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Just inside some open gates one household was making big wooden Best China travel destinations in december chests and decorating their tops and fronts with thin metal strips in crossed and fan patterns. Best China travel destinations in december Both husband and wife were nailing the strips on, first using an awl to punch a hole then fitting a small nail and hammering it home. The hammers were locally made and roughly shaped. Their youngest son brought me a bowl of tea, which I gratefully accepted. Their elder son was assembling the wooden frame of a new chest, without nails; he used wooden pegs dipped in local glue to cement the joints. With jingling bells-, a^donkey trotted past outside, ridden by a serenely smiling wizened old Uighur, bouncing along on its rump.
