Creating strands of silk

Venice of the East

---

October 21st 2008
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, mo ... read more

Asia » China » Jiangsu » Suzhou

---

For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A... ... read more