Wednesday, December
11, 2013
So last night and this morning were rough. Kaden was miserable
last night with his cough, and now both Jason and I are sick. We
knew we couldn't dodge this one. We feel so bad for him having
to deal with being so sick on top of his whole world being
turned upside down.
Today our guide Jin took us to visit a place where they do China
Brocade, which is the intricate silk woven fabric that most
people recognize as the traditional Chinese fabric patterns and
traditional clothing. All the silk clothing worn by every
emperor came only from this city (Nanjing)...and it's amazing.
It is made on a giant loom ( to date, no machinery or computer
is able to replicate the technique ) operated by two people
working together and it takes a full day to only weave a mere
5cm of fabric. We have a new appreciation for the patience and
attention to detail that goes into these articles of clothing.
Next we went to tour the Emperor's tomb...which is actually like
a huge park with beautiful stone animal and warrior statues
guarding the Emperor. Kaden really wasn't feeling well...and so
our time there was brief, but it was a beautiful place that we
hope to bring Kaden back to in the future. We tried a stroller
today (just a little umbrella stroller we picked up here,
thinking Kaden would love it). Kaden was NOT a fan! Also,
because he wasn't feeling well, he only wanted mama today...but
even with mama he wasn't all that happy. We did get one brief
period of pure joy from Kaden today...when we pulled out the
bubbles!
Hopefully we'll all be feeling better tomorrow. |
Brocade Loom
The Alcalas on the Emperor Tomb's tour
Kaden rubbing the knobs on the Emperor's door
(we saw a lot of
the Chinese people doing this...so maybe for good luck?) |
