Day Eight: Friday - this was our last day in Hefei. We were free most of the day with the exception of filling out some of the visa paperwork in the afternoon. After completing the visa paperwork our local Anhui province guide presented us with a calligraphy of Madison's Chinese name (Lu Xia Ye - we did ask about the pronunciation of this and the closest pronunciation we can provide you over blog is loo shyah yeh). The calligraphy was done by a very distinguished professor in the region and was completed using paper, ink and ink stone from Madison's region. The Chinese have four treasures of writing. They are the paper (rice paper), ink, ink stone and the brush. Anhui province is famous for their very high quality paper and ink and ink stones, which are used to mix the ink. Rice paper from the Anhui province has lasted thousands of years, so to have Madison's name on this paper is very cool indeed. The ink and ink stone used by the professor are from Madison's region. He also made a handmade chop for each of the babies - also with their Chinese names. A chop is a stamp, used in ancient times as a signature. The one given (actually both items were sold to us and for much less than they are worth) to us was made with stone from Madison's region and hand carved. These are available all over China, but are usually of much poorer quality and a lot are not made by hand anymore. After that they brought several other items specific to the Anhui region that we could look at and purchase. While we could have bought half of the merchandise they brought, we are still under the Chinese in-county flight restriction regulations and had to be mindful of our luggage weight. We did get a couple other items specifically from Anhui and we are carrying as much in our carry-on luggage as possible. Two very heavy carry-on's, a stroller and a very curious and "busy" baby for the flight to Guangzhou. Should be fun!
God Bless,
Angie and Mike
