A Chinese Painting at the Shanghai Museum
One of the things about Chinese culture that has captivated me all these years was their particular style of painting. As anyone might have already seen in Chinese paintings around the world, the style is distinctive from the styles that are found in the west. Traditional Chinese paintings are normally done in black and white. Actually, there is no white used here as it is only black that is used. This is very similar to water color but only with one color.
Mystical Mountains Painting at the Shanghai Museum
The subjects of traditional Chinese paintings tend to be similar, ethereal mountains with a sprinkling of some people and animals here and there. It is quite fasicnating to see how often these themes are used in Chinese paintings. I once wondered why they all tend to paint the same way. As it turns out, it wasn’t because it was a style that they were following but rather that the scenery of the country is that ethereal.
This Kind of Place Is Probably Real
Mountaintops piercing through clouds are the stuff of Chinese paintings. I finally confirmed this when I first visited Zhangjiajie which looks like a Chinese painting come to life. It was a pity though that we did not see the clouds swimming around the sandstone pillars. Probably one of the most famous subjects of Chinese paintings is the holy mountain of Taishan. Not to be forgotten is the unearthly scenery of Guilin and Yangshuo area which was known throughout China centuries before any westerner laid eyes on them.
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