After four years of work, the art museum of Han Meilin opened in late June on Beijing east side. This is the second museum, the first one being in Hangzhou, for this Chinese who is better known for creating the five 2008 Olympic Games mascots. But Han Meilin is also an artist who juggles between sculptures, ceramics, drawings and calligraphies.

He isn't just the creator of the Beijing Olympics mascots (fuwa). Han Meilin demonstrated it by opening on June 25 his second art museum in China. After the city of Hangzhou, near Shanghai, he chose the Tongzhou district on Beijing's east side for his second museum, spanning an area of about 10'000 square meters. Han Meilin, also famous for creating Air China's logo, exposes more than 2'000 pieces spanning a 30-year career. Here, you can discover an eclectic artist who is also gifted in painting, sculpture, ceramics and drawing.

An hour on the Batong subway line is necessary from the Guomao Business Centre to get to the museum. Upon arrival at the Linheli subway station, a large calligraphed panel indicates that the museum is located inside the park. The gates are deserted. There are no tourists and no one at the ticket counter. A young guard finally arrives and lets us in, the 10 Yuan entry fee is exempt. Normally only reserved for those who have phoned in advance, many free tickets remain for the general public.

The entrance to the park is covered with gravel and potted flowers. Three bronze sculptures already reveal Han Meilin's particular style: women's bodies with slender bust and large thighs with minuscule children. In tones reminiscent of old metal, the building block is covered with green vertical frescoes. A wooden bridge passes over a pond with lotus strewn, and bamboo and ivy cover the grey bricks walls. It all leads to a crafts shop full of decoration and other souvenirs.

Once you go through the heavy double door, a quote in English written on a wooden panel reveals a man who describes himself as able to work himself to death: "It is how God tells me that since I am as stubborn as an ox, I will work as hard one too." He is certainly stubborn but aesthete as well. In the first showroom, it is only refinement: there is a grand piano, a giant marble statue of Buddha holding a lotus flower, calligraphies of ancient ideograms, and again these sculptures of long-limbed women embracing fragile children. Some bamboo flute notes resonate in the background while the theme of animals on tapestry or ink paintings seems to repeat themselves.

Impression of serenity

We regret, however, that the information is only written in English, that the guides are not yet fully formed, and that five or six hostesses at the information booth didn't have a single brochure available. A staircase leads to another miniscule hall in the basement where more works of calligraphy, but this time of traditional Chinese characters. The main attraction for the amateur photographers equipped with their mobile phones, remains the long sloping corridor whose walls is covered with drawings of women, owls, and especially sketches of fuwa. You can see the first drafts of Han Meilin covered in pencil marks and their evolution all the way to the final version of the famous five Olympic mascots whose names (Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Yin Yin, Ni Ni) form "Welcome to Beijing".

The other five exhibition halls exhibit giant bronze sculptures a few meters high and that can reach several tens of meters, ceramic containers, logos and posters of various advertisements and posters such as the Zhejiang Province Museum of Art or the Chinese Films Association or the first festival of art for the youth of Asia-Pacific. There is also a projection room showing a looped 10-minute documentary about the artist. There is also a coffee shop painted in shades of black and white, but still under construction at the time, and decorated with marble tables, leather seats and a counter surrounded by four leather stools.

At the end of the visit, we exit on a meshed path that follows the side of a basin whose bottom is made up of rows of grey tiles typical of Beijing. This reinforces even more the feeling of serenity of the place. After a quick look into the workshop Han Meilin, we find ourselves wandering in the middle of the park where other statues decorate the aisles, a good way to extend this outing of the artistic discovery.

 
Practical Information:
Art Museum of Han Meilin: Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9AM to 5PM
68 Jiukeshu Donglu, Liyuan County, Tongzhou District, 北京市通州区梨园镇九棵树东路68号 Tel: 010.59.75.18.88 or 010.59.75.52.88.
Admission: 10RMB

How to get there?
The easiest and cheapest is to take the subway. Take line 1 to Sihui station or the Sihui Dong terminal. Then board the Batong line (八通) to the Linheli station. Price: 2RMB

Text: Aurélie Palancher
Photos: Wang Zhuo
August 2008