Hunan University of Technology has a 20 year old history in packaging education and a very interesting museum full of the best student-work. Many of them have been awarded in Packaging design competitions.

High-quality packages for tea, wine and moon-cakes were rich in form and colour. Especially their graphic design, modifications of traditional Chinese patterns and exploitation of cultural history were impressive. Many of these packages has also been produced and used later in the market.

These small historical sculptures from the ceramic lab made me really happy. Finaly a dress style for a little bit corpulent people. Unfortunately it was hard to find cloathes like this on the streets.

Museum was so interesting that we used it as a background in a short interview. Surrounded by the beautiful patterns it was really easy for me to explain why Chinese art and design has impressed me so much. And why I feel like home in the middle of Chinese colours and ornaments instead of white, simple and clinical Finnish design. Maybe my artwork has an Asian soul :-)

Ilkka, the director and Haiyan, the worlds most efficient assistant.

Here's some sweet pictures from Zhuzhou. Because of the International Children's day there was a playful "Child-talent" competition near the biggest departement-store.

Hunan University of Technology has a brand-new campus with the modern fascilities.

When we arrived in the morning there was a huge red welcome banderol on top of the main entrance.

I was so moved that I almost cried.

We took a group picture with the professors and our guide students.

There's a beautiful green garden inside the new campus. In a rectangular building there is also a lot of glass gabinets to exhibit student works. The atmosphere is sophisticated and peaceful.

We had many wonderful dinners together with our friends from the Hunan University of Technology. Here are some pictures from just one tastefull evening.

The restaurant was decorated with kommunist style. Here we are posing together with Ms. Hellen.

Mr. Su has given me a lot of tastefull experiences of Chinese kitchen.

Ms. Su and Chi-Chi that was born just a few days before my previous visit. And she looks like a lady already!

Chang Man sang us a beautiful Chinese song.

My sweet prince Jorma performed too by singing "Taivas on sininen ja valkoinen" and after the applause "Kesäpäivä kangasalla".

Chinese trains are very comfortable way to travel. Pillows and blankets are soft and clean and you can buy exotic fruits and drinks to refresh. Travelling by train is a lovely way to see rice-fields, small farmhouses and the countryside.

The trainstations are huge and usually crowded. In bigger cities the station can have 4 floors so I needed help with my belongings.

Here we are finaly on the way to Hunan, Zhuzhou. This time we took a soft bed and the only difference between the hard and soft bed was a door between the cabin and the corridor.

Next pictures are from my last trip to Zhuzhou. That time we tried hard beds and we made a lot of friends because of the lacking door.

Haiyan bought us some breakfast.

Haiyan had showed me earlier many nice photos of her in traditional Chinese cloathes. They looked so lovely, that we took a long walk in Guangzhou to find a photo-studio that could take our pictures immediately. (Usually you have to wait for a few weeks to have your pictures taken.)

The styling process took a long time. Young make-up artists made our face and hair very professional way and we enjoyed every moment. Here's the result!

If you want to see more, press this.

The first morning in Guangzhou was tough. We had a terrible jet lag and during the breakfast I hardly remembered where I was. We had worked the last week in Finland with only 3-4 hours sleep. Here you can see two funny sleepy-heads... happy and exhausted.

Our hotell was situated near the river, close to many nice shopping places.

This is just a decoration in a huge departmentstore in Guangzhou.

We found a shopping-mall full of pearls. And sweet little shopkeepers... with their parents of course.

The first evening in Guangzhou we finaly celebrated Mother's Day... a few weeks too late because of travelling arrangements. We had a delicious dinner at "Made in Kitchen" together with Ms. Hellen, Ilkka, my Mom, Haiyan and Jorma. The restaurant even made us a sweet fruitcake with Riittas name on.

The ladies room in the restaurant was fullfilled with mirrors. It took us a while to find out which one of them was a hidden door and how to find a way out. Funny!