Happy 4th of July!!

 Final post for China!
 

Yesterday we went to this batik museum one block from where we are staying.. beautiful old home (they dye the fabric in the mountains of China,then fabricate the pieces in Shanghai)

They use a medicinal root that helps the liver to get that indigo blue color.  We loved looking at all of their pieces, what patience these people have with details. Mike got a fabulous blue striped cotton shirt that he is totally excited about( it gets softer as

you wash and wear it) we also got a piece that was displayed on a wall with artistic Chinese characters. I asked the man what it meant and he had to text a friend and ask him

"Where ignorance is bliss, its folly to be wise" loved this and will
use it for a table runner..
here are some of the samples,someday I would love to go to the mountains where they dye the fabric, wanna come?

 

sign out in front

 

We strolled by a few stores today to pick up last minute goodies,

cant fit the brush but was able to stuff our suitcases which are

packed to the hilt and almost ready to go, we leave tomorrow morning and head to SF

 it has become such a ritual sharing this 'Path of Art' with you,
thank you for your time, responses, questions and comments. I am so looking forward to being home in my own bed, fixing my own food
and sharing time with the ones that I love so much!

Toot toot

I wanted to share some of the magic of the other night with you.

 

a river cruising boat

 

we call this the bottle opener building. You can go to the top in an elevator,  beautiful twinkling lights

  

 another river cruise boat

 

loved this building lit up with the moon so close, btw- enjoy the full moon tonight in Capricorn, we are going to the Chinese Acrobatic Circus performance, should be colorful and entertaining! 

 
Yesterday was quite the experience going to Hangzhou and West Lake..the train ride was a terrific short one hour ride on the fast train. West Lake is a gorgeous lake with weeping willows overhanging the edges, on the east edge there is actually a national park and forest. We took a smallish outdoor 10 seater covered bus around the
perimeter of the lake and also walked around a bit, then ate our picnic lunch. When we were ready to leave in the afternoon we actually tried to get a taxi ride to this silk market nearby, the taxi kept making faces at us like he didnt understand. We had flipped a coin as to whether we would go or head back, so I told him just go
to the train station' by showing him the Chinese words but he gave
me a confused look and I wasn't sure he understood so I said
jokingly "toot toot" like the horn of the train, he started laughing
and then we all were laughing and he made some train sounds so we
knew he understood. There is something so wonderful about the universality of body language in any country. I dont think we saw
any expatriots in Hangzhou yesterday which was fine but different.

  
Enjoyed the many lotus plants in the lake yesterday, this flower looked so beautiful and fully open. I am feeling the beginning of
closure to a fabulous journey but also loving the new opening in
myself to the Chinese people and culture.

all that jazz

If you ever find yourself in Shanghai for any reason I would highly recommend staying in the French Concession area with its shady tree lined streets. This morning after breakfast we strolled the area. 
Its always when you're not looking for anything, something special appears. 

We stumbled upon a beautiful park where people were doing tai chi, then found a quaint Thai restaurant with an outdoor veranda (made a note for another evening), then a half a block later we walked past this really nice looking spa, I had to go in. We had been talking about getting a foot massage so after going up the stairs and loving the  comfy feel of the place and warm bamboo floors we decided to recline side by side in overstuffed chairs and were pleasantly surprised. Included in the one hour was a neck and shoulder, arm, hand leg and fantastic foot massage..best part was it only cost us each $18..and now

we really want to go back.

 Next door to that we went inside a designers tea shop, unique place for teapots and cups and tasted some awesome green tea while chatting with a few Chinese students. Later on we went for the 2nd time to the Fabric Market in the south part of the city- having so much fun viewing all of the styles and colors and having a few fun pieces made.

Oh I can't forget to tell you about these pom pom shoes I scored at this hand made cobbler shop one of my fellow artist friends was raving about-very fun!

We had a great dinner at Grandmothers Restaurant, a Shanghai institution, very tasty eggplant,potato dish with a yummy garlic and spinach dish. Topped the night off gazing at all of the tall buildings on the Bund all lit up. The architecture here is the most exciting, daring and unique design I have ever seen. I will post a few photos of the twinkling lights and videos on sides of buildings soon, just fabulous..so we strolled over to the famous Peace Hotel and listened to as they call it "an old man's jazz band"

had a few drinks and called it a day...

plan to train to Hangzhou, West Lake (1 hr) for the day early tomorrow. Time is getting short-only a few more days here in China.