BLOG 444

Blog 444

Back home again and isn’t that just the best part of being away! We had a marvellous time in China and made some lovely friends. Three days in an extremely busy Hong Kong was followed by a two week tour courtesy of Wendy Wu. It is the only way to get the most out of China and this is what we did:

 

*Flight to Shanghai and stayed in a hotel which had been built as a football stadium for the Olympics, and in one day we visited an ancient garden, a silk museum, travelled at 268mph on the Maglev train, went up the tallest building, ate 2 Chinese banquets and did a river cruise to see the city lights!

*Flight to Wuhan to join our boat ‘Victoria Katarina’ for a 4-day cruise along the Yangtze which included exploring smaller gorges, the Three Gorges Dam project and The Jade Emperor. On board there was different entertainment, a demonstration of the game Mahjong, painting the inside of small bottles etc.

*Coach to Chengdu via a street market at Ciqikou famous for its porcelain, a visit to a tea room followed by a performance of ancient theatre acts (loved the Sichuan mask changing!), the Panda Conservation Research Base, a Tang Dynasty dancing show, the Terracotta Warriors and the ancient city walls.

*Flight to Beijing to visit the Wild Goose Pagoda, the Muslim quarter market, Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, a Chinese acrobat show, the Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall of China, Jade factory and Summer Palace.

We ate 2 Chinese banquets daily using chop sticks; this was very sociable, and a slow and healthy way of eating. (I thought I was going to starve at first because I couldn’t pick anything up but once I got the hang of it, it was fine!) It was everything we anticipated and then some, an amazing cultural experience of a world so very different from our own. I loved it and feel enriched by it!

          Terracotta Warriors

 

 

 

            Panda

 

 

 

 

           The Great Wall (and it was that steep in places)

 

 

 

              Emperor and Empress

 

Now I am home, I have hit the ground running! I have zigzagged around the black shapes and completed the second silhouetted wall hanging.

             Wall hanging

 

 

have layered and quilted the shaded Liberty quilt. I chose the easiest option and sewed a straight line through the middle of the squares in both directions, using a walking foot. This gives the appearance of fragmented squares and it just needs binding now.

            Liberty quilt

 

 

 

 

              Quilting lines

 

 

I have also layered the miniature log cabin quilt but I still don’t know how I am going to quilt it! There is so much intricate work in this quilt that I don’t want to spoil it with unsympathetic texturing/stitch. I will think about it during the coming week!