July 12 in China

 

We had a leisurjely morning, with our wake-up at 8 am and not leaving the hotel until 9:30! It was definitely needed.

Our first stop was the Kun Opera Museum. The Kun Opera was started 600 years ago ... And the Peking Opera started from this. On May 18, 2001, this was named a World Cultural Heritage sight by UNESCO. 

Again, we walked through what would be described as slums in America, to get to the museum. Inside the un-air conditioned museum, there were pieces of Sheet music, 

clothing used in operas, statues...and a stage! This 'stage' would be assembled for performances in wealthy families. The musicians would sit on 3 sides of it.

We went inside to the air conditioned stage. An actor came out dressed in his costume for his performances in the Monkey King. He would do different sequences...and then let some of our delegates come up and have a try.

Outside, there is another stage. Above the stage, the ceiling -Made of wood -- has a section in a circle. 

 It's all made of wood...and the pieces are made in a way that the sound is magnified...so no microphones are needed...it is amazing how much 'technology' there was before there was technology as we know it today.

 

 This picture above was taken as we walked back to the coach from the opera.  As in most parts of China that we walked through, there was what we would call 'slums' next to nicer places.  Here, people had their laundry hanging next to the street...and on the smallest pieces of land, people have planted herbs and food.

From there we went to a silk embroidery institute. That is beautiful! Many of the pieces we saw took 12-15 months to complete! There were a couple of portraits that looking at them from one direction, they looked younger...and looking from another direction, they looked older! There was one of the Mona Lisa! 

 

They were stunning! From a short distance away, many of them looked like photographs. I watched one lady work, 

 

and I couldn't even see where she was putting the needle...she did it quickly and it was tiny stitch. I did find one I fell in love with...and it was only $13,689!

 

 

 Can you believe all these are embroidered?  Silk embroidery!

 

 The embroidery is either single side or double side. Single side means you can see the knot on the backside, double side is the same picture on both sides and you see no knots! The knots are all hidden ...

After lunch, we boarded the bus to Wuzhen (woo-Jen). I had never heard of this place...but oh my gosh! It looks like it came out of a storybook! There has been a Community here for thousands of years...and these houses have been here over a 100 years. We are staying in 'guest houses'...

We arrived and met Allie...our guide. It makes me a bit sad that our guides have chosen western names instead of their actual Chinese names.

Anyway, Now, to come to Wuzhen, you have to pay to get into the village. (Don't have a clue how much $$$). Once in, we boarded these carts that brought us to the area near our guest houses. By this time, I had probably said, "OH MY GOSH!!!" At least 347 times. The field of sunflowers, the water with the unbelievable landscaping, the pagoda in the background ... We were all given our key (lose it and you have to lay 100¥) and we had a little more than 2 hours to explore before meeting for dinner.

This place is breathtaking! Canals winding around, the boats being guided by men standing on the back, the old houses, quaint shops and restaurants...just wait till you see the photos! We, as Americans, are definitely a novelty! People are always taking our picture ... Whether they ask first or not. The bridges are high arches over the water...and there are usually people holding up the foot traffic trying to cross the bridge by posing for pictures!

At 5:40, everyone was standing outside their guesthouse and we walked by and picked them up...off to dinner we went!

We stalled around at dinner...had a leaders meeting...then had a short meeting with the delegation...and then we were off to a canal cruise. The village looks so different at night. As my boat rounded a corner, it got breezy...then the breeze became wind...strong wind...then rain...then thunder and lightening...

We're all safe! 

 

We ended our boat ride...and the delegates had 2-3 hours to just hang out or walk around. Some were enjoying the rain which by this time had settled down a bit. Deana, Adam, and I were walking with Effee when he got a phone call...he told us, "bad luck!" But kept talking... When he hung up, he told us the lightning had cut the power to the entire area where our guest houses are!

Oops!

We made our way back to the vicinity of the houses...and accounted for all the delegates. Some were just hanging out using their iPhones as a flashlight...others had their flashlights out...some were playing cards in the common area at the houses.. They were 'making lemonade out of lemons!" 

About an hour later, the power came back on...we heard a loud cheer...then it went back off. About 45 min later, it was back on! YeeHaw! It would have been a long, hot, night! But now...it's so nice!

We just did bed checks...so all are snuggled in their air-conditioned rooms!

Another great day in China!