I got a call from Liu Hui, one of my best friends in college. —“Hey, go back to Dalian with me?�—“Ok!� The mood hit me to say yes after I said many “No�s to her. I just thought I would spoil her family reunion more or less, as an outsider. But this time, after she just got her master’s degree and found a good teaching job in an university (Congratulations! so admire her will have winter and summer vacation each year!), after I realized when I go back to our campus, there’s no old friends there anymore, I couldn’t help wanting to spend a few days with her to re-enjoy our dorm life once more. You know, like have a talk before sleep (gossip will be welcomed! Talk about arts? Impossible…), make fun of strangers and ourselves, shopping in the wet market then cook together—of course, we can still do that in Beijing, but in Dalian we don’t have to face much reality like when we were in the university, plus I totally forgot what Dalian looks like since I went there 10 years ago, it would be cool I guess.

Dalian, this famous beach city in northern china, is the one of the hottest summer destinations, so it’s hard to book the ticket. Fortunately, I managed to buy one in an extra train, will spend 4 more hours than usual though. At first, I thought about if I could sit in a hard-seat carriage all night, after Liu Hui warning me that it’s even difficult to walk in it, I gave up. Many people who have the standing tickets will sleep on the ground, since I will smoke sometimes and afterwards I will drink lots of water then I will go to restroom frequently, it’s not fun to be wounded terribly by the rage in their eyes.

I will try to swim more in the sea. I know there will be looooots of people playing there, I don’t care, I like to be part of them. It’s always described like boiling the dumplings in the sea. I have to be a dumpling as a friend told me I was fatter than before and my face was like a full moon. Being big peanut (Liu Hui likes to say I look like peanut—white and fat:D) or dumpling, seems I don't have any other options!

Also, Liu Hui and I are going to take a tour bus, and perhaps do the same thing as many tourists do—to take a photo in every single famous landscape! We used to think it’s stupid behavior, in fact, it’s not, it’s most people’s fun, so to join them might be fun as well…we’ll try!

P.S. The pretty girls in the photo,Snowball and Liu Hui, were my best friends in the college, they're still now.

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
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I've become hooked on an NHK special feature, Treasures of the Palace Museum (故宫�至�), which is about some truly beautiful pieces collected (or hidden) in the Forbidden City (in Beijing) and the National Palace Museum (in Taipei). With the calm narration under S.E.N.S 's appropriate background music, and especially during the close-up of exquisitely detailed craftworks, it's impossible for me to stay calm. This doesn't happen to me often, only twice as far as I can remember. Once I was moved by a few potteries of the Neolithic Age, in front of them, or in front of any work that touches me, I feel so small.

This program offers such a vivid art history (tooooo short though). The university entrance examination with Chinese characteristic seems to distort many things (Announcement: It's just complaint, not judgment.-no kidding). One of the results is that I lost interest in history, it's more like many papers full of chronological tables than what it should be, which is stories. And because of an aversion to history in the textbooks, I rarely went to craft history class (I cheated on the exam, so I was good at passing tissues at least). I don't regret it, the destination is nice, but if the road to it was totally bored and depressing, I would not get there. That's why I really appreciate that NHK made such a program, although the uploader said what a pity that was made by Japanese. The Japanese TV guys did a great job for the world, particularly for us Chinese, it's more important than so-called nationalism.

Speaking of nationalism, I can’t help thinking of “patriotism�. Cai yuanpei advocated the idea of “replacing religion with aesthetic education�. The way I see it, it would be more convincing if he said “replacing patriotism education with the aesthetic education�. I figure patriotism education exists everywhere but apparently the Chinese government is good at making it look super superficial. Why not try some effective ways rather than documents or slogans, which, the more they call us love our country, the less Chinese seem to do it. Look, Craft is just a part of art and art is just a part of aesthetics, but it’s enough for me to say something like “My ancestors made such really fantastic works, I’m so proud of being their descendant—descendants of Yan and Huang!�. I don’t mean to be the speaker of our government. Even if only for tickling my vanity, who doesn’t want to related to something excellent?

All the excellent works, so far as I saw in this feature, were made by anonymous artisans. Artisans are the people who actually change a country’s image in art, but they are usually of the low social position. Looking at the delicate pattern hammered on bronze or almost perfect shape of a jade vase, I wonder whether some people with biases dare say that way.

Palace Memories，选自“å†?è§?,故宫â€?，片中å??å¤?出现的一段旋律。出于多年å‰?对喜多郎的热爱，S.E.N.S.也就很难错过了。

我喜欢法度森严的作�，喜欢令我敬�的作�，太平盛世的东西虽旖旎�过于优美。在这个片�看到的很多艺术�唯有在暴政中产生，对于很难�产生的作�，我们也�能说“���。

Filed under: Bunch of Contradictions, Sense of Seeing
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收拾房间，å?‘现了这张照片，大四的时候在天水回北京的嘈æ?‚çš„ç?«è½¦ä¸Šã€‚我最～～心仪自己这副顾影自怜å?ˆæœ‰å‡ åˆ†é¢‡ä¼¼ET的德性:D，尽管这有å?¯èƒ½æ˜¯æˆ?为“å°?资产阶级â€?的第六æ?¡ç½ªçŠ¶ï¼Œå“¼ï¼Œæœ¬æ?¥å?šä¸ªè‚©ä¸?能挑手ä¸?能æ??，我è§?犹怜的传统女性便是我打å°?å„¿çš„ç?†æƒ³ï¼ŒçŸ¢å¿—ä¸?æ¸?ï¼?

