces. Sometimes hundreds of pieces, thus providing a giant puzzle to those working on this excavation project.

After hitting two of the eight wonders of the world in one week, I think it’s time to start planning trips to see the other six! Anyone want to join?

Amanda Lensch is working on a master’s in textile history with an emphasis in quilt studies at UNL. She has a bachelor’s degree in apparel merchandising, design and production with an emphasis in museum studies and a minor in entrepreneurial studies from Iowa State University. She is a graduate assistant working in collections at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum and previously interned at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Ky., and Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Say What?

Sometimes Jack and Marin resorted to writing down their words
using Chinese characters. That made sharing meanings easier.

By Cindy DeLong
UNL Graduate Student

Language has always amazed me. It is astounding that humans have developed such a sophisticated method of communication using spoken and written words. It's something we take for granted. When you arrive in a country that speaks another tongue, language (or lack of it) is in your face all the time. So it has been for me on this journey in China. 

I won't lie, I'm having a hard time. I must have a mental block or something. My brain just won't process the words. I can't even repeat the sounds. I've learned to say hello and thank you in Chinese. That's it and sometimes I have to think about that. It's almost embarrassing.

But, the truth is that Chinese is very different and the sounds are different. I now have sympathy instead of contempt for newcomers to America that can't say "t," "r" or some other sound.

Chinese characters written in calligraphy.

Chinese is complicated and as you know is represented by characters unlike the alphabet we are familiar with in the U.S. Right after the Cultural Revolution in 1949, the Pinyin Romanization System was developed that converted characters to letters used by Westerners. We have a representation of the Chinese words, but it's not very accurate. For example, the Emperor Qin is pronounced "Chin." The sounds are different than our English words, but even the same sounds have been spelled in a way we can't accurately interpret. 

Beyond the sounds, there's the issue of translation. Luckily Marin knows some Chinese language. Every day, she converses with Jack, our wonderful guide and escort from the Xi'an Jiaotong University Museum. They chatter back and forth about where we are going, who we are meeting, etc. Luckily too, Jack speaks great English. Still, sometimes it's difficult for him and Marin to find congruent words from English to Chinese and vice versa.

For example, I asked about the Chinese word for seamstress or tailor. Marin and Jack had quite a chat about it. They don't have a word that describes someone who sews. They finally came up with "cai feng" which translates to "cut-sew." It's a generic term, and it fits, but it's not specific. 

Even between the Chinese themselves, communication is not always so easy. The other day, Jack was chatting with a villager, and he had to pull out his Chinese dictionary (an app of course on his phone) and look up words several times. It seems normal for Marin to do that, because Chinese is not her first language. But because there are so many different dialects, and the same Chinese word can have multiple meanings (up to 100 or more) sometimes conversations require more work than English does.

In the Chinese tongue, there are four "tones." The same word can be spoken in each tone and have completely different meanings.

On the forehead of this tiger hat is the "wong" character.
Wong translates as the word "king," which illustrates the
importance of little boys, who wear tiger hats.

The words for bat and luck are the same, only a different tone. Because of that, a bat is considered good luck. The Chinese word for the number four is the same as the word for die or dead, but they are pronounced in different tones. Therefore the number four is considered bad, because it is equated with death. 

You can see that Chinese culture is full of symbolism and quite a bit of superstition.  

It's a little odd to listen to the chatter of a language you can't understand. I can't say I have become accustomed to it, but at least we have found a way to communicate. Well, Marin and Jack can communicate anyway.

Me? I just rely on Marin to "translate" or explain what's going on. Once again, Thank goodness for Marin!


Cindy DeLong is working on a master's degree in textile history with an emphasis in quilt studies at UNL. She has a bachelor of sciences in home economics (clothing and textiles) and journalism from the University of Missouri. She has worked at the New England Quilt Museum as a curatorial intern and the International Quilt Study Center & Museum as a collections intern.

