Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Day 7:Suzhou and the silk trade

So we were at Suzhou today which is considered the Venice of the east because everything is connected by waterways. You'll see in the pictures; but first we visited a traditional Chinese garden.
In China, a garden is a very private thing. So, it is often surrounded by a wall, completely cut off from the world and it also has more water than open space. Good funk shwai!
They had a ton of Bonsai trees in one area!
This tall stone was the center piece of the garden. very tall and had a unique shape.

 This garden was called the Lingering Garden, cause all you wanted to do is linger longer.
 One thing to mention, the water looked quite shallow but because of the mud it would be very dangerous to step in cause the mud conceals how deep the pool is.
The garden was owned by a very rich government official's family so even the house was huge and very ornate! The place was like a labyrinth. Many times our guide told us not to wander cause we could easily get lost.

When we finished at the garden we went to an actual silk factory, this was a real factory cause they showed us the whole process of how they made the silk fabric and quilts.

 It was a cool process! They first went through the cocoons to see which are double or single worms inside then they string eight singles together and unwind them to make raw silk string.
 With the double worms they pull them open like above then stretch it over a handle thing. Once they have at least eight layers. They hang them to dry.

Then they stretch it out into a quilt-like form.

It was super fun and they even let us give it a try! Afterward there was a shop which is to be expected. But I think it was worth it to get a little something. So I ended up getting a pillow and a light quilt. :)

After the silk factory, we took a cruise in the canal. So awesome! We truly got to experience the city.




We even were able to visit a small market along the way!




 It was fairly common to see people hanging out their meat to dry along with their laundry!

After our little boat ride, we jumped back on the bus and after two and a half hours we arrived at our resort hotel in Hangzhou.  By the time we arrived it was dark and it was time for bed. We were able to go get some food but it wasn't that great, but its alright cause it was a full and fun day!

Adventure is out there!


2 comments:

  1. Wait, so the silk factory, do they do it all by hand?

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  2. Cyndil! Great pics. Check your FB messages...I am State-side and coming up to see you Saturday! Be ready!

    ReplyDelete