Day 7 - Chengdu

After an uneventlfut 1.5 hour flight from Xian to Chengsu we were met by a young man named Alex - our guide for the day.  Right from the airport we went for a Chinese lunch.  Every lunch has been delicious and more food than we can eat.  Everyone - kids included - is trying new foods - most we like, just a few we don't.

 

From there we went to learn about silk.  We saw the silk worms, the pupa, the cocoons and then finally the silk before it is wovenin to thread or fabric.  We watched a team work an intirciate loom.  The woman worked the strings - there were at least 6-7 sets of strings.  SHe would put one set in and then she would pull on that set of strings, while the man actually worked the shuttle on the loom.  In one day (about 8 hours) together they can weave about 15 centimeters!  We learned to tell the difference between a machine made silk and a handmade silk fabric.  Handmade has the same pattern on both sides.

 

We learned that women (and sometimes men) eat the silkworm pupas for a snack.  It's supposed to be good for your skin and eye sight.  They also drink worm poop tea or put the silk worm poop into a pillow to sleep on - again to improve their eyesight.  Then we saw some women embroidering - their embroidery needle is sooo small - which explains the worm poop tea....I guess!  Their handiwork was impreesive - both sides were perfect and displayed the design without flaw, loose threads or knots visible.

 

From there we helped to stretch some a silk square of about 1 by 3 feet into a queen size blanket.  Layer after layer of stretching the smaller squares eventually makes the insides of the silk blankets.  Depending on how many squares you stretch will determine the weight of the blanket - summer weight (1500 grams)  or all season weight (2000 grams) or a winter weight (2500 grams).  After that we had fun buying our silk blankets, silk duvet covers, silk scarves and silk pillows that unzip and turn into a small blanket.

 

From there we headed to our hotel, YinHe Dynasty Hotel.  This time our rooms are 3 in a row.  In Xian they had been spread far apart - same floor but at complete opposite ends of the hallway.  At that point we were desparate to get internet access (after 2 days in Xian with none), so I could retrieve Yuzhen's mobile phone number.  After a little delay I was able to get Yuzhen's number and then call her. 

 

Joyce