This Month's Chinese Lesson

#312. Foot binding - This was a common (not all areas of China practiced this) practice for over 1000 years. To prevent women from having large feet, they would have their feet bound by these special wraps. (I found pics but I am going to spare you.) They would start wearing the binding at a very early age, around 6, & would wear them the rest of their growing years to prevent their feet from growing. Here is a great article explaining how & why they chose this beauty treatment.

#22. Gansu Province - Situated along the Silk Road, Gansu was an economically important province, and a cultural transmission path as well. Temples and Buddhist grottoes such as those at Mogao Caves ('Caves of the Thousand Buddhas') and Maijishan Caves contain artistically and historically revealing murals. An early form of paper inscribed with Chinese characters and dating to about 8 BC was discovered at the site of a Western Han garrison near the Yumen pass in August 2006.Its frequent earthquakes, droughts and famines have tended to slow its economic progress, until recently when based on its abundant mineral resources it has begun developing into a vital industrial center. Gansu province is second place in China for most medicinal plants and herbs, including some odd ones like hairy asiabell root. (taken from Wikipedia)

#345. The order placed on names (first, last, etc) We here in America will list our names as first then middle then last. But in China - it's not that way. When you see a written Chinese name their last name is usually first followed by their first name.

#250. Ladybugs - People who are adopting from China are all fascinated with ladybugs. I believe there are 2 reasons for this. The first being that the Chinese people are very superstitious & they believe that the ladybug will bring you good luck with prosperity. The second comes from a story about huge numbers of ladybugs appearing at the time of referrals. People who have a "ladybug sighting" expect referrals or news to quickly follow.