Mission Accomplished

On some shopping trips we buy more than just the products themselves but the experiences associated with the purchase. Today it's shopping for Chinese silk embroidery with my 2nd aunt.

I rarely collect any significant souvenirs from my travels so it took me a while to think of one thing I want to buy from Changsha: 湘绣/Xiang-Xiu (a special type of silk embroidery from this region). Two days ago my uncle showed me a hidden neighborhood with a cluster of these specialized shops where I’m likely to get best prices. This afternoon I came back here with my 2^nd aunt but our day started much earlier with a total fiasco at the bank.

The Bank of China refused to convert some of my US dollars because they were not brand new and that some of them has ink marks on the surface! I tried to explain just about all larger US bills in circulations are marked to show their authenticity but the customer relation person couldn’t be swayed. On top of this, all the ATMs were either down or out of money. When one of the machines was finally repaired I still couldn’t get out anything. Finally my aunt offered to take out a thousand RMB for me. Luckily the bank people were very courteous and brought us some water. But by the time we finally left we were both tired and decided to go meet my aunt’s daughter for lunch near her workplace. The restaurant was nothing special but food was very tasty, probably one of the best meals I’ve had since I came back.

These two days has been extremely hot. Over 100 degrees with humidity makes it feel completely unbearable. I was sweating even before breakfast. Aunt and I started at one of the high end shopping malls in downtown sand found great deals on three dresses, two of which are in traditional Chinese qi-pao style. Different clothes are designed for different occasions. Here people wear whatever they want wherever they want, rather chaotic. Jeans are ok at workplaces but in the market you can see people dressed in top notch dresses with high heels for no reason. My uncle’s daughter is by far the most fashionable person in the family with dark strawberry blond highlights, perfect makeup and always what seemed like trendy but out-of-place cloth. Thankfully she’s got a tall lovely figure to make everything look nice. I’m always the least stylish person in the bunch every time I visit obviously not because I don’t have enough nice things but when on the road, comfort overrides everything else.

By 3pm we were finally on our way to the xiang-xiu district. There are a few around town but the one we are going to is only known to the most knowledgeable locals.  The little shops are hidden away in a narrow street and really don't look like much from the outside. Once inside, each shop is like a tiny compact gallery featuring lots of embroidery pieces from large framed works to small intricate wooden display cases showing the double-sided embroidery. Majority of the works for sale are not displayed. We asked to see a variety of samples by asking for the design theme. Typical Chinese embroidery themes are flowers (rose, cherry and water lily), nature, birds, horses, bulls and traditional Chinese paintings such as 清明上河图 (paintings same as the one displayed in the China pavilion during the 2010 Expo). themes We literally examined a hundred different embroidery pieces. Each handmade pieces differ in design, color and quality. At first I wanted an ancient painting theme but then aunt leaned more towards the colorful roses for a high impact piece. The last shop we stopped in had the biggest selection and I was immediately drawn to a larger water lily piece. I love a bargain but am not at all good at bargaining. Luckily I was in good hands with my aunt who used to be a lawyer. Although not an authentic local she fakes a pretty good accent and acted as a tough price negotiator. At the end we got the large water lily piece for half of the asking price and a great bargain for a smaller cherry blossom piece.  The shopkeeper told us the pieces we picked are older works and that such refined embroideries are becoming more rare. I was extremely happy with the purchase (so much so that I wanted to buy a few more!). I have no doubt that such amazing handmade pieces with increase in value over time but of course, I purchased really just for my own enjoyment. I look forward to framing the pieces one of these days to properly display them in my living room.