I learned more today about green tea than I have my entire life. Our day started with a visit to a nearby village of Mei Jia Wu, where they seem to grow nothing but tea. Amongst the things I learned included: how the different size of tea leaves produce different flavours; how the spring harvest is considered the best; how you can usually get five cups of green tea using the same leaves, how you should drink black tea in the morning, and how you should drink green tea about half an hour AFTER eating your lunch and dinner to assist in fat absorption.… Read the rest “China – Tea Plantation”
Earlier in the trip I wrote about how the “shopping parts” of the tour were the ones most likely to divide the men and the women of our group, including the jade factory, the silk factory, and the copper art works. But even if the blokes weren’t all that interested in the finished product, there was still something about manufacturing which was enough to keep the men interested. That wasn’t the case at today’s visit to the pearl factory.… Read the rest “China – Shopping and Travel”
Partly by design, and partly by chance, this ended up as a “shopping day”. The planned part was a visit to a “silk worm factory” in Suzhou. And when I say “factory”, I really mean showroom. The unexpected shopping expedition was when we went looking later in the afternoon for somewhere to have my haircut and my beard trimmed.
The visit to “Silkworld” was another part of the tour “compromise” I wrote about the other day.… Read the rest “China – Shopping Day”
I never thought I’d ever find much interest in silk embroidery images of the Mona Lisa and Chairman Mao, but somehow today I did. We’re spending the night in Suzhou, the silk capital of China (apparently) located about ninety minutes by bus from the centre of Shanghai.
The day started early. Really early. A four-thirty wake-up call for a five-thirty departure for the airport. I think it’s fair to say there was a degree of scepticism in the group about the need to leave so early.… Read the rest “China – Surprises”