Sericulture Tour - Making Silk in Shanghai

On Saturday, September 27, Chris and I joined the Shanghai & Beyond tour group on a trip to Nanxun, which is about 90 minutes southwest of Shanghai, to learn about Sericulture - the process of raising silkworms.

In the Yangtze river delta, silkworms are raised only twice a year-May and September, so we took to a tour out to Nanxun, an old water town, to see this ancient skill and observe the traditional methods still being used today. According to our guides, this heritage skill will eventually fade into history as China’s younger generation seeks sustainable and better paying jobs in the cities.

We started our day at the factory, where we saw some of the finished silk bedding products produced for the Chinese market.  We learned that the factory owner purchases eggs from the University in Suzhou, where they have the moths who lay the eggs that will grown into silkworms.  The eggs go to the farmers to be raised for 30 days.  There are many farmers raising silkworms for the factory, so we went to a farm to see the process up close.


The farm didn't look at all like what we think a farm is - it was a long table in the back room of someone's house with 20,000 silkworms spread out on a table munching on mulberry leaves.  

The farmers were very happy to see us, as were there neighbors, who came out to take pictures of us.  The silkworms were nearing the end of their 30-day growth cycle, during which they have to be watched and fed constantly.  The noise of them eating their mulberry leaves was amazing and the constantly wiggling table was a little creepy.  Within a few days, the silkworms will poop and then begin to spin their cocoons.  Once the silken cocoons are finished, the farmer will harvest and boil them, thereby killing the worm inside, and deliver them to the factory.  It takes a good 10,000 cocoons to make an average duvet, so the factory receives hundreds of thousands of cocoons.


We drove from the farm back to the factory to see the different types of bedding made by this particular factory and learn about the process of taking this silken thread and stretching it into the filling of these remarkable duvets.  Silk duvets keep you both warm and cool and are lightweight, soft and fluffy.  We've had them in our home in Elmhurst for more than 10 years, but didn't really understand the process until this tour.


Everyone was given the opportunity to purchase bedding, if desired, even though shopping is not a usual component of a Shanghai and Beyond tour.  Of course, we ordered a new "summer weight" duvet for our king-sized bed back in the U.S. as well as a new pillow for me.  The silk is hypo-allergenic, so I want to see how well I like the pillows, as we've never tried them before.
 
The factory owners live on the factory complex and hosted us for the private tour and then served us lunch at their home.  Of course, I had checked ahead of time and couldn't eat any of the lunch, as we had no idea what was in any of it, so I brought a lunch of my own.  Chris enjoyed it though.  :)
 
After lunch, we headed back to the old part of town, the beautiful old water town.  We toured the 19th century homes and gardens of the wealthy families that helped build the silk industry in the community and took a boat ride on the canals.  The canals were so peaceful and the gardens were lovely.

Even though it was a three-hour round trip drive, the tour was fascinating and well worth the drive.  We learned a lot, had a beautiful day in the country, and ordered some great new silk bedding.