This authoritative collector's book is the largest collection of Chinese weaving and embroider patterns available. For more than twenty-five hundred years the patterns of Chinese silk textiles captured the imaginations of their beholders. The woven and embroidered designs catalogued in Exquisite Fabrics, a survey by Gao Chunming, combine consummate mechanical and technical skill with an aesthetic vision driven by the need to communicate the most important message of Chinese culture. This Chinese art book is a compilation of over one thousand Chinese traditional designs found in weaving and embroidery. Known as zhiwen or wen in ancient China, these traditional patterns are the products of brilliant artistic skills that have been passed down from one generation to the next. Available in a gorgeous slipcase, this book presents a wide and comprehensive range of classical design motifs that include: dragons phoenix birds auspicious animals floral patterns insects and fish figures religious allegorical

First formed in 1961 under the Kennedy administration, the U.S. Peace Corps is a government program that sends American volunteers into countries to aid in their social and economic development. When candidates are interviewed for the Peace Corps they're told idealistic mantras such as "everyone has a different experience," and "your service can be anything you make it." But in country, service often presents both unexpected and dangerous challenges. In Eastern Europe Volnteers are widely recognized as an American diplomatic gesture, bright, young people offered as an olive branch, tokens to the young satellite republics, who in turn accepted the tribute to make good for the poor acts of their former Soviet oppressor. In that regard, the program in Estonia had in it the largest per capita number of American volunteers serving in any country in the world. By the late 1990s, the U.S. government was caught ill prepared to deal with broken economies of the fallen Iron Curtain. The Clinton administration struggled to retrofit idealistic, covert, Cold War processes into effective programs for the growing needs of the unruly, wide-open region. As a result, the U.S. failed to stay ahead of the curve, and relegated itself to past policies, those of the lowest common denominator where the ends justified the means. In this novel, the first of three, lead character PCV Grayson Palmer finds in the former Soviet Union's wild-east an enigmatic Peace Corps. Palmer's experience had become something he'd never expected, but one he was born to understand. Still, sexton stressed, his naivete was exposed and he became unwittingly enveloped in the criminal world. Strange and new influences challenged him. He'll need all his skills to traverse the dark world of Eurasian organized crime. To regain that control he must relearn to become his own true arbiter. Grayson Palmer interviewed for the Peace Corps with little expectation, but what he got was beyond his imagination. He learned at a young age to handle everything in front him, to not fear the unknown, and to shoot the moon with every hand dealt. He was confident, moral and ethical, in a world where having such qualities was predicated purely by self-determination. But would it be enough? As Grayson Palmer confronts and submits to the elements around him, he discovers secrets that change his life forever.

In Russian language. Formed in 1961 under the Kennedy administration, the U.S. Peace Corps is a government program that sends American volunteers into countries to aid in their social and economic development. When candidates are interviewed for the U.S. Peace Corps they're told idealistic mantras such as "everyone has a different experience," and "your service can be anything you make it." But in country, service often presents both unexpected and dangerous challenges. The U.S. Peace Corps in Eastern Europe had been widely recognized as an American diplomatic gesture. Bright, young Americans were offered as an olive branch to the young satellite republics, who in turn accepted the tribute as a token to make good for the poor acts of their former Soviet oppressor. In that regard, during the program's involvement in Estonia, it had the largest per capita number of American volunteers serving in any country in the world. By the late 1990s, the U.S. government was caught ill prepared to deal with broken economies of the fallen Iron Curtain. The Clinton administration struggled to retrofit idealistic, covert, Cold War processes into effective programs for the growing needs of the wide-open region. As a result, the administration failed to stay ahead of the curve, and relegated itself to past policies, those of the lowest common denominator where the ends justified the means. In this novel, the first of three, lead character PCV Grayson Palmer finds in the former Soviet Union's wild-east an enigmatic Peace Corps. Palmer's experience had become something he'd never expected, but one he was born to understand. Still, sexton stressed, his naivete was exposed and he became unwittingly enveloped in a criminal world. Strange and new influences challenged him. He'll need all his skills to traverse the dark world of Eurasian organized crime. To regain that control he must relearn to become his own true arbiter. Grayson Palmer interviewed for the Peace Corps with little expectation. He learned at a young age to handle everything in front him, to not fear the unknown, and to shoot the moon with every hand dealt. He was confident, moral and ethical, in a world where having such qualities was predicated purely by self-determination.