Last time I wrote I was on my way to China. It was an amazing trip! Quite honestly, China was never on my bucket list but I was given a unique opportunity with my friend living in Shanghai. Another friend and I spent 11 wonderful days exploring Shanghai, Xian (home of the Terra Cotta Warriors), and Beijing. I won't bore you with a long travel log but share a few highlights and som quilting designs I saw. The Chinese government does not like Goggle or Facebook and, apparently, some of the pictures I took. They magically disappeared-just some, not all. Oh well, at least I have spectacular memories and the other girls have shared their pictures with me.
We started in Shanghai where we saw a lot of everyday life, the world's tallest building being built and a wedding market.
The three of us on The Bund-the river front dividing the old part of the city and the new.
The world's tallest building. The fogginess is partly due to the dirty window but mostly from the smog.
Sunday Wedding Market where matchmakers post potential brides' and grooms' resumes on umbrellas and on the ground. Some have pictures but most don't. I wonder what the success rate is!
From Shanghai we flew to Xian to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. I couldn't believe how big the area was! We even met the farmer who discovered the Warriors while digging a well and had him sign a book for my dad.
Each warrior and horse is life size! I was a bit disappointed as how commercial the area outside of the exhibit is getting. They force tourists to walk thru a maze of shops, basically selling the same things, to get in and leave the area.
We then flew to Beijing. We had an amazing tour guide for 3 days who took us to Tienamin Square, the Forbidden City, The Great Wall, the Summer Palace, a portion of the old city, lots of temples and The Pearl Market.
This is only about half of Tienamin Square. It is HUGE!
The entrance of the Forbidden City. It's not really tilted, just me trying to take the picture too quickly.
I couldn't get over how enormous it was!
The Great Wall was amazing! I had to keep pinching myself that I was really there! We had exceptionally great weather with hardly any smog.
This is just a small area of the Pearl Market. There are 4 floors of little booths with scarves, purses, silk robes, Knicks knacks and just about anything you can think of. You have to bargain and our hostess is a master bargainer!
I did get pictures of some designs I want to incorporate into upcoming quilts.
So, back to reality.
More later!
Happy Stitching!
