Finishing Touches

Feb 13, 2013 By Smith & Ratliff in Living, Travel 3 Comments Tags: China, chinatown, family, gifts

You don’t need us to tell you about the charm of a hand-written note. Everyone loves receiving a letter or card in their mailbox over their inbox, especially after a job interview or a big favor from a friend.

We aren’t picky about having the prettiest monogrammed stationery (although there is some floating around here), but one thing we love is putting our mark on it, literally.

The “chop” or 印鑑 (yìn jiàn) has been commonly used in China and Taiwan to sign letters and documents for thousands of years. Simple in design, a chop is made of either stone or plastic, with a Chinese character representing the person’s name inscribed on the bottom. The chop is then lightly pressed in a red paste called 朱砂 (zhūshā) and applied to the letter.

Today, surprisingly enough, chops can still be used to endorse checks and sign for registered mail in Taiwan and mainland China and are accepted as a form of I.D.

This particular chop was given to Laura by her aunt after a trip to China, but if you don’t want to travel so far, they can be found in souvenir shops in various Chinatowns.

The zhūshā puts a nice splash of color and personality on a crisp, white notecard—something your recipient will certainly notice. You could say it makes a great impression.

- Ryan

The Single Shot

Jul 31, 2012 By Smith & Ratliff in New York 3 Comments Tags: chinatown, photos, summer

As cliché as it sounds, New York City moves fast. At any given moment you’re bound to see something strange or wonderful that will stick with you for quite a while. Sometimes this could be one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments. Sometimes you have to be ready for it.

During our walk back from Chinatown on Sunday, we happened across this surreal scene quickly unfolding in front of us.

A woman, carrying a large cluster of bright pink balloons, walking against an expanse of blue sky and buildings framed perfectly by the columns of the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge and buildings on each side. The jovial bright pink balloons, contrasted with the grittiness of the city. I quickly threw my camera up and had time enough to change only one setting before taking a single shot.

Luckily, one was all I needed, and after that, she was gone.

- Ryan

A Taste of Chinatown

Jul 30, 2012 By Smith & Ratliff in Food, New York No Comments Tags: cheap eats, chinatown, dumplings, summer

After a particularly delicious plate of mapo tofu from our favorite Chinese delivery place on Saturday night, we were both inspired to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon wandering around Chinatown.

Whenever we go to Chinatown, we skip the tourists and the crowds of Canal Street and head west of the Bowery, where the jam-packed shops and overly Americanized Chinese restaurants give way to seedy storefronts with nary a letter of English in sight.

Unlike the crowded streets near Canal, this little cranny of the neighborhood actually has room on the sidewalk to stop and look at the beautiful old buildings surrounding you.

You’ll be able to discover (sans a Zagat guide) which stores have great food or fun things to play with. And if you happen to wander into a building and ascend its stairs, you just might discover that it’s not a specialty food store, but in fact a video game parlor or even a gambling den.

Ryan has written about the great market under the Manhattan Bridge, so after exploring the streets for a bit, we headed toward the market, where we stocked up on Chinese candies and fermented black beans at the market before grabbing a boba tea at one of the shops inside.

Ryan usually opts for a green tea with tapioca bubbles, but this time, at the urging of a friendly counter girl, he tried a strawberry slush with bubbles, which had the same fruity taste as the green tea, but better blended and perfect for summer weather. Boba teas in hand, we grabbed a skewer of fish balls ($1!) from a street vendor and went on our way.

While not as tucked away as some of our other favorite Chinatown spots, the famous Prosperity Dumpling on Eldridge Street is certainly one of the best values. The fried pork and chive dumplings are just $1 for five large dumplings, a tasty treat that can easily serve as a meal.

After enjoying our dumplings, we were even too full to visit one of our other favorite spots, Mei Li Wah Bakery, where a steaming hot pork bun will set you back just 80 cents. Even with just a little bit of change in your pocket, you’ll never go hungry in Chinatown.

- Laura and Ryan

Chinatown, Under the Bridge

Feb 24, 2012 By Smith & Ratliff in New York 2 Comments Tags: chinatown, greenmarket, manhattan bridge, photos, winter

Knockoff handbags, overcrowded streets, tourists. This is the impression many people get from a visit to Manhattan’s Chinatown. However, just like in other parts of the city, a bit of exploration can reveal parts of the neighborhood you may not have discovered otherwise.

Located literally underneath the busy Manhattan Bridge, a Chinatown mall thrives. Within the cavernous mall are clothing stores, flower shops, hair salons, dim sum and even an old jewelry repair shop.

Tiny markets also line the inside of the mall and the surrounding outside areas, selling candy and other specialty Asian treats. A larger supermarket is just behind the mall, selling produce along the stone columns of the bridge.

The East Broadway market is one of the main meeting places for the large community, so the stands are continuously packed throughout the day.

This, coupled with the thunderous rumbling of the subway trains overhead creates one of the most hectic scenes in the city. The shoppers don’t seem to mind too much, shouting out what they need over the sound of the tracks.

Being a bit of a ways from Canal Street, this portion of Chinatown is also particularly void of tourists. On this day I encountered only one unfolded city map.

Even if you’re a native, discovering places like this can make you feel as if you’ve taken a trip inside your own city.

- Ryan

O, Christmas Tree!

Feb 20, 2012 By Smith & Ratliff in New York, Style 1 Comment Tags: art, chinatown, christmas, holidays, winter

You’ve undoubtedly seen them: the piles of Christmas trees that adorn New York City curbs for weeks after Christmas, to be used as nothing more than makeshift fire hydrants for dogs until their inevitable end as mulch.

Artist Klara Liden wasn’t content to just let these trees rot. During the first week of 2012, Liden gathered up several vanloads of discarded trees and filled Chinatown’s Reena Spaulings Fine Art with them as part of her solo exhibition, “Pretty Vacant.”

The tree installation, called “S.A.D.”, consisted of the discarded trees placed for nearly a month in water-filled stands in the gallery’s large room.

The makeshift nature preserve held what seemed to be hundreds of trees of all sizes, some still wearing hints of tinsel and others nearly bare, their needles carpeting the plywood floor. The pungent aroma of the trees was noticeable the moment you walked up the gallery’s narrow, crumbling staircase.

After visitors walk through a narrow pathway, pine needles brushing their elbows, they reach a clearing where Liden placed a couch for viewers to sit and absorb this eerie cemetery she has created. One man’s trash is another man’s art.

Klara Liden’s “Pretty Vacant” was on display at Reena Spaulings Fine Art at 165 E. Broadway in Chinatown. The exhibition closed February 19.

- Laura