10/20/07-Suzhou(Silk Spinning Factory)/Tongli/Suzhou

After breakfast, we visited a Silk Spinning Factory. This was a fascinating venue. We were ushered into a private room where a young lady explained the entire silk worm process from male and female mating, through formation of the eggs, the spinning of the cocoon, and what the actual adult worms look like and their eating regime (Mulberry Leaves). Then we entered the actual factory where the individual cocoons are stripped of the silk and the pupae are discarded. The silk strands are collected on rolls and eventually become woven into the final products (garments, sheets, ties, etc,.). The store followed and then a buffet lunch at the factory. Back on the bus we went and drove for an hour to Tongli.

Tongli is a pretty little water town (45,000 people) that is purported to look like Suzhou did before it became the big city it is today. From the bus we were packed onto a jitney that whisked us through the busy commercial area, dropping us off at the canal. From there we walked along the canal and over some very attractive bridges, passing charming little restaurants, many children, and visiting a few buildings that had historical significance. It seems that this area was at one time influential as a place where some rebellions began. Anyway, we liked this town a lot and probably could have stayed longer but our schedule didn't permit.

We returned to Suzhou for a tour around the city.

To see pictures taken this day click Suzhou/Tongli/Suzhou.

Note: The canal system in China was started in 486 BC with the intention of linking the Yangtze River with the Yellow River and the populous north (Peking (now Beijing) to the rice producing region in the south (now Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou). It took a thousand years to complete and is the largest (1,112 miles) man-made waterway in the world.