CHINA CONTENT PROVIDER

Cheryll Gillespie explores the markets of Xi’an, a city known for its diverse cultures. It has a great blend of arts and culture, history and heritage. It showcases a different part of China, and is quite distinct from Beijing or Shanghai.

Cheryll Gillespie, Interior Designer
Xi'an is one of my favorite cities to visit in China. It has a great blend of arts and culture, history and heritage. It showcases a different part of China, and is quite distinct from Beijing or Shanghai.

Are these real jade or fake jade? They said that they are real jade. Really? Well you can tell if it's real jade if it's cold to the touch, so you always put it next to your cheek. That's one secret because there is a lot of fake jade around. The other thing you need to be really careful - because I love these bracelets, they work out to be about a dollar each, I bring back a lot of them for all my friends; they make great gifts, but make sure they fit, because many are very, very tiny and you won't fit them over your hand.

These are so much fun. This is very, very special, these are from the Tang dynasty, and the emperor would give these to his concubines. Now here's the lesson that's in every cup, the emperor would pour for his concubine a drink, and the lesson is you don't ask for too much, appreciate what you have; because if you ask for too much here's what you get, nothing. But wait, there's more, look at these teapots, they're gorgeous; but when you look close there's a mystery, hence the name mystery teapot. There's no hole where you can add your water, secret, on the bottom through the lotus flower. Just before we pour the water in, let me show you some of the details on here. Here's a lion at the spout, who is the king of animals, you've got the king of birds, the phoenix here, and of course you’ve got the peony flower here. So, now you add your water through the lotus flower on the bottom, turn it over, nothing comes out until you pour. These are great; I've got to buy one. I buy, thank you very much, that was very much fun. Bye bye, let's do some more shopping.

Okay, enough history, I need some retail therapy.

I love the Chinese lions, they're so colorful, these are great. The furniture is terrific, everything you want, lamps, vases, tea sets.

When you're in a decorating store like this, there are lots of decorating tips that you can bring home. Check out this one, just a simple bowl filled with a couple silk water lilies, beautiful, elegant and simple. Beautiful lamps, and you know some of these lamps are exquisite, don't be afraid to bring one home with you, because you can easily have your favorite electrician re-wire it so it works at home, I do this all the time.

Oh, I love this, the traditional blue and white pottery, but very contemporary. Those are great pieces. Fabulous frames for all the photos I take, these are terrific, 15 dollars. See, that's how I feel when I get a good bargain. Look at this piece, not only is it a fabulous piece of art that will look great in any room of our house, but it also has a very special story. Now this is the Chinese coin, the world's first money, and it was designed to represent heaven and earth, heaven being the circle, the earth being the square. Now the circle was also meant to mean that we should get along with everybody, all of our neighbors the world over. The square represents how we should live our life, straight, honest and direct.

Throughout history Xi'an has been known for their exquisite workman ship in lacquer ware. So the designer in me can't resist a visit to Han dynasty lacquer ware store, let's go take a look. Great ceramics, these are fabulous because they have such a contemporary feel to them. Look at this table, exquisite; look at the workman ship. I love the tea server, that is great to sit on a table. Now the table with cost you about $1000, which to me is a pretty good bargain. Of course you'll have to pay for shipping, but when you deal with a really good, high quality store you'll have no problem getting your pieces home. The workmanship is phenomenal. Oh, one of my favorite colors, citrus green, look at this 100 Yuan, so about $10, nothing.

This screen is very special, it is 100% hand painted silk, exquisite. So if you're buying a bedroom set and having it shipped home, send the screen along with it, and don't forget about the accessories. After all, it will probably cost you the same amount of money to ship the bedroom set plus a few little extras, as it will the bedroom set alone, so you might as well shop just a little bit more.

Travelling to Xi'an is a great adventure, from the terracotta warriors to the old city wall; it highlights China's impressive history. But don't be mistaken and think that the city is just one large museum. It's fun, exciting and definitely has some great shopping. I'm Cheryll Gillespie, and until our next adventure exploring the markets of China, I'm going to keep shopping, because I have just a little more room in my suitcase.