April
22, Sunday
Driving from Shanghai to Suzhou
The Grand Canal in Suzhou
Our boat, sitting very low in the water !
Scenes along the small canals in Suzhou
Beautiful old bridges along the way. People hang their laundry out a lot, have you noticed?
Doing laundry in the canal and washing their dishes. Ooooh Yuck !
Little girl and her mom looking at us, looking at them
Another boat like ours, coming from the opposite direction
Love the doorway into a courtyard
Now that's a small boat.
I'm sure it must be very damp in these old houses along the canal.
Another gorgeous bridge. Perla: Do you remember the pictures we purchased in Ottawa during one of your trips? Bet you they were scenes from Suzhou !
Same bridge, but from the other side of the boat
Very peaceful in most areas.
Then we got to the restaurant district, where it was a bit busier
Too bad we didn't stop !
A couple in fancy dress with their photographers. A wedding possibly ?
Beautiful small overhead bridges
Then we are back on the Grand Canal
Suzhou does have a modern section. It is a huge city.
Look back at the last bridge
This the the Panmen Park where cruise ended. Beautiful huge mural and there was also a huge statue, but no indication in English of who he was.
Panmen Gate or `Land and Water Gate` It is a 2,500 year old City Wall
It would have been nice to have some time here on our own to just wander around the old city and its bridges and canals. Just not enough time !
IF YOU ARE PLANNING A TRIP TO THIS AREA, TRY TO SPEND A FEW DAYS IN SUZHOU.
Embroidered silk. Sorry, no indication of how old this piece is.
Embroidered silk Court Robes
The ancient looms that were used
We see ladies wetting and processing the cocoons by hand. Quite impressive. The cocoons are taken from the large vat in front, to the smaller vat at the back
In this shot, you can actually see the woven thread going up to the spool
This is one of the big looms producing the silk cloth
And this is the patern which determines the weave and the colour of the threads that will make the pattern. Looks like an old "player piano" scroll, or one of the first computer coding sheets.
The specialty of this factory is the making of “Choyers” duvets; the stuffing is silk ! Yes, the part you don’t see. What makes them special is that silk remains cool to the touch, makes an extremely light duvet, keeps you cool in the summer and warm in the winter. We watched the ladies processing the cocoons for this and making the 100 layrs of silk required for just one of their duvets !
They put the cocoons in boiling water, open them up to take the pupa out (just like pitting a prune) and then stretch the cocoon out over a metal arch. They put a total of 10 cocoons on the same arch. (actually 20 layers now)
Suzhou small streets, on the drive to the restaurant.
We leave the factory and head back into the city for
lunch at a local restaurant where I decide to sample a small bit of broth from
the fish soup (did not like the taste) but eat of everything else. As usual, the other dishes are
delicious. and there is always many dishes to choose from.
The small laneways we walk down to get the the Garden
The elaborate gate that lead us into the inner courtyard. This is so elaborately carved in wood. Not an inch of space left uncarved.
Details of the two little carvings above the doorway
Elaborately carved window & door screens.
One of the halls / rooms on the grounds
Part of the rockeries that form the garden
I love these round door openings, and the elaborate wooden screen windows and doors.
“The gardens were laid out during the Song Dynasty. The outstanding feature of this small but elegant garden is that it combines living quarters with the landscape garden. The physical centre is a pond surrounded by roofed walkways and pavilions, and decorated with trees, flowers and rockery.”
The main building on this site is the Hall of 10,000 Volumes, “a magnificent reception hall which was used by the owner for entertaining guests and dealing with family affairs. About 10,000 volumes of books were once kept here.”
Jig saw puzzle ! ! !
Another elaborately decorated hall in the gardens.
It is quite beautiful, but my stomach is acting up and I have to use the bathroom many times while the rest of the group takes a Chinese calligraphy lesson, which they thoroughly enjoyed.
Mary, Wendy and Shirley having a blast ! Evelyn and Sandy in the background
Great detail in the architecture of this highrise apartment building
A HUGE flower monument in Shanghai
Again, we only have about an hour to get ready for our farewell dinner at the Fairmont Peace Hotel,. I would prefer to just stay in my hotel room since I’m not feeling any better, but it is a special occasion so I get dressed and go with the group.
When we get to the hotel, there is a Canada Flag flying above the entrance. Now that's a welcome !
The dining room at the Fairmont Peace Hotel
Back at the hotel I head straight to my room after saying good-bye to those I will not be seeing again tomorrow. I’m asleep in no time.
Today is a day tour to Suzhou (Su Zhou), a “town” of over 6.3
million people in 2010. “Originally founded in 514 BC, Suzhou has over 2,500 years of rich
history, and relics of the past. The
city's canals, stone bridges, pagodas, and meticulously designed gardens have contributed to its status as one of the top tourist attractions
in China. Since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), it has also been an important
centre for China's silk industry. The classical gardens
in Suzhou were added to
the list of the UNESCO World
Heritage Sites in 1997 and
2000.” This is the “Venice of the East” and there are canals
everywhere. We get to go on a short
cruise on the canals and disembark on the Grand Canal system.
The Grand Canal in Suzhou
Our boat, sitting very low in the water !
Scenes along the small canals in Suzhou
Beautiful old bridges along the way. People hang their laundry out a lot, have you noticed?
Doing laundry in the canal and washing their dishes. Ooooh Yuck !
Little girl and her mom looking at us, looking at them
Another boat like ours, coming from the opposite direction
Love the doorway into a courtyard
Now that's a small boat.
I'm sure it must be very damp in these old houses along the canal.
Another gorgeous bridge. Perla: Do you remember the pictures we purchased in Ottawa during one of your trips? Bet you they were scenes from Suzhou !
