A hidden museum with ancient Chinese porn

You might think that climbing the Great Wall was the highlight of the day, and you would be right. But, a pretty interesting thing happened to me and Gary and Susan Wichman after the climb was done. We were wandering around a large souvenir store at the entrance to the Wall and we saw this sign toward the back that said “Excellent Antiques” which led to another part of the store. No one was back there but we went to look anyway. We stumbled across a gold mine!

 

 

The “Excellent Antiques” area was huge and was filled with case after case of really interesting pieces of art. It was the kind of stuff that would have easily been seen in a museum – the only difference being, there were price tags on most of it. Gary found a large stone carving that was priced at $60,000. There were tons of paintings and sculptures, many of which were so big and heavy, it would have cost a fortune to get them home.

 

 

 

 

Now, it is worth noting that there are tons of counterfeit antiques in China. You see, during Mao’s “Cultural Revolution” the government went around destroying antiques and works of art and just about anything that reminded them of China’s past. It was more than a little insane. Much of the nation’s rich historical artifacts were just thrown into piles and burned. The upshot of this is that you have to be an art expert to know if the piece you are buying today is a real piece of ancient art or a total fake. Gary, Susan, and I were no experts.

 

 

One more thing – I promised you ancient Chinese porn and I am about to deliver.

 

As we were looking at the cases of stuff, I saw a series of about 10 pieces of ivory with drawings on them. I had a close look and was shocked at what the drawings showed…

 

 

 

It was quite clearly pictures of a man (with long hair tied up in a bun in a traditional style) and a woman in a series of different sexual positions. I have no idea how old it is, but it sure looked like something hundreds of years old. There was no explanation of what this would have been used for. Perhaps a guide to show men and women what to do when they get married? Maybe an instructional booklet for potential concubines or prostitutes? Your guess is as good as mine. Considering how strict China is with its anti-pornography laws today, I was quite surprised a government-owned antique store would be selling an item like this.