Flat Stanley Visits China pt. 3 -- Flat Stanley and the Iron Wolves

Kate -

Stanley went to the 798 Art Factory in Beijing.  It's an area of Beijing that used to have many factories.  When the factories' equipment became outdated, some artists bought them because it was a really cheap way to get a large work area.  The factories had large windows that let it a lot of natural light, and the floors were strong for making large sculptures.  As people began to learn about the 798 area, the artists began to display their work for people to look at.  In the end, 798 Art Factory because a famous place with many art galleries and outdoor sculptures.

Stanley's favorite place at the 798 Art Factory was the Iron Wolves.  This area was an open area between some factories, where an artist put many iron sculptures of wolves surrounding a huge metal man with a sword.  It looks like the wolves are attacking him, but the man is  defending himself.  Stanley wished he could be as brave as that guy.

After he saw the iron wolves, Stanley saw a scary guy in a cage.  The scary guy was really big!  He had muscles everywhere, and sharp white teeth.  Stanley felt very afraid that someone might let that guy out of his cage.

The next sculpture was really funny.  It was four little laughing guys with broken teeth!  The little guys had more arms than heads...  Stanley laughed with them.

Finally Stanley saw a huge red lumpy guy who looked like an alien monster!  Stanley thought of the scary guy in the cage.  He thought that maybe this big red scary guy was dangerous, and he had escaped from a cage.  Stanley turned around and started to run, but he tripped on the curb and fell into a mud puddle.  Stanley tried to scramble to his feet, but someone grabbed him and picked him up!  Stanley heard someone speaking words he couldn't understand, and he struggled to escape.  He was too afraid to say anything!  Then he realized that a nice Chinese lady had picked him up.  The big scary guy wasn't moving.  He was just a sculpture, and even though the sculpture looked strange, it also looked kind.  The lady used a tissue to wipe Stanley's face and hands clean.  Stanley couldn't understand the nice lady's words, but he could tell that she was kind.  He told her "Thank you" and went to find his friends.  He brought them back to see the sculpture of the red scary guy and told them that sometimes people who look different or speak in a different way are actually very nice.

Uncle Dave