Day 15

This involved a lot of driving. First, we drove up the mountains over a magnificent pass at 16,000 feet. Just below the top was the holy lake at 15,700 feet. As we climbed, it was obvious that the temperature was dropping. What was amazing was that we saw yaks on the side of the mountain at approximately 15,000 feet on land that appeared to be suitable only for mountain goats. I wanted to take a picture of everyone at the top, but Tseping said it was too cold and windy at the top, so I took pictures of everyone in front of the holy lake. It was still very cold.

We then drove through the central part of Tibet to the third largest city. Its total population was approximately 25,000. We shared the street with cows, oxen, yaks, sheep, goats and school children. According to our guide there was only one good restaurant in this city. We ate with all of the other tourists, most of whom were from Germany. The restaurant featured all four cuisines which are featured in some of the restaurants in Lhasa. We opted to stay with the Tibetan food. It was more expensive than Lhasa because much of their food had to be brought in from Lhasa. Also, we had a waiter who kept forgetting to bring what we had ordered. After enough visits from either Tseping or me, we eventually got everything we ordered. After lunch we continued our drive through central Tibet and visited a local farm family.

It was explained to us that this farmer was considered moderately successful. The house was right off the main and only paved road. First, there were areas to feed the pigs and to store the yak dung. Second, there was an area for feeding the cattle and yaks. They had a fairly large farm because they had three tractors. The first floor was used by the animals to sleep and to protect them during the winter. You then went up steep stairs to the second floor, which was the main living area. The center was an open courtyard where the family prepared the food and did other chores. All of the rooms were off the main courtyard. The home had electricity. There was a kitchen and a large room which was set up solely for worship. There was also a very large family room with a television and lots of couches. This is where the family ate and socialized. There were four large bedrooms off to the side, with as many as eight people sharing a bedroom. Because of the one child policy, the Tibetan women were allowed to take up to as many as five husbands. She was permitted to have a child by each husband. The first to father a child was known as the father, and the others were known as uncles. One of the husbands stayed on the farm to be in charge. The others went to the city or elsewhere to work and send money home to support the family. They had a number of different types of di cheese, which we sampled and they were quite good.

We then continued our drive to the second largest city in Tibet. There we visited another temple which was the temple for the Penchan Lama, who is in charge of the religious side, but is subordinate to the Dali Lama. The Penchan Lama did not leave the country in 1959, but decided to stay in Tibet. In the 1980s the Chinese permitted him to reactivate a number of the monasteries. He was in charge of the reconstruction of the monasteries throughout Tibet. He died in the late 1980s and his successor is still living in Beijing.

We then went to the hotel, which was not even as good as the hotel room I had in Boshan. The room was too small and was poorly set up, but since we were only going to be there for one night we decided not to ask to change rooms. The four of us then went to a local restaurant for dinner. The only other people in the restaurant were some German tourists. Tseping had some questions about my art, so I brought along the computer so that he could see what I had been talking about with the other Tibetan artists earlier in the week. It was very cold, so after dinner we all went to bed early because it was a very long drive to the airport.

Day 16

We had a very good, hearty breakfast in the hotel dining room. It was a mixture of Tibetan, Chinese, and some American food, e.g., fried eggs. It was enough to get us going for the day. The drive to the airport is approximately 250 miles. The scenery is awesome. Because of some bad traffic accidents last year, there are now checkpoints along the road to reduce speeding. However, the Tibetan entrepreneurs have now set up roadside stands and restaurants so the people have a place to go to immediately before the checkpoint to shop and eat, so as not to be deemed to be traveling too fast. It is capitalism at its purest.

We arrived at my studio in Beijing at approximately 11:00 p.m. Unbelievably, during the trip to the airport Sun Xin in Beijing was able to text message me by cell phone to make all of the arrangements for the delivery of my sculpture to the Central Bus Depot and then from the Central Bus Depot to my studio. I was also able to answer a call from New York on the cell phone. All the time we were driving in a valley surrounded by mountains. Technology is amazing.

Rather than eating lunch at the airport we ate at a local restaurant in town. We climbed stairs and had some more local food. Now it was time to return to Beijing. The flight back with a stop-over and change of planes in Chengdu was simply a continuation of a long travel day.

Day 17

It was sunny and crisp in Beijing - not a cloud in the sky. Sun Xin called and told me that the sculptures were at his home. I went to Sun Xin’s studio and we decided that we would transport them from his studio to my studio in this car one box at a time. However, one of the back doors to his car was broken and could not be opened. This made it difficult for us to load any of the boxes in the back seat. None of the boxes would fit in the trunk. Only one of the sculptures was damaged in shipment, and that could have been damaged before packing, since two broken pieces were found together in the wrapping of one sculpture.

