You’ll need:
An item to be decorated (ie) pine log, 32x19cm
Enlarged design
Tape
Piece of old carbon paper
Old ballpoint pen or stylus; pencil
Pokerwork machine
Small screwdriver
Fine sandpaper
White watercolor paint; artist’s brush; brush; sanding sealer; paintbrush; acrylic varnish; turpentine; razor blade; cotton gloves; damp cloth.
Step-by-step:
1. Enlarge the pattern to a desired size using a photocopier.
2. Lightly sand the surface of the timber and wipe back with damp cloth. Position the design on the timber and tape it down lightly either side.
3. Slip a piece of old, used carbon paper under the design and, using an old pen or stylus, trace the outline of the kookaburra and any other basic lines. Remove the paper and touch up your design with pencil if you wish.
4. Insert nib, tighten screws and heat machine.
5. Test the heat and adjust the temperature if necessary. Holding the nib of the pen at a 90-degree angle with the timber, burn the outlines, including the border and light shading areas using the edge of the nib. You will achieve the best results by pulling the pen gently towards you along this sharp edge, not across the flat surface of the nib. There is no need to use great pressure; be patient and let the heat do the work. Since wood grain varies, you’ll find that burning between the grain is easier.
6. Refer to the photograph, turn the pen in your hand and use the flat surface of the nib to shade the rest of the picture. Beginning at the ends of the wing feathers, use soft feathery strokes, easing off the pressure before you finish a stroke. Shade the border in the same way.
（Source: chinaculture.org）
“Today private gardens are once again supplying fruits and vegetables in abundance, private restaurants and food stalls are becoming commonplace, and culinary institutes and cooking schools are flourishing. The long pent-up demand for quality foods and ingredients is slowly being met.” Private business is thriving and it is shrewdly welcoming Japanese and Western capitalists in joint ventures to help turn a barren socialist wasteland into a consumer society. Big Mac attack? No problem there are 37 McDonald’s in Beijing, along with Pizza Hut, Baskin Robbins, Hard Rock Cafe and TGIF. The capital is acquiring all the advantages of a major international metropolis, including a restaurant sector well able to satisfy the tastes of tourists, business travelers and foreign residents.
To experience the pleasure of Chinese food completely, it is not enough to choose something comfortingly familiar, such as sweet-and-sour pork, hoping that will taste the same as in the neighborhood restaurant back home. It may well do so, but this misses the point of a Chinese meal, with its yin-yang balance of flavors, textures and ingredients. The foods from Beijing are satisfying indeed, with sharpened, direct flavors that Westerners undoubtedly will find pleasing.