Content:
Visits to silk worm-rearing farmhouses, the China Silk Museum, famous silk manufacturers, silk fashion shows, and purchase of brand-name silk products of
Hangzhou.
Chinese silk is famous in the world, and Zhejiang, in which Hangzhou lies, is one of the places of origin of Chinese silk as well as its resurgent place. Zhejiang began to produce silk some 4,000 years ago. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the prince Goujian of the Yue Kingdom
called upon his people to develop silk industry as a means to recover his country, leaving behind the touching story of Xishi the Beauty Washing Silk Yarn by a Stream. In the Five Dynasties period, Hangzhou as the capital of Wuyue Kingdom had overrun the North in silk production and became the No.1 silk producer in the country. By the period of the Southern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou had become the national silk center, laying down a solid foundation for today's important position of Hangzhou in the silk industry of the country.
In 1986, the state built the China Silk Museum. Opened in 1992, this large national museum has a floor space of more than 7,000 sq. meters. It is divided into the Introduction Hall, Historical Relics Hall, Folk Custom Hall, Silk Hall, Silk Production Hall, Silk Knitting Hall, Printing and Dyeing Hall, Modern Achievements Hall. The museum displays with pictures, treasures and on-the-spot demonstrations rare silk products and a complete process of production, from picking mulberry leaves and raising silkworms to processing silk products, and a history of silk for 5,000 years, absorbing you with a fascinating journey of silk and Chinese culture.
After the late Tang Dynasty, Hangzhou,
Ningbo and other places in Zhejiang became key ports in China's newly emerged maritime silk road. As a result, Zhejiang silk established a special kinship with Japan, where the spinning and weaving technology for kimono and Baudot Fabrics was developed under the influence of Zhejiang's silk knitting and sewing technology.
Hangzhou has now the largest silk joint venture in the country, the Hangzhou Silk Group. There are also the Dujinsheng Brocade Factory, famous in the world for its silk brocades, and numerous silk weaving mills, with their silk products increasing both in design and color.
The main content of the Tour of Silk is the visit of silkworm-rearing farmhouses, Hangzhou's famous silk enterprises, the China Silk Museum, and silk fashion shows, and purchase of Hangzhou silk products. The program also provides visitors with a China Silk Road tourist guide and related services.
