Culture Insider: Chic items in ancient China

The ancient Chinese are not that "ancient" as modern people imagine. They usedrefrigerators, barbecue grills, carried handbags, wore high-heeled shoes and even used adiving suit. The cultural relics left by them tell us how they fully enjoyed their lives a long timeago. Let's take a peek.

A maid from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) with ahandbag is seen on a Dunhuang fresco. The murals inDunhuang, Gansu province are gems of ancientChinese art. [Photo / Xinhua]

A barbecue grill made with glazed pottery from the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220) .The grill has pottery cicadas on it. [Photo / Xinhua]

Culture Insider: Chic items in ancient China This is regarded as the earliest refrigerator in China The bronze fou (a crock with a narrow opening) from the Warring States Period (475-221BC) was excavated from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng. (Chinese: Zeng Hou Yi), an important archaeological site in Hubei province. Space between the fou's layers can store ice. [Photo / Xinhua]

Culture Insider: Chic items in ancient China

A watch-like finger ring was excavated from an archeological site in Shangsi county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. This burial artifact belonged to a royal man who lived during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). [Photo / Xinhua]

Culture Insider: Chic items in ancient China A "diving suit" with equipment to supply the diver with oxygen while collecting pearls. Its introduction can be found in The Exploitation of the Works of Nature (Tiangong Kaiwu), an encyclopedia covering a wide range of technical issues, published during the Ming Dynasty . [Photo / Xinhua]

Culture Insider: Chic items in ancient China

A painting of women playing "Chinese golf" -.. Chuiwan, during the Ming Dynasty Chuiwan, literally means "ball-hitting" and was a game in ancient China The popularity of this game peaked in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Its rules resemble modern golf. [Photo / 360doc.com]

This artwork shows women from the Sui Dynasty (581-618) wearing suspender skirts.[Photo/360doc.com]    Culture Insider: Chic items in ancient China   A "mileage recorder" carriage used by noble people during the Han Dynasty (260 BC-AD220). Two wooden men stand on the carriage with drumsticks in their hands. When the carriage moved 500 meters, a wooden man would beat the drum. When the carriage moved 5,000 meters, another wooden man beat the drum as well. [Photo / Xinhua] A painting of a woman wearing a hairnet during theTang Dynasty.[Photo/Xinhua]

A pair of high-heeled shoes from the Ming Dynasty.[Photo/Xinhua] "Lemon tea glass" from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) excavated in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province in 1990. It was made of mineral crystal, with rare craftsmanship. [Photo / Xinhua] Culture Insider: Chic items in ancient China

A celadon bow from the Three Kingdoms period (220-280).[Photo/Xinhua]