silk and canals

On our last day in China, we headed off to Suzhou -- the canaled "Venice of China" (according to Marco Polo) and the land of silk.

I should also mention its modern product.  Suzhou is a major computer manufacturing area.  If you use a mouse, there is a 90% chance that it came from Suzhou.

But we were not there on a technology hunt.  We had come to ride the canals and buy silk.

To be fair, the canals of Suzhou bear very little resemblance to Venice, other than the fact that they contain water.

And our boat was no gondola.  Most of my fellow travelers and I shared a common trait.  We carried a bit of heft on our frames.  I am not certain how low the boats usually ride in the water.  But, once we boarded, the waves were lapping the gunwales.

It has been some time since the canal area of Suzhou was trendy.  But people live here in a bit more like what I had anticipated when I came to China.  Like using the space available for parking.  (This would be a tough parking job for a drinking driver.)

Or doing the laundry.  Or gathering water for the home.  Or simply washing out your paint equipment.  In the general purpose canal.

Suzhou was the first opportunity we had to see a traditional market.  In this case, a "wet market" where live animals are sold.

The lady on the motorcycle had just picked out the fowl she wanted.  The vendor (in pink) wring its neck and started plucking feathers.  Rather like picking out your own lobster from the tank.

After our little canal cruise, we headed off to a silk "factory."  First our guide gave us a talk on the life cycle of the silk moth, its caterpillar, and the valuable cocoon it spins.  Complete with the unusual Puritanical language of Communist China referring to Mr. and Mrs. Moth.

Like most of the sales rooms we visited, there was a Potemkin Village factory that was designed to give us the feeling that the entire silk process was performed on the ancient machines set out for our amusement.

The descriptions were interesting, if a bit deceptive.  But there was no doubt where the tour would lead -- into a warren of sales room where everything that could be made of silk was on offer.  Bedding.  Table clothes and napkins.  Art.  Coats.  Pants.  Shirts.  And miles of scarves.

After a couple hours of silk shopping, our guide helped us to relax with a visit to a garden known as Master of the Nets.  The owner's daughter was rescued from drowning by a fisherman's net.  He built the garden in 1140 in honor of the event.

In this mosaic, you can see the squares of the fisherman's net with knots at each corner.  This portion of the net includes a shrimp and a fish caught in the net.

Standing at this point, the garden did what is was designed to do.  I reflected.  I relaxed.

And appreciated the beauty of a simple window that seemed strikingly modern and ancient in its composition.

So ended the trip to China.

It was a bargain in many ways.  It certainly did not cost much.  But I gained much for little money.  Including a desire to one day walk China's roads again.