Located opposite the Confucius Temple, Shengtangxuan has been selling hand-made figurines and ancient toys for generations by the Tang family. Let's discover this attic full of treasures.

It's easy to walk right past the Shengtangxuan shop without even noticing it was there. The only distinguishing features are the two big colourful statues standing at the entrance. The figurines and ancient toys on sale represent a true insight into the Tang family's artistic talent. Located just across from the Lama Temple, this little shop opened in 2003. "Previously, we were making everything at home and clients were knocking at our door," the shop's owner Tang Yujie explains.

"Right now we own this shop and a workshop which employs a dozen of people," adds her father 90 year old Tang Qiliang, a well-known craftsman in the field of Beijing traditional figurines.  In the past, he has held many exhibitions abroad.  And for good reason: in the shop, no matter if it is a jolly pig, a sleeping cat or a roaring tiger, every piece seems alive thanks to the vivacity of their colours, the roundness of their shape and their jovial and laughing faces.

Amongst the legendary figurines, the rabbit « Tu'er Ye » is the shop's top seller. According to Chinese mythology, the moon is the eternal residence of Chang'E who is a Goddess and the wife of the celestial archer Hou Yin.  Change'E was accompanied by the rabbit whilst preparing an elixir of immortality.  This Beijing legend says that Chang'E sent this little healer rabbit into a plagued Beijing and saved many lives. Since then, Beijingers give tribute to this animal by displaying this rabbit figurine in their homes, especially during the moon festival.

Extraordinary legends 

The Tang family has been using natural materials for a long time: wood, papier maché and pottery moulds decorated with acrylic paint. No one can make it more environment-friendly. For the papier maché figurines, Ms Tang starts by making a basic mould in dried mud on which she applies a few layers of wet compressed paper. Once the whole thing is dried out, she paints it. She finally removes the mould by cutting out the figurine, and then sticks everything back together.  

With the support of the Beijing municipality, the father and daughter team are trying to further extend their knowhow. It seems to be a real challenge in a society which is sprinting on the path of modernity. "Toymakers are all old people. I took my father's pace but my children, even if they know how to make toys, have already chosen other jobs," Tang Yujie says ruefully.

"We provide initiation classes in schools but very few people are ready to pay to learn our art," she notices sadly.

But Ms Tang tells with great pleasure extraordinary stories about her toys. She invites us to a journey in the time until the Manchu invasion, the last imperial dynasty, in Beijing.