#matlack

[musictoliveby]

Matlack by Birocratic https://ift.tt/2xOmHMx

[chicagograss]

My mother’s family has been in America a long time. Our relative Timothy Matlock penned the Declaration of Independence on parchment paper in 1776. “Later that month Matlack engrossed the Declaration of Independence on parchment. Members of Congress began signing that historic document on August 2. On July 8, 1776, Colonel John Nixon read Congress's declaration of independence to a crowd gathered at the State House.” #history #1776 #independence #declarationofindependence #matlack #freedom #yearsago #geneology #family

[nectarine-vibes]

Visit Original Link

Birocratic | Matlack

[venturestoanomaly]

The Matlack Grave was another one of those anomalies that we tried to keep an eye out for while driving and ended up having to do a double take and turn around. In the middle of a residential street, sandwiched between two normal houses, is a black iron fence containing a large gravestone. The single headstone marks the burial site of William and Mary Matlack, their son Richard, and several servants and slaves. William Matlack came to America in 1677, where he changed the spelling of his last name from the English form, Matlock. The grave dates back to his death in 1738, making it more than 275 years old. It is located on Balsam Road in Cherry Hill, NJ and is open to anyone who wants to visit.

  Matlack Grave, Cherry Hill, NJ The Matlack Grave was another one of those anomalies that we tried to keep an eye out for while driving and ended up having to do a double take and turn around.

[tenderbooty]

Oh hayyyyyy

[ohheychina]

Green Tea Fields (Day 10)

Hangzhou is one of the only green tea growing towns in China. They grow the best green tea, and only sell it locally. (They sell the leaves). It’s only sold locally because one, it’s government controlled, but also because it takes a lot time to get the tea ready so they wouldn’t have enough in supply to meet the demand if they went more than local.

I always knew green tea was good for you, but now I know to what extent and why! Green tea helps your body digest and filter out antioxidants which can cause high cholesterol, diabetes, etc. We were shown a demonstration proving this.

In the demo, the woman put rice and hot water into a glass, then added a ton of iodine! The whole glass and the rice turned black. They she added one serving of green tea to it (meaning a pinch of leaves and hot water) and the iodine completely dissolved away! But, the rice was still black. Then she took one of the pills they sell, which has 5 servings of green tea in it and dissolved it into the rice with more hot water. THE RICE TURNED WHITE. It was amazing! And it all comes from the ground J

Green tea can help you dramatically lose weight, because it makes your fat easier to filter out of your body. I’m definitely going to start drinking more green tea!

With the leaves they sell, you can use the same group of leaves up to 5 times and still receive the benefits and the taste! So you get a whole lot from a little!

[ohheychina]

Pearls (Day 10)

Today was a really busy day! In the morning we went to see the pearl distributors of Wuxi, which makes most of its economy from the pearls. There are four different pearls: purple, gold, white, and pink. Gold is the most precious.

You know the pearl is real if you rub the pearl and dust comes off of it. Pearl dust is really good for your skin. People can use it in masks or take it as a pill for their skin. You can dissolve it in anything (even milk!) and you will receive the benefits.

They had so many gorgeous pieces of jewelry; I wish I could have taken pictures! Everything was really cheap too, because it’s government controlled plus it’s coming right from the source.

[ohheychina]

Jade Market (Day 9)

This morning we went to the jade market! Jade is really common in China. There is white jade, jedite, and jade. Jedite is the most popular form in China because of its history with the emperor!

The rock you can find jade in doesn't look pretty on the outside, so is often thought to just be a normal rock. It was used originally to balance a ship that was returning to China. Obviously all the rock had broken by the time they arrived, and they discovered jade!

The idea that jade can protect you is a popular one in China today. Many years ago, when women had bounded feet and therefore had a hard time walking, they would wear jade bracelets so if they fell the jade would protect their wrists. The jade would break instead of their wrists. Today, people wear jade near your heart and acupuncture spots because it is still believed that jade can protect your health.

You can tell it's jade by tapping it, if it has a round-sounding clink then it's real. Also, real jade semi-transparent, so if you see a bright green piece of jewelry, it's probably not all jade because they added coloring to it.

I wish we could take pictures, but we weren't allowed. There was a lot of beautiful jewelry for sale! 

Since I've been in Shanghai our tour guides keep taking us to places where we can spend money... sneaky lol.