Journal Pages: Southwestern China
Two Naxi women were dancing in Lijiang Old Town with the music played from their tape recorder. One of them was carrying a baby at the same time. I wonder whether that’s how Naxi people learn dancing at the first place.
Architecture in Lijiang.
After eight hours bus journey over five mountains with sheer precipices I finally arrived in Lugu Lake at 2685m above sea level- home of Mosuo people.It’s also called Girls’ Kingdom since it still retains a matriarchal society. Women operate production and management. Children are brought up in the mother’s family. Men work for their maternal home and help raise their sisters’ children.
The hostel I stayed in is located in Lige Village, which faces to the lake.I liked walking along the lakeside in the evening, waiting to see the afterglow coming down to kiss the mountains, the roofs and then the lake…I took a “pig trough” boat ride to watch the sunrise. It was a quiet 7AM morning. Every being of nature was going to be woken up by the sun soon. Last moment for sleep was so serene. I felt very peaceful with the boating lady’s singing and the sound of the waves.
A Mosuo family planting potatoes. Behind them there lies Lion Mountain. I had a short conversation with them during their rest. They told me because of the drought this year, they could only plan potatoes. And the natural condition here doesn’t allow much fruit or vegetables growing. They could only pay some drivers to buy those kind of food from outside towns when there’s a chance. It was also sad to hear the family’s children had to go to school on the other side of the mountain-the only one in this area.
In Xingping Old Town of Yangshuo. Xingping is a small town with over 1300 years’ history by Li River.Wandering on its old street, I escaped from being chased by some “business” locals asking me if I needed a boat ride.
The people living here keep themselves in the wooden houses of 300 years old,with big boards as the door and the windows. Most of them sat around a table to play cards which is an usual scene here.They just ignored the outside modern world full of tourists.I guess they’ve got used to that just as the mountains and the river here.Life remains the same to them.
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26 Comments... join the discussion!
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I’m glad you like it Adri.:-)
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Robin, your art is amazing! I felt like I was transported right there with you
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Miao is sketching!!
Talented Miao!!↵ -
Great Robin~ We love you~
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These sketches are wonderful. They really catch the moment and the movement of the place. I often use my own sketches to inspire a poem or a story. I really loved the sketch Mosuo Woman Working; the wind and the movement is beautiful.
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Thanks.I liked that one too.Sketchbook is indeed a good tool for artists to get inspiration.Most of the time,I like capturing people.
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Beautiful! You are one talented lady, Robin!
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Thanks Nick.:-) Wish I could also be a writer!
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Great work robin! Looks fantastic
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hey, girl, so amazing, love the sketches soooo much^_^
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Good! our talented triple water~
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Love your sketches,esp the background paper，hiahiahiahia~~
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I love the pictures, great art!
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Thank you for the comments guys!
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These are so so amazing. Wish I could do half of what you’ve done here!
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Beautiful! This is so much more appealing to me than a photographic capture. What kind of sketchbook are you using? I also dig the paper
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I’m always in a kinda “dilemma” when travelling coz I hold both a DLSR and a sketchbook..For this series,I used a sketchbook made from kinda yellow paper a bit like “Dongba Paper”.It’s one of the previous culture heritages of Naxi minority in Yunnan.You can find more information of this paper here: http://en.invest.china.cn/english/2002/Oct/46674.htm
One of my colleagues gave this sketchbook from his Yunnan trip to me as a present.Then after one year,I took it with me onto my own Yunan trip.:-)
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This was absolutely unbelievable!!! Very enlightening, I hope to visit this society one dya.
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lovely sketches! i especially like the ones with the bike and the boats.
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Well down, Robin.
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Congratulations on taking your trek and on making these wonderful sketches Robin. The memory will be etched in your heart forever and we can share something of your unique trip by way of your art. I’d love to see some photos of this area as well. Do you think a ‘non-Chinese’ person would be too strange if he were to show up in a village such as this?
Keep up the good work Robin and thanks fro sharing with all of us!
Warm regards, John W. Slinn
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I really enjoy the beauty and simplicity of the ink sketching. I think it take a lot of skill to transform dozens of pen strokes to a living moment. Nice work!
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Thanks Josh.Glad to hear you like it!
It really feels great when you let the pen lead you to makes those flows on paper.This feeling is more important than skills when drawing.
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This is the most creative tour-log I have ever read.
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These are so lovely, Robin. I’ve heard that some parts of Guangxi have changed quite a bit since I was there 10 years ago, but I never got a sense that everything would change and it looks, from your wonderful captures, like it hasn’t. There is something special about an area where people can carry on drinking tea, “playing cards”, and challenging each other to the elephant game even when there are so many other influences to tempt them. I’d love to have this kind of focus. Thanks for posting these drawings.
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