We had but a few hours to spend in Chengdu, in between flights. Our first stop was at a silk embroidery institute, where we observed the process of making exquisite paintings with fine silk threads. After seeing the work rooms, we were taken to the showroom where we could buy the finished product. There was something for everybody - from stacks of small almost-identical unframed works that appeared to be the product of a student class assignment, for a few dollars each, to this magnificent room divider screen, which was available for approximately $50,000. For that, they would pack and ship it as well.

Our second stop was at a park-like memorial, known as the Thatched-Roof cottage of DuFu. Du Fu was a popular 7th century Realist-Romantic poet, who wrote about the lives and issues of common people, in a time when there had been much turmoil and insurrection. By this time, the heat was really getting to me, and I walked through the entire memorial without thinking to take a single picture. Just as we were getting back on the bus, I spotted three cute kids, who stopped waving just as I grabbed my camera!