A circular ornament with a beautiful panda design embroidered on it. Embroidered on thin silk, the panda design can be seen from both sides. An embroidered picture known as Shu embroidery, a Chinese intangible cultural heritage. #Panda #Xiongmao (Panda) #Daxiongmao (Giant Panda) #Xiangxiang (Name of a panda) #Shangshan (Name of a panda) #SichuanProvince #Chengdu #China #ShuEmbroidery #SichuanEmbroidery #Shuxiu (Shu Embroidery) #EmbroideredPicture #EmbroideredPainting #Embroidery Also known as Sichuan embroidery or Chuan embroidery, it originated among the people in western Sichuan Province, and was named after its geographical location. The plains of western Sichuan Province have long been called the "Shu Kingdom" as a production area for silk thread. Sichuan embroidery is an art centered in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. According to statistics, the embroidery consists of 12 major classifications and more than 130 kinds of stitches. Commonly used stitches include wrapping stitch, straight stitch, halo stitch, connecting stitch, seed stitch, sand stitch, twist stitch, scale stitch, silk hair stitch, carp pattern stitch, and gold embroidery. Sichuan embroidery emphasizes "clean stitches, glossy threads, exquisite and smooth stitches, and careful finishing." Various stitches are interwoven, and thick and thin stitches, solid and void, are interwoven to clearly express yin and yang and perspective. These traditional techniques are not only used to embroider delicate brushstrokes of flowers, birds, fish, and insects, but also excel in depicting magnificent landscapes and vivid figures. After the liberation, innovations were made in the needle techniques of embroidery, and "silk hair needles" that express the texture of animal hair and "swollen fresh needles" that express the scales of carp were developed, enriching the expressive forms and artistic styles of Shu embroidery. I received this as a souvenir during my visit to China. #UenoZoo