2. Suzhou, Silk and the Grand Canal

From the hotel in Suzhou, we went to the Silk Museum and Factory.

 

Silk is a remarkable fabric and an entertaining presenter provided us with some good information, along with the expected hard sell. It was claimed that one silkworm is able to generate 1800 m of single filament. This factory or area breeds or favours the twin pupae which produces an even stronger thread with a twin filament. Apparently the female silkworm lays 3000 eggs in a life-time.

The Chinese have been producing silk for quite a few years now, probably 2000 years plus with Suzhou claiming it was the start of the Silk Road marking the trade route for the Chinese to export silk to the Middle East and Europe. There seems to be abundant evidence that Marco Polo came to Suzhou in the 1200s because it was the centre of the silk industry.

The factory had a retail centre attached, but it was a government enterprise, so prices were considered fixed and not-negotiable. The hard sell was interesting, but it did seem very good value - if you want silk doonas, sheets, pillows, clothing etc. Their shop floor was very large, selling a wide range of silk clothing and accessories. However, there were no steak knives so there were limited purchases from us.

The next stop was The Lingering Garden, which Mary and others got excited about, but I was happy to move on and not linger. The gardens have been established since 1593 in the Ming Dynasty and cover 2.3ha.

The bonsai section was OK. Only four of these extensive ‘show’ gardens were left in China after the 1965 cultural revolution purge, because Mao did not see them as useful and had many traditional gardens removed.

 

 

 

 

 

Suzhou is sometimes referred to as the Venice of China, due to the many canals in the old part of town and the close association of the residents to the water. We took a boat cruise on the canals and passed under some bridges as old as 900 years plus. One canal, aptly called the Grand Canal, stretches all the way to Beijing in the north and it takes only 6-8 weeks to get there by boat. It does have a history of being an important trade route in times past.

 

In the afternoon, it was back on the bus for the trip to Hangzhou (pronounced hung-joe - so Joe's in trouble again). This is another 'sister-city' to Shanghai but has only 7-8 million people so a bit on the small side. More rural land between Suzhou and Hangzhou, with much farmland apparent, along with blocks of housing units occupied by the farmers and other workers in these cities. Generally, the housing seems not as dense with many blocks being only 3-5 levels.

Our guide highlighted an interesting feature of many of the houses and apartment blocks that we drove past. A small attic or addition to the top of many buildings was obvious. Apparently, this was where the residents stored the ashes of their forebears.