Excellent weather this weekend so far, apart from the (very normal) Beijing Spring wind.

I’ve been living in Beijing off and on for 9 years and never paid a visit to Liu Li Chang culture street (??????), a/k/a Liu Li Chang market. Today was the day.

Here’s some background:

Liu Li Chang Market, or literally “colored-glaze factory,” has been an artisan hub since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), offering an array of antiques and artifacts.

Once the site of a colored glaze kiln in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD), it has a history of 780 years. The antique market didn’t come into being until the middle of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD) when the kiln was moved.

Lining a 790-meter street, the market is bisected by Nanxinhua Street. Strolling along the market, you will find ancient Chinese style buildings housing paintings, calligraphy, old coins, seals, jade and collectible stamps. (Xinhua)

Tough to beat that. You got your Chinese history and culture all tucked away into a small street with a surprisingly small number of tourists. Nothing wrong with that.

We started off at the Beijing Huguang Huiguan (??????), which was built in 1807 and is a famous wooden theater. In addition to still hosting Beijing opera, it is also a museum.

Next on the journey was Rong Bao Zhai (???), a store built in 1672 that sold writing paper and calligraphy supplies. It currently also offers art for sale as it is a well-known center for restoration of paintings.

Rong Bao Zhai is worth a look. It might sound strange, but one of the most interesting things I saw were the blank/unpainted fans (??):

Never thought about it before, but I guess those hand-painted ones have to come from somewhere.

Just for the record, Liu Li Chang is not an all-day tourist attraction, complete with food and entertainment venues. This is a quick hour or two to check out some culture, buy a calligraphy brush and a how-to book, and move on.

I’ll leave you with a couple more shots of Liu Li Chang. Have a nice weekend.