In one of the shops we were... by dzni
In one of the shops we were brought to in Guilin, they sold chops. Chops can be very tiny or very huge, basically stamps, made out of soapstone and carved with intricate designs on top. The stamp itself is actually carved into the soapstone, generally an ornate mingling of characters that mirrors your name and which is used to stamp any paintings you own. Anyway, I wanted the biggest chop I could find, which was quite beautiful on top, and they only came in pairs, which ended up being more than I was willing to spend. However, my teacher who was on the trip thought that we could split it between me and him, and that was much more economical. We each got what we wanted on the bottom (I got 'Shi Da Wei,' which most closely matches my name in Chinese). It was really neat because a couple hours later, when they were finished carving the name, he actually brought it up to our room in the hotel to make sure it was what we wanted! Anyway, I still have it sitting on my desk and it was definitely a worthwhile investment, for the sheer beauty of it, at any rate.
