DOING SHOPPING

Did you know that… Poles import from China: 38% TV sets 37% compact equipment 38% mobile phones 80% clothes Chinese products swamp the world.

Typical Chinese Souvenir Shop

It was a symbol of wealth and high social status for Romans to wear silk clothes. Nowadays, silk, in some sense, is still some kind of luxury.

KINDS OF SILK It is well known that silk is discovered in China in 30th century BC as one of the best materials for clothing - it has a look and feeling of richness that no other materials can match. Chinese silk is famous in the world for its magnificent quality, colour and variety. Representative samples are brocade from Hangzhou, Sichuan brocade from Chengdu, the fine, tough silk and pure silk crepe from Suzhou and tussah silk from Dandong.

SILKWORM BREEDING The business of raising silkworms and unwinding cocoons is now known as silk culture or sericulture. It takes an average of days for a silkworm, which is no bigger than an ant, to grow old enough to spin cocoon. Then the women farmers will pick them up one by one to piles of straws, then the silkworm will attach itself to the straw, with its legs to the outside and begin to spin. The next step is unwinding the cocoons; it is done by reeling girls. The cocoons are heated to kill the pupa, this must be done at the right time, otherwise, the pupas are bound to turn into moths, and moths will make a hole in the cocoons, which will be useless for reeling. To unwind the cocoons, first put them in a basin filled with hot water, find the loose end of the cocoon, and then twist them, carry then to a small wheel, thus the cocoons will be unwound. At last, two workers measure them into a certain length, twist them, they are called raw silk, then they are dyed and woven into cloth. An interesting fact is that we can unwind about 1,000 meters long silk. from one cocoon, while 111 cocoons are needed for a man's tie and 630 cocoons are needed for a woman's blouse

COCOONERY Mulberry tree

Silk quilts

CHINESE CERAMICS

Polychrome-glazed pottery- dominant colours: green, yellow and white

Bronze and clay pottery Pottery vs Porcelain Pottery - ordinary clay with iron content higher than 3%, burned at temp. below 1000 degrees Celsius with no glaze. Porcelain – porcelain Stone and clay with iron content lower than 3%, Temp.above 1200 deg.Cel. With high temperature glaze over 1200 degrees Centigrade.

CHINESE PORCELAIN Porcelain is generally believed to have originated in China. Although proto- porcelain wares exist dating from the Shang Dynasty, by the Eastern Han Dynasty ( CE) high firing glazed ceramic wares had developed into porcelain, and porcelain manufactured during the Tang Dynasty period (618–906) was exported to the Islamic world where it was highly prized.[2] Early porcelain of this type includes the tri-color glazed porcelain, or sancai wares. Historian S.A.M. Adshead writes that true porcelain items in the restrictive sense that we know them today could be found in dynasties after the Tang,[3] during the Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and Qing Dynasty. By the Sui and Tang dynasties, porcelain had become widely produced. Eventually, porcelain and the expertise required to create it began to spread into other areas; by the seventeenth century, it was being exported to Europe.

PORCELAIN FACTORY

CHINESE PORCELAIN PRODUCTS

CHINESE CLOISONNE Cloisonne, named as enamelware, have originated in Beijing of Yuan dynasty and prevailed during the period of Ming dynasty (1450 – 1456). Its typically called Blue of Jingtai as blue was the dominant colour used for enameling. Cloisonne ware was used only for the royal family as it was the symbol of authority and status. Cloisonne is the everlasting art. And loved by the people of the world

with under and over-glaze painting

Painted Crystal Ball

TIGER SHOES

LACQUER WARE Asian lacquer ware is well known to art collectors worldwide, and is the result of some of the finest craftsmanship techniques in the world. Lacquer ware is created by applying lacquer to wooden objects to give it a fine finish and luster. Although the craft was developed in both China and Japan, Japanese craftsmen are generally credited with taking Chinese lacquer techniques and maturing them to create the highly regarded art form that lacquer ware creation has become today.

PEARL Most of the pearls you'll find in China are freshwater pearls, cultivated in mollusks in lakes and rivers. Their shape can be elongated and their appearance milky translucent. Freshwater pearls are certainly the real value when buying pearls in China, but sea water and South Sea pearls are also good values. In addition to pearls, there's seemingly no end to the semi- precious stones you can add to designs, such as jade and turquoise, as well as inexpensive crystal and plastic beads.

Pearl Breeding Institute

Jade is used to make ritual implements, ceremonial and decorative objects, wearing ornaments, burial objects as well as daily utensils.

ANCIENT CHINESE JADE A Symbol of Wealth and Power – jade wares were owned by the upper class in ancient China. An Envoy of Religious Deities – jade could be a link between human beings and gods, so had a special function to get rid of evils – was worn as an amulet. A Mark of Morality –Chinese related the natural qualities of jade with human morality as Confucius claimed that jade had the qualities of wisdom, justice, courtesy, loyalty, happiness, trustworthiness and benevolence. China, a country with an abundant deposit of jade, is well known for its special art of jade carving. The tradition started early in the Neolithic period and the carving techniques were very unique and advanced.

SILK WEAVING PLANT Silk fabric can be woven by machine or embroidered by hand. There are about five Schools of embroidering art. There are 2 types of embroidery: cross (in Suzhou) and knot (in Chengdu). It takes 1 -3 months to make a picture, a weaving machine makes 1.5 cm a day.

Natural products have been used for medicinal purposes since ancient times. These include materials from plant, animal, and mineral sources, with the majority derived from plants. Nearly 5,000 species of plants are used for medicine in China today, a fact that is of high interest to western medical researchers and pharmaceutical companies. Two examples: Chinese do research on activity against HIV and malaria.

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

TEA SHOPS China is the home of tea. Tea is divided into green, black, perfumed, white and Wulong tea. Longjing (green tea) and Biluochun (green tea), are famous throughout the world.

OTHER EQUIPMENT

USEFUL TIPS Before you leave for Chinese shopping spree, keep in mind the following pieces of advice: Bargaining is advisable Be careful of fake products Beware of viruses when buying piratical (illegal)software GOOD LUCK! ITS WORTH ITS PRICE

Useful phrases: magnificent quality- wspania ł a jako ść samples- próbki silkworm breeding- hodowla jedwabnika a pile of straw- stos s ł omy to spin- prz ąść unwinding the cocoons- rozwijanie kokonów a pupa- poczwarka a moth- mol raw silk- surowy jedwab a mulberry tree- morwowe drzewo a tableware- zastawa sto ł owa laquer ware- wyroby z laki a luster- po ł ysk, blask a freshwater pearl- per ł a s ł odkowodna mollusks- mi ę czaki

translucent- pó ł prze ź roczysty semi-precious stones- pó ł szlachetne kamienie Jade- nefryt an envoy- wys ł annik a deity- bóstwo a wisdom- m ą dro ść a benevolence- laskawo ść, dobrodziejstwo abundant- liczny a carving- rze ź ba throughout the world- wsz ę dzie na ś wiecie to swamp the world- zalewa ć ś wiat elongated- wyd ł u ż ony craftsmanship- kunsztowny

Authors: Joanna Madura Danuta Miro ń ska European Club I Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace Mielec, Poland Source: Personal photos& Impressions; Internet; Pascal guide-book