China Diary -- Part 42 Leaving Suzhou

Suzhou is also famed as a center of the silk industry so it made sense that our last destination there was a silk factory. There we were treated to a nice demonstration of how silk fibers were harvested, treated, and prepared for use in textiles..., and of course there was yet another shopping opportunity.


Here are some of the employees drawing silk thread from the cocoons. After that the threads are blended, packed and pulled out into thin sheets.


And after spinning, weaving and dying and printing we end up with this.


"She Who Must Not Be Named" was in heaven. All those things to buy and no shortage of people to assist her.


Finally, laden down with silk products, nicely baled up for transport, we headed back to the buses and embarked for our next destination -- the water town of Wuzhen.