Dancing On Calligraphy Street
Monday afternoon in Xian, China:
Two blocks of vendors hang calligraphy brushes and stack thick parchment rolls in stalls under canvas umbrellas. A dozen women in comfortable clothing move through the delicate choreography of a sword dance, as their teacher — an elderly man — leads them through lunges, body sways, and toe points with encouragement in a cadence. A calligraphy artist balances his massive brush in one hand, dips it in a mixture of ink and water, and marks his parchment with slow stroke after slow stroke. And, while customers prod, poke, and blow on various items in his stall, an instrument salesman turns away from his stall to play a xun.
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