Ni Hao part 1

Cover page-China sketchbook by Meera Rao April 2018 

I just returned from a wonderful two weeks trip to China.  Sometimes while on location but mostly at night in the hotel room if I was not too exhausted after a long day of sight seeing, or in airports, planes,  I sketched my impressions in a small 5.5x3.5" Stillman & Birn Beta series softcover mixed media sketch book finishing many of them after my return. I shot hundreds of photos with my iPhone to capture the trip and bolster my memories.  Neither the photos nor sketches do justice but I am very pleased that I have  my own 52 page travelogue :)

Sketch of Map showing places visited  By Meera Rao 

After a much delayed but non-stop flight from DC we reached Beijing late in the evening. We were met at the airport by John, our tour guide for Beijing and drove to the hotel. The gridlocked traffic, the models of the vehicles, and the highway from airport to hotel rivaled any from major US or European city - only the signs in Chinese reminded us where we were! Our guide 'John' gave us a running commentary on the history, geography and notable buildings along the way. 

Our first priority once we checked in, met our travelmates -my Brother-law and his wife,  was getting dinner at a nearby very modern U-Town Shopping Mall food court where most of the places were already closed or closing down for the day. The US franchise 'Subway' had not yet closed and was the best option for hungry and tired vegetarians and vegans not quite ready for  deciphering Chinese menus of the couple of noodle shops that were still open :) Our feat for the day was trying out the ATM for exchanging dollars - 6.2 Yuans for a dollar at the Bank of China machine. The official name for the currency is Renminbi, which literally translates to People's Currency and is abbreviated to RMB. The widespread international usage is Yuan, which is abbreviated to CNY.

                           

Cup of Tea 

Breakfast buffet bars at the hotel restaurants were a feast for the eyes and stomach with table after table of dishes from both Chinese and western cuisines.  I loved the traditional Chinese plain rice  congee (similar to Indian ganjee that I grew up on) on which I heaped on vegetables, beans, nuts and dried fruits and a teaspoon of red chili paste :) There were breakfast noodles and dumplings that I learned to check for meat by asking 'Bu Chi Rou? Bu chi yu ? ' (no meat? no fish?) The waiters and Chefs were amused but helpful. Of course, there was plenty of tea - green, jasmine, oolong, Pu er. and black. And so many fruits - dragon fruits, mangoes, lychee and some Chinese native berries whose names I could not find out along with different melons, oranges, kumquats and apples.  Everything and everyone in China has a Chinese name and an English name. Every hotel gave us a card that said 'Please take me to _" with the Chinese name and address of the hotel written in Chinese and English to aid us in getting back when we went exploring on our own - to show taxi drivers or helpful locals! 

Great Wall of China at Badaling  ink and watercolor 11x3.5" by Meera Rao 

With just the four of us, the driver and our guide John piled into a Buick mini van, we drove over an hour or two to Badaling - to see, climb and walk on a small part of the Great wall of China.  The drive through the city of Beijing with its modern highrises and sky scrappers and then the Chinese country side was captivating.  Spring was in the air with the hillsides all dotted with white and pink blooming trees and fresh green leaves just showing up on bare trees. The streets and neighborhoods spic and span - free of any garbage with cleaners constantly cleaning. Throughout we peppered John with questions as he gave us more history and factoids. 

We caught sight of The Wall here and there snaking along our route.  The gate to the entrance to the wall at Badaling was beautifully ornate with brightly colored designs.  The place was teeming  with thousands and thousands of visitors- mostly Chinese.  It was indeed awesome to climb up the steep stairs and walk on a portion of the wall - quite steep as well! It was not easy to hang on and keep our balance climbing up or walking down. When we came to an especially steep part, mindful of my recently healed sprained ankles, I opted to stay back to sketch the wall while three of them went on to climb the higher section. It was exciting to draw on location at the wall and I think I overworked the sketch!  I had many people stop,  check and give me thumbs up :) "You draw -you see"said an elderly man with approval as he stopped to check. I did not attempt to draw any people on my wall though!

Motifs on the entrance Gate to Great wall by Meera Rao

Motifs on the entrance Gate to Great wall by Meera Rao

 Below are sketches I did while killing time during the 3+hours delay at Dulles International at the start of the trip.

Sketches At theAirport April 2018