China Pictures -- Suzhou & Tongli
We flew from Guilin to Shanghai and drove to Suzhou, which was once the silk capital of China. Today, about one sixth of China’s silk is produced in the city.
Tongli is a cute little water town near Shanghai that people call, "Venice of the East" because if its quaintness, canals, and bridges.
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Chinese Architecture & Gardens in Suzhou & Tongli
We visited traditional Chinese gardens in both Suzhou and Tongli and learned that being a fisherman in ancient China was a pretty good job to have. In the Tongli garden we were able to dress up in imperial clothing and take pictures. Big fun! The Chinese tourists laughed at us walking in small steps just like the traditional Chinese ladies.
Traditional Chinese gardens always have four elements: rocks, water, buildings, and plants. The walls are often left white in order to serve as a simple backdrop for the garden, just like a painting starts off with white paper and then color is added. Whereas western gardens are usually viewed all at once, the Chinese gardens are meant to be discovered bit by bit as one meanders through the various sections. We were amused to learn that a large limestone structure in the garden was put together using sticky rice.
Traditional Chinese gardens always have four elements: rocks, water, buildings, and plants. The walls are often left white in order to serve as a simple backdrop for the garden, just like a painting starts off with white paper and then color is added. Whereas western gardens are usually viewed all at once, the Chinese gardens are meant to be discovered bit by bit as one meanders through the various sections. We were amused to learn that a large limestone structure in the garden was put together using sticky rice.
Silk Factory
One morning we were able to visit a silk factory where we learned all about the mulberry-munching silk worms and how their silk is harvested. It was fascinating! They even use the poop from the silk worms to make pillows that are supposedly good for rheumatism and insomnia. We were fortunate to see some live silk worms eating mulberry leaves, which was not very common at that time of year, as the best silk is produced in the spring.
The silk worms in the Suzhou area produce the finest silk and both they and their cocoons are white (the silk worms in the northern part of China are yellow and produce yellow cocoons). Eighty-percent of the cocoons are boiled in order to kill the silk worms. The reason for this is because if they are allowed to live until they have fully transformed into moths, they will chew through the cocoon to get out. Silk is produced by unraveling each cocoon to get one very long thread. It takes six to eight cocoons’ silk to make one thread and about 3,000 cocoons to make one silk tie. The other 20% of the cocoons are left alone until the moth chews through in order to continue the life cycle. Miss Robledo and I both bought silk comforters, which are cool in summer and warm winter.
The silk worms in the Suzhou area produce the finest silk and both they and their cocoons are white (the silk worms in the northern part of China are yellow and produce yellow cocoons). Eighty-percent of the cocoons are boiled in order to kill the silk worms. The reason for this is because if they are allowed to live until they have fully transformed into moths, they will chew through the cocoon to get out. Silk is produced by unraveling each cocoon to get one very long thread. It takes six to eight cocoons’ silk to make one thread and about 3,000 cocoons to make one silk tie. The other 20% of the cocoons are left alone until the moth chews through in order to continue the life cycle. Miss Robledo and I both bought silk comforters, which are cool in summer and warm winter.
Marriage Museum
We also visited a museum that explained the traditional wedding customs in China. Up until about 100 years ago, marriages were arranged before the children were born. A fortune teller was consulted to find out if the marriage would be a good one, and often match makers were involved in the process. Women did not have any rights and were called “so and so’s daughter” or “so and so’s wife.” If a husband chose to divorce his wife, she could never remarry, but he could. We also learned that it was very common for men to beat their wives because an ancient Chinese sayings states, “If you don’t beat your wife every three days, she will become unruly.” Needless to say, we are very thankful we were not born in ancient China!
Tongli City Pictures
Tongli's 49 rivers and many stone bridges and canals have given this small town the name, “Venice of the East.” We took a gondola ride on a canal, which was very picturesque. The Tongli houses were built in the Ming style and have old tile roofs. Very quaint. Then we had a yummy lunch in the oldest tea house in this part of China. We had two local delicacies, one tasted like barbequed pork and the other was a flat bread that was somewhat sweet with poppy seeds.
