Sunday, October 9, 2011

Last bit of touring before leaving Beijing...

We visited a silk factory and stopped by the famous Beijing snack street on the way back to the hotel.  In these photos you can see big brother demonstrating the strength of silk.  These ladies are pulling the silk to make the inside stuffing of a quilt--supposed to keep one warm in winter and cool in summer.  We would like to have a silk stuffed quilt, after hearing about all of the wonderful merits of silk. 

A worker at the factory showed us the different stages of silk worms.  There are single silk cocoons and double ones, with two worms inside.  The single cocoons create smooth silk for thread and fabric.  The double cocoons make tangled fibers for stuffing/batting--the two worms can't work together to make a smooth thread.  Silk can be made into many things, such as clothing, shoes, quilts, rugs, and mattresses.




Now... snack street...these open air vendor stands have many interesting snacks.  Some of big brother's most memorable:  whole squid bodies with the eyeballs taken out, fried seahorses, silk worms...

1 comment:

  1. LOL...I think I'm OUT on the snacks....did you try any of the squid or seahorse??!!!

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