Guqin Workshop and Imperial Tile Factory Excursion

WHAT: Guqin Workshop and Imperial Tile Factory in Changping (in-person excursion)

WHEN: Saturday May 15, 2021 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM approx., depending on traffic

HOW MUCH: RASBJ members RMB 260 (includes transport, Guqin performance, and lunch)

TRANSPORT: The bus leaves from the parking lot of the Hilton Hotel, east 3rd Ring Road, near Liangmaqiao subway stop, at 09:00 AM.

MORE ABOUT THE EVENT: You’re invited to join our excursion to a Guqin workshop where that fascinating ancient instrument is manufactured by hand. You will be shown each individual process that takes upwards to 9 months to construct as well as using wood that is at least 150+ years old. We will then be entertained with a performance by a professional Guqin player. We will break for lunch and then travel to an imperial tile factory near the Ming Tombs, one of the last in Beijing. See the kilns where these colorful yellow, green and turquoise root ornaments were produced for renovations of the 13 Ming emperors’ tombs, the Temple of Heaven, and other imperial structures. We’ll learn about the art of the imperial tiles, or liuliwa, and bricks, then stroll through a rural village to see them in current use at an empress’s grave and the wall of the last Ming Emperor’s tomb. We will have a chance to buy tiles as mementoes at the tile factory’s courtyard, packed with stacks of animal-shaped roof finials and architectural adornments. The kilns are no longer in use, due to Beijing’s ban on coal- and wood-burning implements. However, the site and its little-known showroom remain intact, like a living museum waiting for our visit.

HOW TO JOIN THE EVENT