The program took us on a day-trip of Suzhou, only 2 hours away from
Shanghai by bus. We tasted a bit of history with a boat tour of the
Grand Canal, and saw the xiaoqiaoliushui (quaint houses and scenic
views) depicted by famous paintings and newspaper articles we’ve read
in Chinese class. We strolled through the Suzhou Museum, a design of
I.M. Pei, and from there walked to the Humble Administrator’s Garden.
What I loved more than anything else was the visit to a silk factory
(it’s a little nerdy, I know, but you’re talking to the person who went
to Japan to see the Toyota plant and was awed by the efficiency of
conveyor sushi restaurants). The factory conducted a tour showing us
first the silk worms on their mulberry leaves, then their silk cocoons,
followed by the boiling process and finally the method by which
machines, with the aid of workers, plaited 8 silk stands to make silk
thread. Reflecting on the trip later, I was amazed that we are still
able to drift on a canal that has been functional for over a millennium
and witness the silk production, a process that has been continuously
refined since the BC’s.
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