Silk is as big a part of China as green tea. Well, almost as big.
The Silk Road, an intricate trade route that connected Asia with the Mediterranean world and parts of Africa and Europe, was utilized 3,000 years ago.
Silk Tiger with a Peacock on backside on display at the Shu Brocade Workshop in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
More than silk traveled along the route, of course, but a German geographer retrospectively coined the term The Silk Road in 1877 and it stuck.
While visiting Chengdu, we opted to stop at a silk-making plant. At least we thought it was a silk-making plant. Turns out, the Shu Brocade Workshop was a place where you bought silk items. It was more of a showroom.
You probably won’t find it in many tour guides, but it was fascinating and turned out to be a great place to pick up a few gifts for family and friends back home.
Interesting was the fact they actually had a silk spinning loom, and two people were busy making a Shu brocade, a richly decorative shuttle-woven fabric often made in colored silk.
Since Sichuan Province is called “Shu” for short, the brocade produced in Chengdu and famous throughout China is called Shu brocade.
The intricacy of the loom boggles the mind. How in the world did someone invent this thing? It really is incredible to see in action.
The Shu Brocade Workshop also featured women working on embroidering silk products. The two-sided silk tiger and peacock — yes, one side is a tiger and you turn it around and see a peacock — took one year to make.
We also learned that to clean silk, besides taking it to a dry cleaners, use hair shampoo and cold water.
A spinning loom making Shu Brocade
If you want to see one of these looms, pick up some silk and/or watch someone making a brocade, the Shu Brocade Workshop is worth the stop.
- See more photos
- Next week: The fire-breathing opera star.