Same bridge, but from the other side of the boat
Very peaceful in most areas.
Then we got to the restaurant district, where it was a bit busier
Too bad we didn't stop !
A couple in fancy dress with their photographers. A wedding possibly ?
Beautiful small overhead bridges
Then we are back on the Grand Canal
Suzhou does have a modern section. It is a huge city.
Look back at the last bridge
This the the Panmen Park where cruise ended. Beautiful huge mural and there was also a huge statue, but no indication in English of who he was.
Panmen Gate or `Land and Water Gate` It is a 2,500 year old City Wall
It would have been nice to have some time here on our own to just wander around the old city and its bridges and canals. Just not enough time !
IF YOU ARE PLANNING A TRIP TO THIS AREA, TRY TO SPEND A FEW DAYS IN SUZHOU.
We then visit a silk factory and get to see how the
cocoons are processed “by hand”. The
older buildings were built in 1926 and we get to see some mulberry bushes. This is the secret to silk worms. Whatever it is in the chemical composition of mulberry trees, it is worth a fortune.
There is a museum section in the factory
Embroidered silk Court Robes
The ancient looms that were used
Naturally coloured silk threads
We then are showed samples of silk worms in
their various stages of development, as well as the cocoons and silk
threads. The cocoons are first sorted by quality. The best ones are used for weaving into fabric.
The threads from each cocoon at the back are wound together and rolled up on the spools at the top
The specialty of this factory is the making of “Choyers” duvets; the stuffing is silk ! Yes, the part you don’t see. What makes them special is that silk remains cool to the touch, makes an extremely light duvet, keeps you cool in the summer and warm in the winter. We watched the ladies processing the cocoons for this and making the 100 layrs of silk required for just one of their duvets !
They put the cocoons in boiling water, open them up to take the pupa out (just like pitting a prune) and then stretch the cocoon out over a metal arch. They put a total of 10 cocoons on the same arch. (actually 20 layers now)
Four workers then stand at four sides of a large table and
pull the arched sikl out until it fits over the
table. It really looks like magic ! You can see the size of the arch on the previous
picture, and yet it can be stretched out to the size of a single, double, queen or
king size duvet !
They will do this 100 times (that is now 2,000 layers!)
to make a general weight silk quilt. AMAZING and all done by hand !
And of course there is a huge Choyers store where you can
buy all sorts of silk products, the main one being duvets made of silk threads,
hundreds of layers of them to form the stuffing. Extremely soft and cool to the touch. They also sell the covers for the duvets and
these are also made of silk, or of silk and cotton, or simply of cotton. Quite a few people purchased the duvets and
these were specially vacuum packed for easy transportation. No, I did not buy one, but I really should
have bought one and had it shipped back home.
I regret it now. {Those of you on
the tour who purchased one, can you send me the information from your shipping
slip? Maybe I can buy one on-line and
have it shipped to Canada.}
In the afternoon we visit the “Classical Gardens of
Suzhou”; UNESCO has declared these World Heritage Sites and they are now
protected. Although our brochure indicated
that we would be visiting Yipu Garden (also knows as the Garden of Cultivation)
we were very lucky today and were taken
to “The Master-of-Nets Garden” instead
(also known as “The Hall of 10,000 Volumes”) which are much bigger than
Yipu. After walking through tiny lane
ways, we reach the entrance to the site.
The elaborate gate that lead us into the inner courtyard. This is so elaborately carved in wood. Not an inch of space left uncarved.
Details of the two little carvings above the doorway
Elaborately carved window & door screens.
One of the halls / rooms on the grounds
Part of the rockeries that form the garden
I love these round door openings, and the elaborate wooden screen windows and doors.
“The gardens were laid out during the Song Dynasty. The outstanding feature of this small but elegant garden is that it combines living quarters with the landscape garden. The physical centre is a pond surrounded by roofed walkways and pavilions, and decorated with trees, flowers and rockery.”
The main building on this site is the Hall of 10,000 Volumes, “a magnificent reception hall which was used by the owner for entertaining guests and dealing with family affairs. About 10,000 volumes of books were once kept here.”
Jig saw puzzle ! ! !
Another elaborately decorated hall in the gardens.
It is quite beautiful, but my stomach is acting up and I have to use the bathroom many times while the rest of the group takes a Chinese calligraphy lesson, which they thoroughly enjoyed.
We finally get back to the bus and I’m really not feeling
well during the 1 ½ hour drive back to Shanghai.
A HUGE flower monument in Shanghai
Again, we only have about an hour to get ready for our farewell dinner at the Fairmont Peace Hotel,. I would prefer to just stay in my hotel room since I’m not feeling any better, but it is a special occasion so I get dressed and go with the group.
When we get to the hotel, there is a Canada Flag flying above the entrance. Now that's a welcome !
The dining room at the Fairmont Peace Hotel
I can’t manage to eat
any of the food and end up ordering a ginger ale to try to settle my stomach. There is a cold wet washcloth beside each of our
plates, and I escape to the bathroom a number of times to apply it to my
forehead and nape. Kit and Wendy keep an
eye on me and ensure I’m OK.
All in all, we have had a great trip together and it is a
happy celebratory occasion rather than a sad one. We raise our glasses a few times to toast each other. My fellow travellers on this journey: Sandy & Evelyn, Jim & Shirley, Willy & Pauline, Kinsey & Joan,
George & Mary, Peter & Rhoda, Michael, Wendy. THANK YOU FOR A LOVELY TIME. A very nice group, led by Kit our famous
Tour Manager / Mom / you name it, she took care of it !Back at the hotel I head straight to my room after saying good-bye to those I will not be seeing again tomorrow. I’m asleep in no time.
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