Old and New

Right in the middle of Shanghai city, here is an ancient temple stood among the modern high rises. Glad to see the contrast and that here is a sense of history. Much like the churches in Manhattan, the temple is visited by many.

Tea in China

The place is known as "Dragon Well" that produced green tea. Unlike the red tea that typical Chinese restaurants served in USA, the leaves are neither formated nor roasted. The color of the tea is yellowish and pale green, with a fresh taste.

The leaves are the sprout of the new leaves on the bushes, to be picked by hand in the Spring time.

Silk Tour

The grand tour of the silk shop includes the process from the cocoon of the silk worm to the extraction of the silk thread. Just can't imagine how my ancestor eve envisioned such an innovation. Can you?

The silk thread is so fine that they had to combine 8 lines of cocoon to form one silk thread. Perhaps it is for the number of eight which represents the symbol of infinity in side view. After all, the Chinese pride the silk to last forever. The tour guide demonstrates the way to tell the real silk apart from the "Fake" or "Pseudo
polyester Silk" by lighting the fabric. The burnt real silk smells like burnt hair. The flame stopped after a second or so. Whileas the fake silk lite up and smelt like burnt plastic, highly inflammable.

Why is real silk so costly? The process is done by much trained human skills: from selecting the good cocoon, reserving the twin cocoons for the mega long threads, to drawing out the thread. Every step requires hands and eyes coordination.

Sorry, I am not able to verify the number of cocoons took to manufacture a silk scarf or a tie. My questions were like the silk thread, kept going and going . . .

Memory

Of the distant childhood. Was thrilled that mom found this photo somewhere, somehow it surfaced.

Guess I will exercise my photoshop skills very soon.