Tag Archives: Chinese

Joss rings in the new year with a roar

On the final day, in the final throes of 2022, LEGO builder Joss Woodyard presents The Cloud Beast. While most of us would like to leave 2022 in the rearview mirror, it might be good to reflect back on the amazing techniques this build encompasses. I love the use of the cloth sails as well as the stance, colors, and tail of this build loosely based on the Chinese Guardian Lion or “Foo Dog”. The expression is great too. But the star of the show here is a detail I would have missed if Joss didn’t point it out himself. His favorite detail is the LEGO plant sprue used as the lips. It is next-level building like this that makes Joss Woodyard one of our favorite all-time builders. Please check out his other creatures; you won’t be disappointed.

The Cloud Beast

A Summer folding chair in the middle of Autumn

That air is brisk out there! Autumn most certainly has arrived, making me want to don a warm sweater and maybe sip a pumpkin spice latte. But maybe it’s warm where Dicken Liu is because clearly he has summer on his mind as evidenced by this LEGO folding chair. He even titled this piece Summer Nights. If the desired effect was to have me thinking of summer, even as the wind howls and rattles our ghost Halloween decorations, it worked! I can just about feel the comfort and warmth of a starry summer night. The tea and the side table are a nice touch, too. The mushrooms are also neat!

Summer Nights-01

All that it’s corked up to be

For a minute there we thought builder Peter Zieske had switched hobbies. But no, That is all LEGO. He’s replicated the look of traditional style Chinese cork art with this amazing diorama. I like how the black elements mimic the look and feel of polished wood while the studs-out approach to the landscape nicely takes on the rough texture of cork. This would assuredly look handsome on any shelf, even in an upscale office. I hope you can forgive me for not putting a cork in my enthusiasm for this piece.

Cork Carving Diorama

Swallow kite in black and white

I tend to build in minifigure scale. Therefore I am mostly drawn to other builders’ creations built on the same scale too. However this beautiful Chinese kite creation by Dicken Liu caught my eye. Limiting themselves to using only black and white for the kite, and brown for the kite rod. I am by no means an expert when it comes to Chinese culture, but a quick google leads me to believe this creation is inspired by a traditional swallow kite. I love the use of bats and curved plant stems for decoration. But what I like most is how the decoration on the wings reminds me of the plant plate piece. Also have you spotted the Mickey brick used as a blob of paint?

Spring-01

Epic LEGO Forbidden City uses over 80,000 bricks and took over 700 hours to design & build!

Yes, you read the title correctly. Rocco Buttliere has used around 84,000 LEGO bricks, to be more precise. In addition to 300+ hours of building to recreate the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, Rocco also spent 400+ hours designing it first. If that doesn’t blow your mind, it should. That is one giant build of one of the world’s most spectacular architectural sites. Like his earlier LEGO diorama of Ancient Rome, Rocco built this one for a commission for a museum, and boy, does it belong there. The overview picture hardly does it justice, as it all blends together into a blur of flame orange, dark red, and grey, but zoom in and there are as many marvels as in the real deal. Fancy a tour? It’s not forbidden to look at this one, even for a commoner like me.

Forbidden City - 紫禁城 - Beijing

Check out the details of this incredible build

Stop scrolling and look at this LEGO dragon scroll

Thanks to an ongoing round of Iron Builder, which sees two contestants pitted against each other to build a variety of LEGO models using a specific element, we’ve been seeing an explosion of builds employing the dynamite bundle, from arcade machines to detailed kitchens. Cecilie Fritzvold, in particular, has been on a roll, sticking that dynamite piece into builds anywhere she can fit it, including into this amazing dragon scroll, where nearly 50 of the bundles make up the twisting body of the beast.

Shenlong

And lest you think Cecilie is cheating by just neatly arranging a bunch of pieces on a tiled baseplate, look very closely and you’ll see that each piece is attached with a clip, meaning you could actually hang this on your wall. Well, except for that brick-built hangar, maybe. The two long black Technic axles that stand in for the string might not be up for the task.

Check out more of Cecilie’s dynamite escapades in our archives: Cecilie Fritzvold LEGO creations

He Xaingu offers improved health and a sound mind

When we featured Cindy Su’s compelling Zhongli Quan figure, she clued us in that he was the first of the legendary Eight Immortals from Chinese mythology that she would build. Now we are enthralled all over again with this lovely He Xaingu figure who is here with her lotus flower to improve our mental and physical health. Her uplifting presence and her healing powers are much appreciated right about now.

