Day 12

We went to the Chinese silk factory in the morning and received Callan's Chinese passport and official adoption papers back in the afternoon. The rest of the day was spent packing. I'll have to post pictures when we get to Guangzhou.


Here we are at the start of another Big Day:

This is typical of the response the bus got as we went on tours. Even the driver is waving - it's a good thing traffic is stopped.

A silk painting.

Another nice one.

This is the dress of one of the minority groups that live in the western part of Hunan. This'll be on the fashion runways next fall.

Another silk painting.

This is the front and back of the same silk painting. This factory specializes in two-sided silk paintings - this skill takes decades to learn.

This is the main room where the ladies make the silk embroderies. The sign in the back says "fashion a state stitch work in full fashion to Honor the country"

Some of the ladies working.

Ellen is thinking "I better not see any passports" (she reminded us everyday to lock them up). Callan is thinking "take the picture", and I'm thinking "Wow! I've never seen a double-blind stitch like that before!"

Some of the ladies working on the mountain scene on the easel behind them. This is in the western part of Hunan. This embrodery will probably take a year to complete.

This is a Chrysanthemum Stone carving. Apparently the white flower shape occurs naturally (it's a crystalline structure) in one of the Hunan rivers and they enhance it by carving.

The end of another Big Day.