Hunan Province is famous for their embroidery - our guide told us that in the past all girls learned to embroider when they were young and if they were very good they will have a better chance of getting married. Their work is unbelievable. Many of these pieces took several women years to complete. The above is 2 sided. The panda and the tiger are sewn onto the same piece of silk - you can't even tell. It is incredible - it looks like an art museum because they all look like paintings until you get very close.
This is the part of the "factory" that we were allowed to see. It is owned by the government and these women are making gifts for the Olympics.
This is the pattern for the gifts they are making.
I'm sure the finished piece will be enormous because they are only working on one section of it. We visited the gift shop and they had lots of beautiful things but they are very expensive. We bought a small picture for Abby so she will have a souvenir from the province where she is from that she can enjoy when she gets older.
The rest of the day has been rather uneventful. We were going to visit someplace outdoors but it was raining too much and then we thought about going swimming here at the hotel but the water didn't pass my temperature test - I'm a fair weather swimmer - has to be warm water.
"Waiter, there's a chicken foot in my soup"
We ate lunch at the hotel for the first time - we were trying to get steamed eggs for Abby since we've been told that is what kids like. So we went down and scanned the menu for anything edible. I thought I'd seen it all but this menu had "preserved donkey with garlic" and then "stir-fried intestines". We opted for some chicken dish that looked like chicken and peppers with some rice on the side. When it arrived I went to take a scoop with the ladel and there was a complete chicken foot in the ladel. I quickly lost my appetite. Shawn searched the pot for some edible chicken and found a little. He also found a black chicken foot. We were told that the Chinese like their food whole - the whole fish - head and tail and all, I can't remember why but I guess that is why they gave us the whole chicken.
And grand total for 2 small bottles of evian - $7.00 plus 15% gratuity. Cheaper than immodium but thank heavens for clean tap water at home.
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