longer need to make a living? I hoped not.
Aunty’s voice cut off my gilded dream. “None of the work here shows any sign of ‘eyes focusing on nose, nose focusing on heart, heart focusing on hands.’ ”
She sighed. “ Hai, how the world has changed and art has declined! Where have the fine embroiderers gone?”
None of us dared to respond to Aunty’s remark. I still thought that the works in the shop were beautiful.
“All right. The shop won’t open till eleven o’clock, so let’s stroll around a bit and get something to eat.”
So we continued to walk along the street amidst the curious glances of the locals. Aunty Peony seemed to be an object of admiration. She was dressed in a fancy silk top with floral embroidery and matching pants. Her face was delicately made up, enhanced by a silver flower dangling from her tightly braided bun. I realized that this trip was very important to her.
When we were passing a photography shop, Aunty Peony stopped. Behind the window were framed photos: young newlyweds smiling happily at the camera; a naked baby boy posed to reveal his little thing because his parents were so proud to have a son; twin sisters with missing teeth, arms around each other’s shoulders and giggling; an old man smoking a pipe, the wrinkles on his spotted face matching the curves of the smoke. Though all the people in these photos must have been real, there was something illusionary about them.
We all appreciated the photos for a while before Aunty said, her expression nostalgic, “After breakfast, we’ll come back here to have our picture taken together.”
“ Wah, I’ve never been in a photo before!” Little Doll exclaimed with pleasure.
I didn’t know if Purple and Leilei had pictures of themselves, but I had none of myself. I remembered having a few taken when I’d been younger, but they must all have been lost. My mean aunt might have kept one or two, but she never let me look at them, let alone give them to me. Or she might have thrown them away a long time ago.
The next street was filled with restaurants; Aunty picked one out and we all entered and sat down. She seemed to be in a good mood and ordered lots of food—porridge, marinated eggs, scallion pancakes, fried doughnuts, soy bean soup, pickled vegetables. Since this was a novelty for us, our appetites seemed insatiable as we devoured the food with gusto. Finally, when all the plates were wiped clean like mirrors, Aunty announced that we would go back to the Lotus Embroidery Shop, then later we’d have our pictures taken at the photography studio.
Once we stepped inside the shop, we were greeted by a plump, middle-aged woman with an obsequious smile.
“Good morning, ladies. Can I help you pick some embroideries? What are you looking for? Gifts? Decorations?”
Aunty smiled back. “We’ll look around first.”
“Of course, please.”
We all milled around the spacious store, oohing and aahing at the beautiful work. There was a peacock spreading its many-eyed tail, a tiger staring at me fiercely through trees, butterflies floating over clusters of flowers, a glittering dragon and phoenix chasing each other among colorful clouds....
The plump woman expounded to us in a pompous tone that kingxiu, Peking-style embroidery, is very famous because it came from the Qing dynasty imperial court’s embroidery department.
“That’s why our work is all first-rate, because we use the best material like silk fabric, gold, and silver threads. But especially because it possesses the emperor’s noble qi.
“You see”—she made a sweeping gesture—“every single thread sparkles royalty. That’s why Peking embroidery is also called Court Embroidery.”
Aunty glanced at the embroideries. “Are these the best in your store?”
Plump smiled. “I see you really know embroidery. We have a few very special items that we reserve for connoisseurs like yourself. Please wait here, I’ll be back.” She hurried to the back of the
Aunty’s voice cut off my gilded dream. “None of the work here shows any sign of ‘eyes focusing on nose, nose focusing on heart, heart focusing on hands.’ ”
She sighed. “ Hai, how the world has changed and art has declined! Where have the fine embroiderers gone?”
None of us dared to respond to Aunty’s remark. I still thought that the works in the shop were beautiful.
“All right. The shop won’t open till eleven o’clock, so let’s stroll around a bit and get something to eat.”
So we continued to walk along the street amidst the curious glances of the locals. Aunty Peony seemed to be an object of admiration. She was dressed in a fancy silk top with floral embroidery and matching pants. Her face was delicately made up, enhanced by a silver flower dangling from her tightly braided bun. I realized that this trip was very important to her.
When we were passing a photography shop, Aunty Peony stopped. Behind the window were framed photos: young newlyweds smiling happily at the camera; a naked baby boy posed to reveal his little thing because his parents were so proud to have a son; twin sisters with missing teeth, arms around each other’s shoulders and giggling; an old man smoking a pipe, the wrinkles on his spotted face matching the curves of the smoke. Though all the people in these photos must have been real, there was something illusionary about them.
We all appreciated the photos for a while before Aunty said, her expression nostalgic, “After breakfast, we’ll come back here to have our picture taken together.”
“ Wah, I’ve never been in a photo before!” Little Doll exclaimed with pleasure.
I didn’t know if Purple and Leilei had pictures of themselves, but I had none of myself. I remembered having a few taken when I’d been younger, but they must all have been lost. My mean aunt might have kept one or two, but she never let me look at them, let alone give them to me. Or she might have thrown them away a long time ago.
The next street was filled with restaurants; Aunty picked one out and we all entered and sat down. She seemed to be in a good mood and ordered lots of food—porridge, marinated eggs, scallion pancakes, fried doughnuts, soy bean soup, pickled vegetables. Since this was a novelty for us, our appetites seemed insatiable as we devoured the food with gusto. Finally, when all the plates were wiped clean like mirrors, Aunty announced that we would go back to the Lotus Embroidery Shop, then later we’d have our pictures taken at the photography studio.
Once we stepped inside the shop, we were greeted by a plump, middle-aged woman with an obsequious smile.
“Good morning, ladies. Can I help you pick some embroideries? What are you looking for? Gifts? Decorations?”
Aunty smiled back. “We’ll look around first.”
“Of course, please.”
We all milled around the spacious store, oohing and aahing at the beautiful work. There was a peacock spreading its many-eyed tail, a tiger staring at me fiercely through trees, butterflies floating over clusters of flowers, a glittering dragon and phoenix chasing each other among colorful clouds....
The plump woman expounded to us in a pompous tone that kingxiu, Peking-style embroidery, is very famous because it came from the Qing dynasty imperial court’s embroidery department.
“That’s why our work is all first-rate, because we use the best material like silk fabric, gold, and silver threads. But especially because it possesses the emperor’s noble qi.
“You see”—she made a sweeping gesture—“every single thread sparkles royalty. That’s why Peking embroidery is also called Court Embroidery.”
Aunty glanced at the embroideries. “Are these the best in your store?”
Plump smiled. “I see you really know embroidery. We have a few very special items that we reserve for connoisseurs like yourself. Please wait here, I’ll be back.” She hurried to the back of the
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