Leslie was working on the computer and using the internet for her office work. Since the boxes were not labeled, each sculpture had to be opened individually. Each one was a surprise, because when they are created there is no way to see how the colors and final shape will come out. I was pleasantly surprised by the colors and shape. Most of the day was spent unpacking the sculptures and Mung beginning to work on the fine finishing work, which I knew from my prior experience would not be done in Boshan.

I took Leslie for lunch at the local restaurant, and made final arrangements with Zhen Fang to create the metal inserts so that the glass sculptures could be hung. I continued working on the sculptures all afternoon. Sun Xin refused to take any money for helping me with the delivery of the sculptures, so we agreed to take him and his wife out to dinner. Fortunately they both liked Peking duck, and Leslie’s one food wish, which was expressed to me on the return flight from Tibet was to have Peking duck before returning to New York. So, the four of us went in Xin’s car to the duck restaurant. We had Peking duck, beer, etc. After dinner, they thought I was tired, so we agreed not to go to their studio that night to see her paintings, but that we would go the following morning. His fiancee speaks very little English, so the conversation was a mix of English and Chinese. As a glass sculptor there are no facilities outside of the limited facilities at Tsing Hua University for Xin to create his works. He is waiting for the completion of Professor Wang’s studio, which was now scheduled to be finished in the beginning of February. For the last six months he had been basically marching in place, with lots of ideas but no place to execute them. I could feel for his frustration.

Day 18

Leslie did some work on the computer and I worked on finishing more of the new glass sculptures with Mung in the morning. Leslie and I then went for a bike ride to Beijing International Art Camp a/k/a BIAC to have lunch with Li Gang. Li Gang wanted to show me the new replacement studio, which he was given in place of the studio that was next to mine in 318 Art Park. The landlord had no trouble renting the studio next to mine and was getting a rent of almost twice as much per foot as I paid and the location of this studio was much better for Li Gang. Li had some exchange students from France, and a visiting artist from Australia staying at his studio. Li and I ended up putting together a large table outside the new studio for an outdoor picnic. His assistant cooked a delicious lunch and the whole bunch of us sat at the makeshift table. He is like the mayor of BIAC. He is a major reason why BIAC feels like more of a community than 318 Art Park. It was lots of fun. Li Gang and I had a lot to cover. After looking at pictures of my new sculptures, he wanted to come over to see them and asked if he could accompany me on my next trip to Boshan. Li Gang told me during lunch that Huang and Lily had split, and that Zhu Li and Ye Dong Shen had gone through a divorce. Both events caught him by surprise. He found it quite upsetting.

After lunch we went to visit David’s studio, but he was not there. When I saw people visiting with Ye Dong Shen we decided to stop in at his studio to visit with him. He explained that he was very happy with the current situation. Since the studio was in his former wife’s name, he had to move out. He was moving to a small apartment in Wanjin, which is the new city adjacent to BIAC where Li Gang also happens to have an apartment for his family. He was concerned about finding appropriate studio space to continue his work. He was sorry that his second marriage did not work out, and figured that he needed some time to regroup. But he told me he was very happy.

Leslie and I then went back to the studio. She took a long nap and I did some more work on finishing some of the glass sculptures. At 4:00 we went to Sun Xin’s studio to see his fiancee’s paintings and have tea. She is a very talented painter. I continually realize there are a lot of talented artists in China with excellent skills. We had to return from tea in time to clean up the studio for Michael and his wife. Who were coming to the studio for cocktails and wine before we went to dinner. Michael’s wife was also trained as a lawyer in Germany. In fact, Michael and Hua Lin had left their daughter with her parents so that they could complete their education in Germany. The told me that they did it on an accelerated track, as it only took them seven and one-half years, while others took up to ten years to complete this program. Initially, they had been practicing law in a smaller city in Southern China. After finishing their German education, they decided to get together with a few other lawyers in Beijing to start Bright and Right.

We decided to take them to dinner at the new restaurant which Sun Xin introduced to us when we went out with Professor and Mrs. Wang. As good as the food was the first time, it was very mediocre the second time. We were the only customers in the restaurant, and it was depressing. It is too bad, because it is physically a beautiful structure, and it is obvious that the chef there can really cook, if he is in the right mood. We discussed politics, the status of the world, the impact of the financial crisis in the U.S. on China, their views on Tibet and many other topics.

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