This morning, we awoke, packed our suitcases and went down to breakfast after which, we checked out of the hotel and boarded the coach. We stopped off for the loo – my first experience of a Chinese toilet! Okay, it’s not THAT exciting, but for the remainder of the holiday, all the ladies were giving a star rating out of 5 for all the toilets we used after that point, and we became obsessed with talking about toilets from then on!
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| Silk Mill: extracting silk from cocoons |
We went on to Suzhou Silk Mill where we sat down to learn about the silk making process. I had been to a silk mill in the UK before but Mathew hadn’t, so he didn’t know anything about the process at all. It was very interesting as we were told that in China, silk worms eat Mulberry leaves and the examples of worms and cocoons which we saw looked far bigger than those in the UK – they were at least twice as large. Here, they boil the cocoons, remove the silk by unstringing in one length of silk, and the leftover pupae are used in the creation of cosmetics, said to be very good for the skin – a consequence of the silk worm’s diet of Mulberry leaves.
We moved on to an exhibition in the Museum where we saw examples of the process and some past and present silk weaving looms. We then moved into the factory, where we saw everything in progress, and we were told such facts as one strand of silk is one seventh the width of one strand of hair, and it takes 300 cocoons to make one tie!
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| Silk quilt making |
After this, we moved into another area where they were making silk quilts – yes, SILK QUILTS! I never thought silk was used to make quilts. It took 4 people to stretch one sheet of silk from a double cocoon over about a 2m square, layer up on layer upon layer, and it felt SO unbelievably soft! Some of our group tried having a go but it was obviously much stronger than it looked – it took about 8 of us to do it, much to the amusement of the people who did it every day!
Onto the shop, they sold quilts, quilt covers, cushions, table cloths....Mathew and I were looking for scarves and cushion covers but we couldn’t find any – until Jane pointed out to us that there were a number of shops in different areas all selling different things! We finally found them in the “Fashion” shop which was huge, more like a mini shopping mall, and it even had toilets. No, not silk toilets, I mean proper ones for customers! I ended up buying quite a lot of souvenirs here, 2 cushion covers, 2 bags and a tie.
We left for lunch (same deal as usual), and went on to central Suzhou. It was a short journey after the Silk Mill, and we stopped off to visit the Garden of the Master of Nets. On our way to Suzhou, we learned that it is well known for its gardens, and I have to say I prefer Suzhou to Shanghai – the streets look safer, and there are so many more gardens and trees on the streets, it’s very green. It’s a shame we had missed the blossoming of the Magnolias though – so see a street lined with flowering Magnolia would have been amazing. There were other plants in bloom though, such as peonies and peach and cherry blossoms which were very pretty.
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| The Garden of the Master of Nets |
The Garden of the Master of Nets was a typical Chinese garden which was originally created in 1140 but remodelled in 1770, and the furniture was Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644). It had a central large pond, surrounded by many roofed walkways and pavilions, decorated with rockeries, flowers and very old trees, some had been there for 700 years which would have been originally planted in the 11th Century (Song Dynasty). It was quite small and intimate, but there was so much to see as the paths and bridges took us in different directions where we could see a different view every way we turned – this is the object of a Chinese garden, the idea is not to see the entire garden from one point, but to see lots of different views from many angles. There were many pavilions, rockeries, fun pathways and bridges, and there were plenty of flowers out, it was a very nice garden to be in and anyone could have spent a whole day there.
After Lemon took us around, we were given time to walk and explore ourselves, after which we were back on the coach and off again to have a cruise along the Grand Canal in Suzhou which was great fun! Suzhou is affectionately known as the “Venice of the East”, and it is situated along part of the Grand Canal which was built over 1000 years linking Shanghai with Beijing. It consists of a network of canals, bridges and canal-side housing. It was very picturesque, and it was really like a miniature Venice. It was fun going along the narrow water-streets seeing typical Chinese houses and the people who lived in them, and all the people watching us watching them. One elderly lady even stood outside by the door smiling and waving at us.
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| Suzhou Canal |
One child policy is still encouraged in cities, but it is not so strict:
· If your 1st child is female, you can have a 2nd child
· If your 1st child dies young, is born with a disability, you can have a 2nd child
· If you have a multiple birth, you are truly blessed!
· If your 1st child is a boy you are not allowed to have a 2nd child
· If you live in the countryside you can have 2 children
· If you are of a Chinese minority, you can have as many children as you want
Also, in the city, a couple expecting a child would prefer a girl and in the countryside, a boy is preferred. This is because the boy’s family is expected to buy the house, the car etc for him and his bride, and the girl’s family is given quite a lot of money as a gift of thanks.
The boat trip in Suzhou was very enjoyable and too short! We disembarked and took a short walk to our hotel where our coach was waiting. We checked in and had dinner – this evening I played it relatively safe with sweet and sour pork and rice, some vegetable soup and....CHIPS!! Yes, chips! We weren’t expecting those!
In the evening, I washed my hair and the water was so soft, my hair felt just like silk afterwards....and no, I hadn’t pocketed any of those cocoons.....!
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