Demos

By Marin Hanson

Curator of Exhibitions

Today, we went to a village called Wang Jian, where we met a woman who makes bai jia bei -- "one hundred families quilts," which are based on the old tradition of making a patchwork quilt from pieces of fabric donated by many different families. No longer made from donated fabric, they still evoke the idea of the original. Unfortunately, according to Jack Zhang, our museum colleague, the old versions don't seem to exist anymore, even in the small villages.

The quilts our hostess in Wang Jian makes are based on a block we would call a Pineapple Log Cabin in the U.S. What they call it here is "ba gua," which refers to a set of eight symbols essential to Daoist philosophy. The symbols are often arranged in an octagon shape, much like the eight sides of the blocks the maker has sewn together in this quilt:

We were lucky enough to have our hostess give us a demonstration of how she makes the appliqued and embroidered medallions she often places in the center of her quilts:

It was particularly interesting to learn that she uses recycled cardboard as the base of the medallions, wrapping it with fabric and then apppliqueing and embroidering through both layers. The cardboard seems to usually be old cigarette cartons!

We will be coming back to the U.S. with two new beautiful pieces for the IQSCM collections. Although they are made mainly for the tourist market, we feel they are good representations of how this tradition has evolved and how it is able to live on.

Marin Hanson is the Curator of Exhibitions at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She holds undergraduate degrees from Grinnell College and Northern Illinois University and earned her MA in museum studies and textile history with a quilt studies emphasis from UNL. She is currently pursuing doctoral research on cross-cultural quiltmaking practices, with particular emphasis on China and the United States.

Enjoying the Local Cuisine

Enjoying lunch in Li Huilian's home in a village near Baoji, China.

By Cindy DeLong
UNL Graduate Student

Now this was the GOOD shrimp, not the crunchy bugs.

Yesterday, we went to a village called Da Zhai Cun to visit some craftswomen. When we arrived we were invited in and offered cigarettes and tea. We passed on the cigarettes, but of course had tea. Later, after we had looked at her work, Li Huilian invited us to stay for lunch -- in her home. Yes, we actually ate lunch in the home of a craftswoman in a small village in China. My goodness that does sound exotic. She served us large bowls of noodles with tofu, pork, spices, vegetables, a nice broth AND chopsticks. Yes, chopsticks and noodles. It can be done, although using different etiquette than we would use in Nebraska. 

The first evening we arrived in Beijing last week, we went out to dinner to a fairly nice restaurant. We each ordered a dish and something to drink. The Chinese custom is to serve food family style so everyone shares and gets a little bit of everything. So when Amanda ordered shrimp, we all shared it and so on. A bowl of rice is served to each person. We used chopsticks to pick up the food, shrimp, pork, etc. and put it in the bowl of rice, then it's eaten from there. It is considered polite to hold the rice bowl up to close to your face, and to drink from your bowl if there is broth. It's okay to slurp soup and noodles! It's considered good manners to do these things we would never do at home. 

Before we arrived, I really worried about the food. I have been to China before, many years ago. Unfortunately, I didn't have a good food experience, and I was a little skeptical this time around.
Let's just say I came prepared with more than two or three granola bars in my suitcase.

However, I must say the food has been out of this world. Whether fine dining or in a villager's home, it's all been very, very good. Well, we won't count last week when Amanda ordered shrimp again (she keeps doing that). When the dish came it looked like bugs. No kidding. The "shrimp" were the size of peanuts and I swear they had lots of legs plus they were crunchy. I know because I ate some!

Thank goodness Marin arrived to help decipher
the menu. It's sure a good thing they have pictures!

Besides that it's all been good, very good. And much of it I have never had before. Like squid or octopus -- we weren't sure which -- was prepared with celery and scallions. The spices and cooking techniques here make the food delicious. The "Chinese food" we have in the U.S. isn't like this at all. In fact, I don't know if I will be able to eat takeout Chinese from my (formerly) favorite China Wok anymore. It just wouldn't seem right. 

The food prices are low. On Sunday night, after the market in Beijing we had a nice dinner with more food than we could eat. Our total bill was 164 RMB, which is about $7 each. That included four dishes and beverages for all of us. Of course, fancy restaurants with atmosphere and fancier dishes will cost you more just as they do at home. There is no tipping at restaurants in China. I don't know why, but it works just fine for me.  

