We're off to Suzhou, the Venice of the East (and silk mecca) and Tongli, a charming water town. Both are only about an hours drive outside of Shanghai.
Suzhou's resemblance to Venice was a tad lost on me. There are canals, and boats, and homes but otherwise, it looks like China... Hehe. Regardless, we had a great time checking out the Silk Factory in Suzhou and then our gondola ride in Tongli.
I found the silk factory to be surprisingly fascinating! Here's what I learned about silk...
Legend has it, that the Empress was drinking her tea in the worm caves, when one cocooned worm dropped from the ceiling and landed in her tea. The cocoon begins to unravel, revealing a long, thin, soft thread. And so silk was born.
Here's the silk "extraction" process (obviously not using technical terms):
- Worm lays eggs. (well, you know the whole chicken & the egg problem, so we're starting here for argument's sake)
- Baby ant-size worms hatch from the eggs.
- Eat mulberry leaves for 3 days... Eat & Poop & Grow. Eat & Poop & Grow. Eat & Poop & Grow.
- Rest 1 day.
- Shed skin.
- [Repeat steps 3-5, 3 more times.]
- Now it's a big worm! Create silk cocoon & get snuggly inside the Pupa. Each silk cocoon is made up of 1 filament, that stretches approx. 1 mile long.
- Here's where the fate is determined by humans (Options 1 & 2):
- Humans bake the cocoon to stop the metamorphosis process and then it heads to machines to unravel the pupa for the silk. Each silk thread in fabrics you buy is made up of 8 silk filaments (8 pupas).
- Metamorph and hatch into a fly.
- Then female finds a male to mate with, after which the male dies. The female lays ~500 eggs.
- Female finds a 2nd male mate. Male dies. Female lays ~500 more eggs, and then dies.
- Each female lays 1,000 eggs during her life. But since this whole process takes ~30days. That multiplication happens quickly.
And there you have it! Silk! Here's a diagram. Although I think my explanation is pretty awesome. ha!
Silk worms
He's so cute! and quite soft, or silky you might say...
sorting the good pupas from the bad (small basket: bad, large basket on the ground: good)
ensuring there's always 8 filaments to a thread. many of the machines looks pretty out of date, but that only adds to the allure (or in true Chinese fashion this is all for show. :) )
can you see the 8 threads?
old school printing press for the silk pattern. still fascinating.
stretching out the silk to form a comforter. My mom & dad bought one for me for a XMas present and it's AMAZING. Perfect for summer!
Next stop in Suzhou was the "Master of Fishing Nets Garden". I was planning on telling the story of how the garden got its name, but I completely blanked. Any one remember?
More details on the Garden, direct from our tour company, China Spree. As mentioned before, the Chinese gardens are not as we typically refer to them in the West, with lush green pastures for relaxing and picnicking. Instead, the China gardens are comprised of buildings for hosting guests, symbolic trees and stone formations, plus the requisite fish pond. While not a typical "garden", the architecture and intricate details were stunning.
One of many carved screens
intricate stone carvings over entryway
intricate inlaid stone for the courtyards
i'm a sucker for a great moon gate
library nook
fish pond
requisite family photo at the requisite garden fish pond
loved this boy taking photos
this is Kevin!
each window was different. each beautiful.
Next up, Tongli! Tongli is a typical water town in China. Many of the Chinese water towns have not been preserved, but Tongli comes close. It used to be considered a hidden "untouched" gem in China, until a book was written about its wonder and its people. The book attracted more people, obviously. Now, while it still holds on to some charm, it has also adapted to kitschy tourist demands as well.
capturing the charm of Tongli (which obviously includes kid photos)
on to the touristy of Tongli
street eats
gondola cruise
creepy fishing birds on gondola cruise
Tongli market
this claw game had toys & cigarettes! fun for all ages!
closing up shop
I'm glad the tour took us to the silk factory and Tongli as we most likely would not have thought to go there on our own.
ReplyDeleteOf course this makes me recall one of Kevin's myriad of stories. Evidentially he had 400 silk worms as pets when he was a child (I guess they don't have your typical pets either). His mother saved all the silk worm droppings and stuffed pillows with them. They are nothing if not resourceful in China!