Venice of the East

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Day One:

After landing in Shanghai in the afternoon, we took a two hour bus ride to the city of Suzhou. It is considered "the Venice of the Orient" because the city is built along canals and has many beautiful bridges.


On the drive to Suzhou, we sat in the front seats of the bus...a very scary place to be! First of all, the traffic in Shanghai is terrible! Also, cars, bikes, motorcycles and pedestrians all just dart out in front of our bus without looking or stopping! In fact, at a toll booth, another bus edged his way in front of ours, so our driver, not backing down, just created his own lane. He proceeded to drive ahead and then cut in front of many other cars. The cars were literally just an inch (maybe two?) away from the bus. Crazy!


Our first stop in Suzhou was the Garden of the Fishing Net Master, a traditional Chinese garden that is over 500 years old. It was quite an idyllic place! There were ornate buildings and many small bridges crossing over serene ponds (with lily pads and lotus flowers floating around!). Red lanterns hung everywhere and there were tons of bamboo trees planted. A very peaceful place!


We then checked into our hotel and had dinner. Afterward, we crashed...ready for another exciting day!


Day Two:

We were on the bus by 8 AM and on our way to tour a silk making factory. It was such an interesting experience! We got to see real silkworms, eating mulberry leaves and actually spinning cocoons in front of our eyes. We saw how they sorted silk cocoons and how they then worked with them to get silk to make products.


Good cocoons (the ones that are not damaged) are thrown into boiling water. While hot, workers can find the beginning strand (filament) and un-weave them onto a machine to create a long strand of silk. Each strand is like a fine thread. They are woven together to create goods.


We also saw how workers stretched silk for filling comforters (instead of down, they are stuffed with silk). In fact, Bryan and I both got the chance to stretch silk ourselves. I could not believe how strong it is!


At the end of the factory tour, we got to shop! They had many gorgeous products, so we bought several things here: bags, scarves, and place mats.


After our shopping spree, we headed back to the bus for a boat ride along the Grand Canal. Like in Venice, peoples homes are along the Canal. So as our boat floated by, we saw many scenes of daily life. There was an interesting contrast--the beauty of the water and the bridges next to the run down, small homes alongside the Canal.


After our 45 minute ride, we got off the boat and onto the bus again for our 2 hour drive back to Shanghai.

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