In The Press: Betsy Nathan in Architectural Digest
PAGODA RED founder Betsy Nathan was thrilled to take part in AD PRO’s Designer Takeover, which invites members of the design world to tell their personal stories. Betsy shared memories and photos of a trip she took with her son Jack through China’s stunningly beautiful countryside—a landscape and culture that has long inspired her: “Longsheng reminded me of the purpose of collecting, and why I always return to China.”
Longsheng, the “dragon’s spine,” gets its name from the winding green landscape.
From Architectural Digest’s piece How a Life Abroad Influences This Designer’s Work:
“When my son, Jack, turned 8 years old, I wanted him to see China’s Confucian spirit,” says Betsy. “It has since become lost in most of the modern cities, so I took him out to the country to Longsheng, in Guangxi Province. The rice terraces there are thousands of years old and the fields wind along the mount slopes, resembling a coiled green dragon; appropriate, since “Longsheng” means “dragon’s spine” in Mandarin. Even for a seasoned China traveler, it’s an adventure.”
A Yao woman, wearing a combination of traditional and modern dress.
Handmade ceramic roof tiles on local guest houses in Longsheng.
Betsy and her son, Jack, in a rickshaw.
A local harvest of apples and lotus fruit in Longsheng.
A man stops with his motorcycle for a smoke and a bath in the Li River.
Ancient stone steps through the rice fields. A stream runs underneath.
A man practicing martial arts at a park in Shanghai.
The fields wind along mountain slopes in Longsheng.
Click through to Architectural Digest for the full piece.
Hero shot: Handmade ceramic roof tiles on local guest houses in Longsheng.