八仙過海 ~何仙姑/ The 8 immortals passing the East Sea~ He Xiang （2/8）

Friends sets offer a much more feminine color pallet than your standard LEGO fare and Cindy demonstrates just how lovely that can be. Whether building a car fender, hot air balloon or, in this case, a lotus flower, these parts are proving to be an integral addition to anyone’s LEGO collection. We will patiently await the arrival of Cindy’s other six Immortals from Chinese mythology. In the meantime you can learn more.

Explore Chinese mythology with this Zhongli Quan figure

Builder Cindy Su invites us to find out more about Chinese myths with this wonderful little figural model of Zhongli Quan. Chinese mythology is rife with humans turned immortal, but perhaps the most famous among these is The 8 Immortals. Dating back to the Jin dynasty in the 12th and 13th centuries, the 8 mystical figures are part of the Taoist pantheon. They have been a subject of Chinese art and mythologies for centuries and are still popular today.

八仙過海 ~鐘離權 / The 8 immortals passing the East Sea~Zhongli Quan ....(1/8)

The subject of this particular build is Zhongli Quan. He is pictured here carrying his traditional large fan, imbued with the power to turn rocks into precious gold or silver and even resurrect the dead. The sculpting of his body shows off his rotund shape and the use of satellite dishes is perfect for his exposed chest and belly. His hairstyle, utilizing round balls gives the whole thing some wonderful shapes and texture. The hot dog buns as his ears is a particularly clever use of parts.

On her Flickr page, Cindy notes this figure as 1 of 8. I look forward to seeing her depictions of the other 7 immortals and their journey across the East Sea.

Epic Chinese characters come to life through LEGO in glorious fashion

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is to Chinese literature what the works of William Shakespeare are to English literature. A semi-historical story set in the time period of the Three Kingdoms (A.D. 169-280), the novel was perhaps written in the 14th century, though specific dates are hard to come by. It tells the story of how the Han dynasty gradually fell apart and became three independent kingdoms and all of the bitter rivalries and infighting that led to that point. Among all of the hundreds of characters in the novel, LEGO builder Jae Won Lee has chosen the main protagonist, Liu Bei, his chief strategist, Zhuge Lian, and the Five Tiger Generals who fought for them. The five generals are depicted in stunning fashion astride charging stallions, manes and tails flowing with the speed of their charge, and the other two men are nobly standing.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms (the Five tiger generals)

The appearances of the generals are inspired by Chinese artwork, complete with the unique coloration of each. The dynamic posing of many of the models puts this a step above most similar builds. There might be more studs showing than some builders would prefer, but it works well with this style. They deserve a closer look!

click here to see each of the generals up close

A LEGO tower that stands as tall as some people

In the Chinese city of Wuhan, you can find the 51.4 m Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼). The current iteration of the tower was completed in 1985, but the tower has existed in various forms since at least the year 223. Chinese LEGO fan Smoker Nie (聂汉卿) has built a beautiful replica of the tower, which took a painstaking eight months to design and 1,400 hours to build. It consists of 163,100 pieces and stands at a massive height of 158 cm (≈5.2 ft). This is made all the more impressive by the fact that this is only his second LEGO model. (His first was the Aiwan Ting Pavilion.)

EA9DC8FB-5D37-4FB0-B35A-58B235696ADD

See more images of this beautiful Chinese tower

Take a stroll down a stunning brick-built street

For a Western audience, this collection of buildings by 磊 耿 is a striking break from the more familiar architecture usually seen in a LEGO street scene, with a wonderful variety of styles. But regardless of where you’re from, you’re bound to be impressed by the sheer quality of the building work on display. Pagoda roofs vie with castle spires for attention, and “big” certainly doesn’t mean bland, with an impressive depth of texture and interesting colour schemes across all the structures.

LEGO MOC 作品，古韵街系列作品-檀香竹韵

See more images of these beautiful buildings

One stop fish shop

This multi-storey LEGO fish market built by Glaz Pimpur is a microcosm of bustling city life. It’s also one of those builds that rewards a top to bottom scan, with each level offering up its own special treat.

Fish Market

Starting at street level we get to see all manner of produce being brought to market. Is that a shark in the back of that truck! Above the gates there’s some nifty part usage, with trans orange boulders  doubling as lanterns. Carry on up the façade and it’s time to show off some excellent typography work in the form of the brick-built fish Kanji. Just when you think its done, the model reveals a final rooftop surprise: an authentic temple, where you can finish your shopping trip off with some tai chi practice.

Templae at the top of Fish Market