Suzhou in Jiangsu province is one of the oldest towns in the Yangtze Basin. It's famous for its water towns and is often referred to as the Venice of the East. Suzhou is also widely known for a number of beautiful gardens and silk production. Both our tour guides strongly recommended buying silk from this city.
After arriving at Jinjiang in Suzhou, we cleaned up and had a mid-day lunch at some local restaurant with a big Mao picture framed in the background. Tomic called for some rickshaws to take us to the silk factory, which was loads of fun since we got to dodge the main roads and pass homes nestled in the tiny alleyways. The driver of our rickshaw rode over a rough patch too hard and accidentally broke off a bike pedal so he had to run half of the way. Generally, China does not have a tipping culture in most parts but we did anyway because we felt kind of bad.
At the Silk Factory, we got to see the different growth stages of a silkworm preserved in glass and how the threads on boiled silkworm cocoons were unraveled into spools, as well as how each sheet of tough silk was manually stretched and layered to make heavenly soft quilts. The most interesting aspect I think was watching this one worker remove the black chitinous parts off of the soft rolls in a basin of water; the factory guide had explained that the water that soaked the cocoons kept the worker's hands moisturized and smooth rather than prune-like because of all the proteins. Another thing I found amusing was a sign that cautioned visitors that the chrysalis was not for consumption. I can't imagine how many tourists have attempted to eat one of those marshmallowy things.
Later that night, after having the leisure of eating out at our place of choice in Silver Plaza, which is similar to Luoyang's urbanized pedestrian street, the tour group joined up again to see Suzhou's night lights through a river cruise. We passed a number of riverside restaurants, a renown theater, several bridges and some newly constructed, but no less beautiful, pagodas. It was refreshing to breathe in some humid air after being out in some dusty, dry areas for too long. Everyone tried to snap pictures of all the neon lights and red lanterns but most of us had cameras with screwy shutter speeds even when we adjusted to night mode. Nonetheless, it was funny to watch Tomic and Jon act out the Jack and Rose's famous scene from the Titanic.
Day one of Suzhou is not yet over but I can already say that it's one of those places I'd come back to.
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Shared Expenses
group lunch 74Y (33 each + extra vegetable dish)
KFC snack 46Y
more of Emery's music CDs 20Y (10Y each)
riverboat admission 140Y (70Y each)
little souvenir after cruise 5Y
Total= 285Y approx. $42
* Monday, May 11, 2009
After arriving at Jinjiang in Suzhou, we cleaned up and had a mid-day lunch at some local restaurant with a big Mao picture framed in the background. Tomic called for some rickshaws to take us to the silk factory, which was loads of fun since we got to dodge the main roads and pass homes nestled in the tiny alleyways. The driver of our rickshaw rode over a rough patch too hard and accidentally broke off a bike pedal so he had to run half of the way. Generally, China does not have a tipping culture in most parts but we did anyway because we felt kind of bad.
At the Silk Factory, we got to see the different growth stages of a silkworm preserved in glass and how the threads on boiled silkworm cocoons were unraveled into spools, as well as how each sheet of tough silk was manually stretched and layered to make heavenly soft quilts. The most interesting aspect I think was watching this one worker remove the black chitinous parts off of the soft rolls in a basin of water; the factory guide had explained that the water that soaked the cocoons kept the worker's hands moisturized and smooth rather than prune-like because of all the proteins. Another thing I found amusing was a sign that cautioned visitors that the chrysalis was not for consumption. I can't imagine how many tourists have attempted to eat one of those marshmallowy things.
Later that night, after having the leisure of eating out at our place of choice in Silver Plaza, which is similar to Luoyang's urbanized pedestrian street, the tour group joined up again to see Suzhou's night lights through a river cruise. We passed a number of riverside restaurants, a renown theater, several bridges and some newly constructed, but no less beautiful, pagodas. It was refreshing to breathe in some humid air after being out in some dusty, dry areas for too long. Everyone tried to snap pictures of all the neon lights and red lanterns but most of us had cameras with screwy shutter speeds even when we adjusted to night mode. Nonetheless, it was funny to watch Tomic and Jon act out the Jack and Rose's famous scene from the Titanic.
Day one of Suzhou is not yet over but I can already say that it's one of those places I'd come back to.
<-- and="" back="" beggar.="" his="" monkey="" ome="" says="" span="" the="">Shared Expenses
group lunch 74Y (33 each + extra vegetable dish)
KFC snack 46Y
more of Emery's music CDs 20Y (10Y each)
riverboat admission 140Y (70Y each)
little souvenir after cruise 5Y
Total= 285Y approx. $42
* Monday, May 11, 2009
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