NEWSLETTER: SHANGHAI 2017 NR 2

Transcription

1 Home Available Shells Auctions Shell Topics December 11, 2017 NEWSLETTER: SHANGHAI 2017 NR 2 In the afternoon, enjoying leisure time on the West Lake in Hangzhou. Hangzhou is for the last millennium one of the most prosperous cities of China. It came recently repeatedly in the international news: hosted the 11 th G-20 summit in 2016 and it is well known as technology hub with among others, the home to by now the very famous "Alibaba". It is also the capital of Zhejiang Province. West Lake is a dream region, with a superb lake, bordered by millions of flowering lotuses at the time of our visit. Old Chinese buildings can be seen towering out of the magnificent forested areas and in some places small channels lead to secret places of beauty. Shortly after our arrival we visited the large Zhejiang Natural History Museum. 1/14

2 Our group in front of the museum, dwarfed out by the gigantic size. This Natural History Museum has about visitors a day, with peaks of a day in the weekends. Electric motorcycles well-arranged and protected by a well-designed "garage". These electric nonpolluting vehicles are especially used by the women We got a special guided tour offered by the management: Mr. Feng, leading management member, and Prof. Qian, chief of the invertebrate Section of the Museum. Here in the dinosaur section. 2/14

3 An impressive synthetic model of a flying dinosaur, real size. The unfinished condition combined with the lighting system and the elegant curbs and studied shapes gives this piece quite some artistic qualities. 3/14

4 But these gentlemen have also many genuine pieces. Here an Ankylosaurus-like dinosaur in excellent condition. And then some feathered Chinese dinosaurs in resin. These "maquettes" are excellent and I was studying them for quite some time. It is rare to see this quality and size combined. The museum is highly educative and displays many thousands of animals in many different contexts. 4/14

5 One out of many rooms. Of particular interest to us one out of several shell displays. Remark the large Kuphus, world's biggest bivalve. A sad piece, but a natural history treasure: one of the last Yangtze dolphins, now thought to be extinct. This dolphin, Lipotes vexillifer is called the "baiji". Scientists declared the Baiji 5/14

6 extinct since 2006 after an expedition failed to spot any specimen. There was a claim of sightings of Baiji in 2016 but this has not been confirmed. The museum is particularly good in the reconstruction of great natural sceneries, including entire forests that they have in-house. Here a scenery on a river mouth. Below the boat one can see the one meter deep bottom of the lake, remade with crustaceans and the rest Another great room with African animals, stuffed and exhibited in impressive positions. 6/14

7 After a few hours in the museum we all went for a fine meal. The restaurant looked like a marine aquarium. Many interesting species displayed. One of the aquaria contained South China Sea Abalones. Late afternoon was spent around charming West Lake. 7/14

8 The place breathes refined relax: people strolling along the lotus fields. Similar qualities to the lake Leman in Switzerland. We then visited the splendid Zhejiang Provincial Museum. Chinese readers can learn more about this jewel here: 8/14

9 The collection of Chinese potteries, celadon ware and porcelains was truly exceptional. A gigantic celadon, about 70 cm in diameter, in pristine condition. Looks like it was made yesterday, but in reality, this piece is many centuries old. Annex to the Museum, this old Chinese villa, a former residence of Chinese emperors who also got a taste for West Lake. This was an uppermost curious and nice place to visit. In front of the villa was a small lake with sacred stones. A jewel. 9/14

10 Reconstruction of the imperial desk. With small but selected bonsai on both sides. I cannot resist to show you this splendid photograph from Philippe. A hidden corner in the imperial villa with a view on a better than average bamboo. 10/14

11 Sacred stones in the imperial lake. We spend only one hour in this villa, absorbing so many details that lift the place to a superior aesthetic level. Then the West Lake has many corners and small forests with multiple channels for boating. Here a tea house on such a channel, with an uppermost pleasing sunken boat nearby. We spend a couple of hours talking and enjoying excellent Longjing tea with nuts and lotus flowers as extra delicacies in this beautiful pavillon. As an end of the day, our hosts took us to the Longjing tea fields and let us visit a highquality farm of Logjing tea producers. We could taste the best of the best and the most famous of the most famous. Needless to say, I came back to the Philippines addicted to Longjing. 11/14

12 He Jing and Mona enjoying a state of the art serving of Longjing tea. And here the fields of China's most adorable tea in the evening light. We went back to our hotel in Shanghai with superb memories of Hangzhou and West lake and Longjing. A place to return to when free days allow us to travel. We conclude with a very Chinese affair: a blue and white porcelain bowl with two goldfish, some algae and a dead Unionid. Viewed in a restaurant near the lake. 12/14

13 All these relaxing days prepared us for the purpose of our visit to China: The Shell Show. In our next newsletter, the start of that event. Sincerely yours, Guido T. Poppe For Conchology, Inc. You can contact us: You are receiving this because you asked us to notify you about any updates from Conchology, Inc. If you no longer wish to receive any s, please click here to unsubscribe from this mailing list Guido T. Poppe & Philippe Poppe - Conchology, Inc. 13/14

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