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 . . .