I've Been on an Adventure!

On May 2nd, my older daughter and I 

headed out on an adventure.

A BIG adventure!

My daughter has always wanted to go to China.

She remembers my mother-in-law talking about her 

trip years ago and since then has wanted to go herself.

My daughter has Down syndrome, 

so traveling by herself is not an option.

China has never been top on the list of places

I wanted to visit, but I went for my daughter.

We booked a Viking land and river tour and packed our bags.

We had a wonderful trip and came home with lots of great

memories and photographs.

Our trip started off with a canceled flight,
but we were able to get booked onto another flight later in the day.
 We arrived in Shanghai late,
but hit the ground running the next morning

This shows the old Shanghai with the new.

(And American influence with KFC!)

Yuyuan Gardens are in the heart of the city,
but secluded and just beautiful.

Dragons are a sign of strength and protection.
This was on one of the walls in the gardens
and wrapped around  a section. I couldn't get a good photo
of his long tail along the wall.

This part of Shanghai is very modern,
all being built since 1992.
It's on the Huangpu River and is called the "Bund".
The building to the right with the opening at the top
is called "the beer can opener" by the locals.
It really looks like one, too!

These buildings were behind us as we looked across the river

to the modern buildings.

These were built by the British and are now bank buildings,

for the most part.

 

Marquis Yi's tomb (from 433 B.C.) was excavated in 1978 and these bells were found.
The largest of the bells weighs 500 pounds.
At the Hubei museum, they have a replica set of these bells
and we were able to listen to a concert where these bells were played.
They are struck with a mallet to make them ring and the sound is beautiful.

We were able to visit a silk embroidery studio
and saw some gorgeous pieces of art.
The master stitchers can divide a silk thread into 1/32 strands,
bearly seen by the eye.
There were some unbelievable pieces of animals that were
stitched.  One eye would take 2 months to stitch!

The photos do not do these justice,
but in person they looked like photographs and
not embroidery.

I will continue with our tour in a day or two.

Happy Quilting!