Shanghai

We knew something was going on when we saw the man in this costume in the lobby.

Shanghai

Shanghai

He gave each of us a red good luck envelop. They contained pieces of gold–foil wrapped candy.

Shanghai

Shanghai

Exactly who this feast was for was not clear.

Shanghai

Shanghai

More of the feast. A roast pig on the left and a roasted chicken still with its head attached in the middle.

Shanghai

Shanghai

When we saw the dragon, we knew we were going to be in for a treat. There was to be a Chinese dragon dance in our hotel lobby to celebrate Chinese New Year’s. I have put a video of it on this website: Go Movies, Asia, China, “Chinese New Year’s Dragon Dance.” It is a very long video which gets very interesting around the middle of it.

Shanghai

Shanghai

We stepped over the spent firecrackers on our way to our bus. It was raining.

Shanghai

Suzhou

We drove to the city of Suzhou, about 2 hours from Shanghai. It started snowing. Photo: Passing some houses in Suzhou. They all are white. Suzhou has always been a rather well–to–do city, so its houses are bigger.

Suzhou

Suzhou

It was a rainy snow at sometimes and a heavier snow at others, hence the umbrellas. In the photo, Kathy and Sherry, our tour guides, encouraging us to come along. Leng had never seen it snowing so she was in for a treat. It’s been a long time since I have seen it snowing, so I considered it a treat as well.

Suzhou

Suzhou

The first place we visited was one of the about 60 gardens in Suzhou. A Chinese man asked to have his photo taken with Bill––it’s the hat!

Suzhou

Suzhou

Inside the Master of Fishing Nets Garden. Lots of snow here. Still hard to believe we were sightseeing while it was snowing. I have put my photos of this garden on a slide show on this website: Go to  Slide Shows, Asia, China,  “Suzhou: Master of Fishing Nets Garden.”

Suzhou

Suzhou

After visiting the garden, it was time for lunch. I think we didn’t get much sleep last night watching the fireworks. About this time, I was counting the number of Chinese meals I had left to eat. I already had about 20 so far, only about 5 or 6 more to go, so I was very happy to have a roast chicken (cut–up, no head) and spicy shrimp, two of my favorite “Western dishes,” on the lunch menu. All our Chinese meals were good, but you really do start to miss familar Western food.

Suzhou

Suzhou

But we had Ed to brighten our mood. He was our joke teller and kept us amused throughout our trip. He already had bought the green jacket in Beijing but picked up the Mao hat and Mao’s “Little Red Book” in Suzhou. He was reading to us from it. I don’t think he insulted the Chinese doing this, but it is hard to figure out exactly how Mao is viewed by the Chinese except that he is revered as the founder of China’s Communist Party. Actually, I don’t think anyone was paying attention to our group.

Suzhou

Suzhou

Ed also bought a Mao watch so he could keep Mao time. All these Mao items are sold as souvenirs for tourists to take home. A Chinese musician/singer came to our table to ask if we wanted him to sing a song for 20 yuan––$3.00. I said yes. I have put a video of it on this website: Go to  Movies, Asia, Chian,  “Chinese ‘I Love You More Than I Can Say.'”

Suzhou

Suzhou

From lunch, we walked across the way to visit a silk factory. Photo: a snow–covered palm tree.

Suzhou

Suzhou

A sign outside the entrance to the silk factory: “Our company was honored with the title Suzhou Civilized Unit.”

Suzhou

Suzhou

First, Sherry gave us a very interesting demostration of the making of a silk cocoon. No. 1: Adults moths mate. No. 2: The female moth lays many tiny eggs––see photo.

Suzhou

Suzhou

No. 3: A tiny black caterpillar hatches out of the egg. No. 4: The caterpillar eats mulberry leaves and keeps getting bigger and bigger. It molts four times. See photo.

Suzhou

Suzhou

No. 5: The caterpillar spins a cocoon of silk threads around itself. No. 6: The caterpillar changes into a pupa inside the cocoon. No. 7: The pupa changes into a moth and comes out of the cocoon and the whole process is repeated. Cocoons in the photo. Sherry also demostrated how you can tell real silk from fake silk: fake silk will burn rapidly and real silk hardly burns at all.

Suzhou

Suzhou

Next silk–making step: the grading of the cocoons. Here, this worker is doing this by hand. First choice in cocoons are ones that are clean and white in color, have a good luster, uniform thickness, and have a neat shape and size. Twin cocoons are used to make silk floss and are separated from the other cocoons. Rejects are also separated out.

Suzhou

Suzhou

Rejected cocoons.

Suzhou

Suzhou

Accepted cocoons.

Suzhou

Suzhou

Cocoon cooking to soften the silk inside the cocoons.

Suzhou

Suzhou

In this photo, you can make out the silk thread coming out of a cocoon. You can also see an empty cocoon.

Suzhou

Suzhou

An automatic silk–reeling machine is also used that replaces a good deal of human silk–reeling labor.

Suzhou

Suzhou

Another view of the automatic silk–reeling machine.

Suzhou

Suzhou

Looking backward at the factory.

Suzhou

Suzhou

The finished silk thread.

Suzhou

Suzhou

A silk–weaving machine.

Suzhou

Suzhou

This woman uses this mold to make small silk purses. She stretches silk over the mold.

Suzhou

Suzhou

A mold for a larger silk purse with silk stretched over it.

Suzhou

Suzhou

Here, women are pulling out sheets of silk, layer by layer, to make a silk quilt.

Suzhou

Suzhou

Silk reelings. Eight eggs are placed together for reeling.

Suzhou

Suzhou

Silk quilts are for sale here. A queen–size heavy–weight quilt costs from 600–750 yuan or $90 to $112. Good price considering that it takes 10,000 cocoons to make up one quilt. Silk duvets are twice the price as 20,000 cocoons are needed to make them. The silk quilts are supposed to be very warm, do not bunch up, and can be washed. Kathy said that this is one store where you can’t bargain for a better price, but there is no sales tax!

Suzhou

Suzhou

Pure silk scarves in the store. I bought some for gifts.

Suzhou

Suzhou

A silk dress. All kinds of items in silk were for sale in this store.

Suzhou

Suzhou

After the silk factory, we went on a cruise along the Grand Canal, which was started in 486 B.C. and took 1,000 years to build. It was to connect the Yangzi and Yellow Rivers and provided a route for Suzhou to ship their silk. It is the world’s largest man–made waterway. Forty–two percent of Suzhou is covered by water, making it known as the Venice of the Orient. I have put my photos of our cruise on a slide show on this website: Go to Slide Shows, Asia, China, “Suzhou: Grand Canal.” The windows of the boat were steamed over and I had just a small opening in the front of the boat to take photos, so some of the photos are water–logged or out of kilter. Photo: The Grand Canal.

Suzhou

Shanghai

Back in Shanghai––its colors were welcome after all the white of Suzhou.

Shanghai

Shanghai

Our restaurant for dinner was, I believe, along Nanjing Lu, the shopping street. The lights on it were beautiful.

Shanghai

Shanghai

More of the lights.

Shanghai

Shanghai

And more.

Shanghai