Dafen Oil Painting Village is a pretty well known place in Shenzhen. It is quite far out of the city centre, but right next to the subway station. The village is famous for recreating famous paintings, so that you can get them at a fraction of the cost of an original. Since I went on a weekday, it was pretty quiet. There were a few other tourists taking a look around. I imagine it gets pretty packed on the weekends. The village is pretty small and I spent about an hour to an hour and a half wandering around. I made my way to what I think is the main street/square in the centre of the village. There were a few galleries and shops there. I had a look in a couple of them. I wasnt sure if some of the artwork was original or copies. I suppose there is so much art in the world that unless it is famous or popular, I wouldnt know. I really liked the big tall building that was covered with greenery. I also liked the mish mash of different buildings, there were traditional style ones, modern ones, and just normal ones.
up and down the little alleys and streets that led away from the main street/square. This was my favourite thing about the village. Lots of the alleys had murals painted on the sides of them. However, one thing I didnt like was that the murals were covered by general day to day stuff such as peoples and easels and stands. I totally get why as the village is limited with space and most of the studios are pretty small so they have to make use of the outdoor space, but it did mean that I was unable to get good pictures of a lot of them. It was interesting to observe life in the village. It was a real mix. There were the artists painting in their studios, which seemed very calm and relaxing, and then food delivery drivers rushing around the alleys dropping peoples lunches off. Then there were other people, mainly older folk, who seemed to just live there and were doing day to day tasks such as hanging out the laundry and taking care of their grandchildren.
small fee you can create your own masterpiece. Being alone, I didnt fancy doing it as I think it would have been fun to do it with a friend, so that we could both laugh over my terrible painting skills. There was also an art museum, which I didnt visit. My favourite gallery was that of Jiang He Dao. Their pieces were huge paintings of the skylines in different Chinese cities. I would love to own one, but its a bit too impractical. I also liked the quirky house that was covered with calligraphy. I managed to sneak a couple of glimpses inside and the people in there were dressed in an old fashioned style. It also had a bit of a temple vibe to it. I would have loved to have known more about the place. There were also a couple of cute kitties in the village. They were perfectly suited to the slower pace of life there.
