White Ghosts: A Historical Novel (Russian Treasures Book 2) by Elvira Baryakina

Author:Elvira Baryakina [Baryakina, Elvira]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Avtoram
Published: 2018-10-19T00:00:00+00:00

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Back in the dark ages when Moscow had barely been established, Canton was already a thriving city with a thousand years of history. It was from here that the great Sea Silk Route started from China to the Middle East. It was here that the Chinese built their great ships and the world’s finest carvings in ivory, amber, and precious wood were created.

Canton is a city of craftsmen. The local men make embroideries of extraordinary beauty and the women the famous Cantonese shawls with their customary long fringes. This craft was brought here from Portugal and then exported back to Europe. The Chinese don’t wear shawls themselves but are quick to spot a business opportunity when they see one.

In the Xiguan area, every street is devoted to a specialized craft—silver, embroidered shoes, brocade robes, or turtle shell combs. The second floors of buildings jut out over the sidewalks, protecting the lower floors from the sun, and the townspeople busily make their way along these shady passages, carrying iron rings with hooks for their purchases, a kind of alternative shopping bag.

There are stores with stained-glass windows and counters of polished wood. There are little shops, where the pork carcasses hang from the ceiling, covered with flies. On the ground along the walkways, there are barrels of fish and cages with frogs, snakes, chickens, and crickets. A little to one side, there are small sculptures of the Buddha with gleaming thin candles and incense sticks devotedly placed in front of them. The stifling wind sweeps away the fallen petals and charred pieces of paper, the debris of yesterday’s offerings to the gods.

I wish I could share my impressions of Canton with Nina, but I daren’t write to her openly. If Wyer is checking her mail, he would soon be on to us.

My cryptic cable to Nina read as follows:

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