Amazing Chinese Experience no. 8
Tayzhou, November 2010

After a long journey of 25 hours I arrived at the Ocean Hotel in Tayzhou.

   
To my astonishment, the next morning, a huge working place  appeared after a mere three minute walk from the hotel.

An even greater surprise was to see my sculpture "Earth Water Wind" standing on the ground totally finished.

Made from two plates of 8 mm, connected together, it reached the thickness of 100 mm. It looked fantastic, beyond anything I had imagined. I was overwhelmed and as often happens, thought that this was my best work up to now.

The days passed as if I was on a holiday- walking through the working place,

watching the preparations for the opening ceremony,

looking at the work of other artists and of course, meeting old friends from all over the world.

Near the hotel there was a wonderful park with a little lake. This was a perfect place to walk, enjoy the view and observe the many pigeons waiting for people to feed them…

Not to forget the little trip to the old city of Tayzhou that was so very interesting.

One afternoon we decided to see the sea. This turned out to be a little adventure because the
Taxi driver did not understand us very well.  Before ever seeing the sea, which eventually did appear, we had to trudge through a very poor area.

On the 15 of November the organization held a gala dinner in a fancy five star elegant hotel,
Not far from ours. It was a very festive occasion with delicious food and, of course, lots of
Speeches and toasting.

The next morning was the closing ceremony or what they call the opening ceremony.
The organization, together with the city of Tayzhou's Urban Public Art Committee, invested a lot of effort, creative thinking and a large budget to make it a special, exiting and unforgettable event.

Chinese Sculptor	Sculpture by Zhao Li, China
Sculpture by Devin L. Field, USA	Sculpture by Ogata, Japan

Chinese Sculptor

The next day almost all the artists had left except for Jan Timmer, from the Netherlands and myself, both of whom stayed for another day.

In the evening we were invited by Mao, who is an extraordinary man in charge of the construction of all our sculptures, for another fancy restaurant to celebrate a final dinner which was again, delicious.

The next day started another long journey, this time heading home. It was a wonderful,
Exiting and most successful Chinese experience no 8.

Dina Merhav
November 2010