Beijing -- Silk Factory

Our next stop of the day was at a Silk Factory....

I absolutely LOVED this rug!!!
Didn't see a price tag, though, but was sure-- if I had to ask the price, I couldn't afford it.....

Our host was describing the life of the silk worm. Each cylinder shows the next stage of development. He talked about the occasion where two silk worms would 'cocoon' together. Even though that would make for twice the silk, the strands would be all tangled, showing-- two worms don't make it right.

Silk is removed from around the worm in one of two ways....
With the silk cocoons in bowls of water, these machines are unwrapping the silk creating silk threads used for scarves, ties, robes, etc. You could barely see the threads in mid-air as they are so fine. The cocoons in the water looked like jumping beans as they'd get pulled out of the water as the thread was removed.

 

The other removal is by hand, removing the cocoon and stretching it out over these wooden arches. Before being stretched, it would look like a finger-tip cover.

 

Our host was showing us just how strong the silk is!

When the silk casings have been removed and stretched out some, they carefully spread them out, looking like a spider web, and lay it atop a stack of other silk layers. These will be used as filling for a duvet. The duvets are varying thicknesses depending on the level of warmth needed. Extremely light, yet very snuggly warm!!

Again, the kids got a try!
The adults got to try this one, too. It really was amazing how much it could be spread without breaking!!

Following the demonstration, we were given thirty minutes to shop, which was not near enough time to investigate all the lovely items they had for sale!! We did learn, they were right--- they prices at the government 'factory' were MUCH better than at other stores having to pay middle-man fees.

Then it was off to lunch....
Sunny informed us the Chinese eat everything--
everything with four legs except the table
and everything with two wings except a plane :0)

Our first lunch was at the WaHaHa Hotel, which is owned by the richest man in China!!

Sunny was telling us about the 'gifts' placed before the Buddha statue.

Isn't that just a lovely sink??

Our dining room and our lunch...
(This is Flat Stanley from Lawson, Missouri!)

Served in traditional Chinese style-- on a giant lazy susan in the middle of the table. At this meal we had sweet and sour pork, beef and potatoes, bok choy, steamed fish, soup, tofu and celery, and chicken and carrots. And, traditionally accompanied by rice and hot jasmine tea!! Fruit comes out last as dessert.

This place really had some interesting light fixtures!!

 

Following lunch, we were off for two more adventures:
Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City!!