We've eaten everything from noodles in a villager's home to banquet food served on a Lazy Susan in the middle of the table (yes, they keep bringing more and more and more food!) to a very nice fine dining restaurant, to a vegetarian restaurant, to McDonald's (well... one morning for a quick breakfast) to tonight's dinner -- the Chinese version of pizza.

It's all been wonderful and to me a GREAT surprise and bonus for this trip.

Cindy DeLong is working on a master's degree in textile history with an emphasis in quilt studies at UNL. She has a bachelor of sciences in home economics (clothing and textiles) and journalism from the University of Missouri. She has worked at the New England Quilt Museum as a curatorial intern and the International Quilt Study Center & Museum as a collections intern.

Impulse Buy of the Day…

By Amanda Lensch
UNL Graduate Student

Don’t worry mom, it was only about $10.

Yesterday we traveled outside of Xi’an to a little village about three hours away (we had no idea it was going to be that far...) to visit women who make textile goods for the tourist market. These women didn’t speak English, but were so hospitable and kind that they made the long ride absolutely worth it!

And then we saw the things they had made…

Anyway, in an effort to keep this brief, I’ll tell you about my favorite lady who prompted the impulse buy. She was our last stop of the day.

Her name is Liaijie, and she is about 80 years old. She has been making things to be sold for so long, and is so good at it that she has received recognition and an award for her work from the Shaanxi Province Ministry of Culture. The award was called the Cultural Heritage Award in honor of her beautiful skill. I’ve included a picture of her holding her award with one of the professors from the local university.

So, because this woman was so adorable and famous for her work, I HAD to have something she'd made! A pair of ducks was my choice, and I think I can find a spot for them in my apartment quite easily. Anyway, I’ve included other pictures of us with Liaijie, and her work.

Amanda Lensch is working on a master’s in textile history with an emphasis in quilt studies at UNL. She has a bachelor’s degree in apparel merchandising, design and production with an emphasis in museum studies and a minor in entrepreneurial studies from Iowa State University. She is a graduate assistant working in collections at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum and previously interned at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Ky., and Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Road Trip

By Marin Hanson
Curator of Exhibitions

We started out the day with only a vague idea of how it would go.

Jack Zhang, assistant to the director of the Xi'an Jiaotong University Art Museum (our liaison for this research trip) told us we would be going to Baoji City -- located west of Xi'an -- to see where some local textile handicrafts were made. We thought it would be about a 1.5-hour drive. In the end, just getting out of Xi'an alone took about an hour! After 3.5 hours we got to the village of Dazhai, about half an hour north of Baoji.

Fortunately, it was completely worth the long journey.

We got to meet and spend several hours with the two coordinators of a local, textile-based cottage industry (at the front of this group picture).

These two women, along with over 100 other women from their village, produce a huge array of folk crafts that are eventually sold all over the country. The things they make (all by hand) are based on traditional Shaanxi objects-- things like tiger hats (to protect children from evil spirits), embroidered shoes, and decorative hangings.

But the item we were most interested in was the bai hua zhang, or "hundred flowers banner" (it isn't actually floral in design -- the "hundred flowers" name mostly expresses the concept of abundant imagery). The banner we saw had 104 different squares, each one embroidered by a different woman with scenes from Chinese folk tales and religion.

The squares were then pieced together into a large banner that would traditionally have been used as a hanging in a Buddhist temple. One of the goals of our trip was to see how Chinese textile traditions have evolved, how they are being expressed today. We realize that these traditions survive partly due to their close tie to the tourist market -- so to be able to see where these souvenir objects are actually being made -- by average women from a small village in Shaanxi! -- was informative and gratifying.

We also got to meet a 79 year old woman, Li Ai Jie, from a different village, who has received  many honors from the Shaanxi provincial government for her textile handicrafts.

We are very grateful to Professor Lu Xiaoning (pictured here with her) for introducing us to Mrs Li as well as to the women from the handicraft cooperative.

