SHOPPPING in DATONG

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Shopping Guide for Datong: Things to buy in Datong
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SHOPPPING in DATONG

Copper Hotpot (Tong huoguo) Silk Dolls (Yunwang juanren)
Datong is a large, typically Chinese city, that has the usual supply of large stores and interestingly garish markets. Local products include carpets, porcelain, woolen clothing, furs, many leather goods, attractive silk dolls and artistically designed copper hotpots. Warm weather clothing can sometimes be usefully bought here, although the sizes are often not designed for those of more meaty proportions.

Good, though pricey, large shops include the Friendship Store (Youyi shangdian) on Nanguan nanjie, and a Department Store (Baihuo dalou) on Da xijie. Most other shops can be found in the old sector of town, within the old city walls, centered on the drum tower (Gulou). There is also a night market on Da xijie and Xiao nanjie, that has various odds and ends.

Silk Dolls (Yunwang juanren)
The silk doll (Juanren), though just a fledgling art form, is now gaining more and more public attention not only in Datong, but across China. It is an integration of the old art of mask making that was perfected in Beijing Opera (Jingju) and that of traditional Chinese costume making. If you are an avid lover of such traditional Chinese novels as the Dream of the Red Chamber (Honglou meng, Shitou ji) and the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo yanyi), you might well end up accumulating a good collection of these characters, since many of them are to be found in shops around the city.
Copper Hotpot (Tong huoguo)
The exquisitely made copper hotpot (Tong huoguo) boasts a fairly long history. It has been known across China ever since the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534 AD), although nowadays these handicrafts are known more for their beauty than for the function as a cooking utensil.

Carved on to the exterior of these pots are various scenes or themes, from pictures of various old legends to patterns of animals and plants. These make interesting presents for friends or for the mantelpiece; this function was highlighted in 1973 when the venerated Premiere Zhou Enlai gave a hotpot to the late French President Pompideau during his visit to China.

 

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