Had an excellent sleep - must have been the bed!

Weather was a bit dull, warm but not alot of sunshine, a nice start to the day though, comfortable later start with our first stop at a silk factory.

We learnt about the blind, flightless, egg-laying silk moth, whose larvae hold the secret to silk. It brought back memories of when we kept them in a shoe box, and feed them lots of mulberry leaves.

Silk was originally reserved for only the imperial household, then it was traded extensively as an important source of income and often was used as a form of payment of salaries.

There are two types of cocoons, the single larvae - a smaller size cocoon and then the double - a larger size - which is two larvae in one cocoon.  

We watched how the cocoons are steamed to soften the sticky gum and allow the silk strands to be seperated, so several strands can be woven to make one silk thread.

The double cocoons were soaked and stretched over a drying frame, these cocoons are used to make quilts.    We watched how each layer was put together to make a bed quilt.   These bed quilts actually retrain warmth, yet is lightweight and cool, so can be used in winter or summer, no washing is required, the quilt just needs an air now and again.

We were introduced to some pretty good buys, the lot of us bought a quilt each, they were so beautiful and priced so well, we couldn't resist.   I know when I have it on my bed, I will wonder how many cocoons it took to make the quilt? I did ask, and can't remember, about 120 I think, about 60 layers.

We all finished in the silk clothing area, scarfs were beautiful, as were the coverups.

After collecting our quilts which were vaccuumed packed for easy packing, we then took the bus to the Yu Yuan Gardens.   The classic residential garden was built originally by a treasurer about 400 years ago in the Ming dynasty. It was built to please his parents in their old ages, hence the name of the garden means "pleasing one's parents", The garden is divided into six scenic areas, which makes it feel like a maze and seems larger than it is. On top of the white walls, sits a dragon with only four claws (as an imperial dragon has five, this would therefore not incur the emperors wrath).

The rocks in the garden one of the best Ming rockeries, is supposed to mimic the peaks, caves, gorges of southern China.   The rocks that the Chinese use in the gardens are unusual, they are all odd shapes and have holes in them, they are limestone and grey. The Chinese can sit in the gardens for hours, working out what each rock means to them, by the shape.

Outside the gardens is the Bazaar which is made of many shops that sell everything from tourist souvenirs to traditional medicines. The Bazaar has alot of craft displays also and it's definately a place when you can haggle over prices.   I believe any tourist that visits Shanghai, will get to hear about and visit the Bazaar during their stay, it's the old part of the city.

We had an hour to wander around, it's lots of fun having a try to buy at lower prices, to pick up some good bargins.

For lunch, something a bit different, finger foods, they call it Shanghai Snacks, very nice, the restaurant was one that is situated in the Bazaar area.

Our next stop was at The Bund, or Zhongshan Dong Yi Road, it was the heart of colonial Shanghai, along side the Huangpu River. Most of the old buildings - banks, offices, hotels are still in place from the early 1900's, some are just a facade as they are too old inside to reside in, others are now beautiful hotels.   The view from the Bund across the River is the new modern commerical area Pudong, a contrast to the old, which is rather funny because the Pudong area in the mid 20th century was once the poorest quarter, a huddle of slums and brothels, also home to gangsters, now the transformation of some of the largest building sites and skyscapers. The Oriental Pearl TV Tower is space like and the World Financial Centre has been nicknamed the bottle opener.

We had half an hour to walk along the Bund, a massive walkway running all the way along the waterfront. We came across a few city sculptures along the way.

It started to sprinkle rain, so we made it to the bus and was asked would we all like to go on the fastest train in the world - the Maglev - the train runs as if you float in the air, it's all magnet. The boys definately were keen to do this option, so we climbed on the train and were asked to sit on the side that another train would pass by at the same speed. We were told that often it's so fast there is not much chance to get a photo, but some do.   Well we were up for challenge, 120, 140, 210, ok 320, my gosh 380 it's so fast......431 km's..............yes I'm not joking, the train goes that fast!   And no-one got the photo, bar John of a side shot, I jumped too high from my seat with a fright when it passed by to even think about pressing buttons on a camera.  A few did get the photo's on the return, I still didn't.   It was pretty exciting that trip, as it was scary but felt safe, oddly enough.

We returned back to the hotel for a short rest before our last dinner all together.

Dinner was a bit sad, we exchanged contact details and then returned back to the hotel for drinks at the bar, talked with Erin our guide until it was time to go, as most had to pack and get ready to leave the next day.    There were some happy tears shed, as Erin was such an excellent guide and we all become quite close.

John and Cherie were one of the couples that were leaving the next day, shame, the four of us, would shortly be two left in China for the week, and two travelling home.