Marin Hanson is the Curator of Exhibitions at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She holds undergraduate degrees from Grinnell College and Northern Illinois University and earned her MA in museum studies and textile history with a quilt studies emphasis from UNL. She is currently pursuing doctoral research on cross-cultural quiltmaking practices, with particular emphasis on China and the United States.

A Cultural Treasure Trove at the Beijing Antique Market

At the Antique Market in Beijing.

By Amanda Lensch
UNL Graduate Student

Overwhelming.

A musical performance in Xi'an.

The only word needed to describe the Antique Market in Beijing. It is open every day of the week, with hundreds of vendors hawking their wares in row after row of stalls filled with paintings, beads, figurines, textiles, calligraphy supplies, and the list goes on… It is so overwhelming it’s hard to know where to begin! (Think extremely large outdoor quilt show and you get the idea of what we are up against!)

As a habitual people watcher, I found this to be an extremely interesting place. The vendors are insistent in showing you their goods the second you show even the slightest bit of interest in their products. They continue to pull piece after piece out hoping to catch your eye with something. Also, you must be prepared to haggle with them! Something I have learned I am absolutely terrible at… which is why I will never purchase anything without a trusty buddy at my side! Maybe this is a skill I can learn while I’m here (like how to use chopsticks!).

The differences between our culture and theirs are certainly apparent. Waiting in lines is not a Chinese strong point, pushing to get onto the subway is a given, and they are fond of riding bikes or walking down the middle of the street. They haggle, yet are extremely welcoming and helpful. They are wonderful people to interact with.

Eventually, we went on a visual overload as there were so many wonderful textiles and other wares. It was a very cool experience.

Monday we traveled to Xi’an (pronounced she-on) where we are a part of Nebraska Week at Xi'an Jiaotong University. That night we had a banquet and reception to kick it off, with more than 50 people from Nebraska in attendance. I had no idea there would be so many Midwesterners half way around the world at the same time! Anyway, there was wonderful music supplied by both universities, once again showcasing our cultural similarities and differences.

Loving this adventure! Stay tuned…



Amanda Lensch is working on a master’s in textile history with an emphasis in quilt studies at UNL. She has a bachelor’s degree in apparel merchandising, design and production with an emphasis in museum studies and a minor in entrepreneurial studies from Iowa State University. She is a graduate assistant working in collections at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum and previously interned at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Ky., and Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Exploring Beijing

Quaint Nan Luogu Xiang Hutong.

By Cindy DeLong
UNL Graduate Student

Spectacular Rooftops in the Forbidden City.

Having only three days in Beijing, we didn't waste a minute.

Friday morning we got up and going, first to the Forbidden City. It was probably two or three miles away and could we walk it? Well of course. So we walked and walked and walked and after a few wrong turns and a wild goose chase a local sent us on through a local neighborhood, we made it. 

The Forbidden City, built during the Ming Dynasty, is enchanting. It took a tiny bit of imagination to see the city without the hordes of tourists, but instead with magnificent gates, imperial courtiers, emperors and empresses, government officials scurrying about and of course many were wearing the spectacular robes, gowns, and head pieces we've all seen in museums, books and other places. The city has a few artifacts (mostly reproductions since during the Chinese Cultural Revolution in the mid-twentieth century, many were destroyed), but of course most impressive are the palaces, temples, and courtyards. 

We saw the Palace of Heaven and Purity, which was where the emperor and empress lived with their family, the Palace of the Empress which was where her birthday was celebrated, the Palace of Earthly and Tranquility, palaces for the emperors mother and one for his  concubines. After the palaces and courtyard, a fabulous and vast garden seemed to never end. 

To confirm our reservations for a tour of the Great Wall the next day, we went in search of a neighborhood called Nan Luogu Xiang Hutong. Hutongs were built in the early 20th Century, and though most have been torn down to build high-rise apartments, a few, like this one, remain. 

Did we miss our turn?

