Beijing Cultural and Art Workshop: Calligraphy, Ink Painting and Brick Extension

Your tour guide will pick you up at the prearranged time, then hop on a private vehicle to the traditional Chinese room in which the lesson is held.

Your experience begin with the welcome tea, gaining artistic inspiration from the decoration and furniture of the traditional Chinese room. Your teacher is an expert, well respected in the Chinese traditional culture scene. Under the careful guidance of your teacher, try your hand at using genuine Chinese tools; Gain knowledge of the Four Treasures and how to use them: brush, ink, paper, and ink stone. Learn to write your favorite Chinese character and your name on a square piece of paper.

After a short tea break, you'll learn the traditional ink and brush painting. Traditional Chinese painting is considered one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. It uses "Shui Mo" (water and ink), which is a freestyle technique created using a brush dipped in ink and water, and onto rice paper. You will get to learn different brush strokes, as well as get a solid introduction to the oriental materials, tools, and the painting subject.

Next, get to know the history about this traditional art called " Zhuan Ta". In ancient time, Chinese characters were caved on the bricks, bronze or bones. To make it easy to bring, later Chinese people start to use ink and paper to make the copy of the characters and pictures. This artwork start from Tang Dynasty ( 618—907 A.D) and most popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Under the careful guidance of your teacher, try your hand at using the ink and paper and antique bricks to make your first work. After know the basic skills, you will start to make the complicated work.

At the end of the class, you can either write your name or make your Chinese painting on a traditional Chinese fan and take home as a unique souvenir.

Your tour will ends here, you can choose to explore the surrounding area on your own, your tour guide can help you to get a taxi to your next destination.