Sunny Day, Cloudy Day, Foggy Day

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The weather in Chengdu has been good. There is often fog in the morning. One day has been overcast with a hint of rain. There is also a noticeable amount of pollution in the air, but nothing like Beijing. Yesterday was supposed to be a gentle and relaxed day with less food consumption. It didn't work out that way.

Sangshen Chao was the program for yesterday afternoon, the antique market of Chengdu. My Tibetan hosts insisted on plying me with copious amounts of yak meat, soup and meat stuffed bread, all to be washed down with Tibetan salted black tea without the milk and butter.

After lunch we walked a short distance to a nearby gallery and spent several hours discussing art, painting styles and fake sculpture while enjoying a green tea that was distinctly yellow in colour. We had a good time and agreed to meet on Tuesday for more discussion and a relaxed dinner.

Monday is here and that means I have to go out to the Sichuan University and give a two hour lecture starting at 7:00 tonight. Friday night was an introductory lecture. Tonight will be devoted to sculpture. I will use as examples all of the objects currently on display in the recently opened sculpture exhibition at the Capital Museum in Beijing. Sculpture was also my topic for the opening lecture of that exhibition.

Time to prepare........more later.

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Photos

Vaishravana Riding a Lion along with the Eight Horsemen.
The painting is in a Chinese style but follows the iconography described in the Tibetan Buddhist literature. Some independent scholars have suggested that this composition was painted by the famous Nepalese artist Arniko.