附：历�上曾被冠以“�资产阶级�的罪状如下：

1. �饭的时候点了矿泉水。
2. �尔穿�鞋�穿袜�。
3. �天必须洗澡。
4. 喜欢�上春树和王�波。
5. �常混迹于café和泡沫红茶。

（潜�性的�能是有了blog:P）

Filed under: Marginalia of Days, Holiday of Thoughts
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â…°

Even now, I’m sort of ashamed that I’m dumb with some “common sense�, especially as a painter, lazy painter though. Yesterday I took my friends to 798 Art District then found most of the galleries were closed. At the beginning, I thought it’s just bad luck until I pushed the door open and stepped into a messy room.

Me—Hi, any exhibitions here?

Them—Not today

Me—What are you guys doing?

Them—Decorating, this will be a new Italian gallery as well as our neighbor.

Me—I heard of it, so when…(I should stop chatting since my friends were waiting for me outside)

Meï¼?Why most of the galleries are closed today, just because of Monday?

Them—Yes, ALL THE GALLERIES IN THE WORLD ARE CLOSED ON MONDAYS.

Me—Why 798 can’t be different…

Them—(The friendly couple just gave me smile and silence…)

I’m really really sorry to make a stupid decision to take my friends to 798 on MONDAY:(

â…±

Still, in 798, café, in the restroom doorway, a foreign man was approaching me…

Me—Du Kefu! ( Christopher Doyle’s Chinese name, I called him as if he was my soldier:P)

He—Who are you!

Me—(absolutely not one of your girlfriendSSS, relax…) Haha, you don’t know me, you’re tooooooo famous!(ya,that is my tone,太～～有å??了)

Then he said something in Chinese, I couldn’t understand it, I’ve thought his spoken Chinese was pretty good, at the moment, he seemed drunk to me,or maybe I just thought that because of his red nose.

â…²

798, outside café

The face in the photo used to be very famous in the last few years in Beijing, finally found it again. When I was trying to take that photo, I noticed a guy leaning on the wall, sending a text message.

Me—Hi, would you mind me taking a photo of you and the face on the wall?

He—Oh, sorry, you want to take the photo of wall？(he’s walking towards me, that’s what I want)

Me—It’s ok, I’m just afraid you don’t like to be in the photo without your permission.

He—Not a big deal, you like the face on the wall?

Me—Yes, but what a pity that a car hides it… or it would be perfect!

He—You need me to move the car?

Me—That’s great! Is it your car? Would you mind moving your car a little far away, just a little.(he doesn’t know 20mins ago I was trying to kick his car but just lifting my leg up)

He—No problem!

Me—Sooooooo nice of you!

More Beijing Graffitis

Filed under: Out of Words
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I’ve been planning to change the look of my website for a year. The reason is simple—I just don’t like to use any finished designs, it’s kind of boring to me. Yes, content is the most important part of a website, I agree but it’s not enough for myself. For no reason, I’m sick of “blog� this word, although as a matter of fact, soongli.com is a blog without doubt. As a result, more or less I’m trying to make my website look not THAT much like a blog, I admit it’s naïve…

As for sOOngli.com (if you still like to read here,don't be lost:), the domain name will be changing soon), I have to mention my other weirdness—the existence of hyphen, it seems not cool as a domain name. I was told “soong� sounded like a Korean, I don’t know, I just followed Soong Sisters , I’m not good at history, I just like legend.

The new look maybe not adorable, it’s mine, that’s enough. Hope you like it or get used to it, thanks:)

P.S. If you do think something weird about design, tell me:)

Filed under: Bunch of Contradictions
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Being inconvenient for reading, the book cover with such kind of stupid dust jacket really annoys me. So I think I should spit and stamp on it then kick it out of window, but normally I just toss it into the trash bin.

Filed under: Holiday of Thoughts
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The pictures are about how the paintingï¼?Mudraâ… progressed.

Yesterday I thought I would finish it today. Yet, I now realize how stupid I was. The painting seemed doomed after the main part (mudra) appeared on it. I was trying to believe it’s not a false move (pic10) until it turned into pic11. Looking at it, obviously it’s far from being satisfactory.

I enjoyed the process of making pic1 to pic9, getting more familiar with the materials I’m using, although I still cannot get used to paying far more attention to technique than other elements, such as shapes, color, space. It’s totally different to the way I always painted before, so I wonder if I’m losing the most important things in painting gradually. This thought has occurred to me since starting to paint with mineral pigments and it still upsets me now and then.

Now get back to pic11. Whatever the color itself or its different texture, in my eyes, it is apparently not attuned to the background, is it? Plus the mudra part looks intense, which I was going to make it come out of the background naturally… I’m trapped.

I’m not able to figure out what the best way of proceeding is, do I have to destroy the pic10-11 as the only option, then I will spend more time…the problem is I’m afraid I will lose my patience with it before it’s done. Or as ever, put it aside, and then re-find it someday with outsider’s eyes.

What if I rotate it into pic12…? All the problems can be solved?

Filed under: Sense of Seeing
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DON’T stop doodling on the wall! It’s one of my preferable changes in Beijing NOW.

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
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