We walked and walked and walked. Finally we realized we had gone way too far. Thankfully a Westerner on a bicycle saw us pouring over a map and stopped to help. We finally decided we didn't have enough time to walk back and find it so we called a cab who quickly took us where we needed to go.

Thinking ahead, Dr. Crews had printed off a map and directions to Nan Luogu Xiang Hutong (in Chinese) before she left so this cab ride was no problem.

The Hutong was quaint and fun to explore. There were many gardens, hanging lanterns, restaurants, fast food eateries and shops of all kinds -- clothing, handicraft, shawls -- yes several shops that sold only shawls, very expensive shawls. Amanda even tried on a fabulous cashmere shawl that had buttons and was something completely new to us. I think the price was 1,950 RMB. At about 6 RMB to $1 you do the math! 

We had tickets to a Chinese acrobat show that night, so we caught another cab that took us across town and we enjoyed a wonderful show. How do they do one-armed handstands and twirl around on a stack of ten chairs?  I don't know, but it sure felt great to get off our feet. 

Later the three of us all admitted we had trouble staying awake during the show. I myself almost nodded off several times. We had been walking all day long except for our lunch. I think I was asleep that night before my head even hit the pillow!


Cindy DeLong is working on a master's degree in textile history with an emphasis in quilt studies at UNL. She has a bachelor of sciences in home economics (clothing and textiles) and journalism from the University of Missouri. She has worked at the New England Quilt Museum as a curatorial intern and the International Quilt Study Center & Museum as a collections intern.

At the Market

By Marin Hanson
IQSCM Curator of Exhibitions 

On Sunday, we went to the Panjiayuan Market. It's the largest "antiques" market in Beijing. Most of the vendors are selling cheap, knock-off souvenirs, but you can find real vintage items as well. The physical layout of the market is huge -- probably 40-50 outdoor rows of stall after stall, plus one large building with two floors of furniture, embroidered screens, early Communist era clothing, etc etc. We decided to skip some whole sections of the market since they were dedicated to books, manuscripts, paintings, and sculptures, and we had ONE single objective: find textiles, preferably patchwork and appliqued pieces.

Initially, it looked as though we weren't going to have much luck. After the first hour or so, we'd only seen one or two stalls with textiles, including some very interesting lotus shoes (tiny embroidered shoes for bound feet). Then, as the saying goes, when it rains, it pours.

In the eastern section of the market we came across a dozen or more stalls with good textiles (not just newly made tourist items), about a half a dozen or so of which had pieces that really interested us. Many of these stalls were run by people of the Miao ethnic minority.

One particularly good stall was run by a man named Lei Hongbin.

He, too, was ethnically Miao and told me that he became interested in selling ethnic minority textiles because he'd seen so many items being sold with improper information or incorrectly identified. (A side note: at ANY market like this, in any country, you need to take everything dealers say with a HUGE grain of salt -- Buyer Beware.) He seemed more credible than other dealers and I chatted with him for quite a while. (Another side note: my rusty Chinese did start to come back to me and although I think I probably only understood about one third of the actual words he spoke, I probably understood about two-thirds of the overall meaning of what he said, if you get the difference).

He told us about what some of the Miao symbolism meant and showed us how Miao skirts would have traditionally been worn. They were usually layered, with up to nine (!) being worn at once, and topped off with jackets (again, layered, with up to six at once) and a decorative apron. He also talked a bit about how a great deal of design and technique crossover occurs between close neighbors, like the Miao and the Buyi people of Guizhou Province.

While the Panjiayuan visit didn't result in any acquisitions, it was a fruitful day in terms of research. We saw several genuine vintage ethnic minority quilt tops and saw just as many recently-made pieces being passed off as the real thing. I can imagine that we might want to return here again some day to purchase a few select pieces for the IQSCM collection (and avoid a whole lot of other ones!)

Marin Hanson is the Curator of Exhibitions at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She holds undergraduate degrees from Grinnell College and Northern Illinois University and earned her MA in museum studies and textile history with a quilt studies emphasis from UNL. She is currently pursuing doctoral research on cross-cultural quiltmaking practices, with particular emphasis on China and the United States.