We fly from Xian to Nanjing. Here we visit the
Yun Brocade Research Centre. Yun Brocade is woven in raised patterns with gold
and silver threads and is considered the most sophisticated of all types of
weaving.
We visit the examination hall where Mandarins
took the civil tests. There is a special local market we visit and the City
Wall is believed to be the longest ancient city wall in the world. It is soon
to be listed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO.
From Nanjing, we travel to Suzhou by train.
Suzhou was founded in 514 BC and is built around an intricate network of
canals and criss-crossing bridges that fan out from the Grand Canal. Suzhou is
known for its classic gardens and has a long history of silk embroidery and
the production of silk.
We visit the Lingering Garden, notable for its
viewing pavilions. This Ming Dynasty estate has the finest single specimen of
rock from Lake Tai.
We will tour the Silk Embroidery Research
Institute as well as its wonderful garden with some very special rocks. They
will open their small museum of embroidered robes and two-sided embroideries
for our group.
We have arranged a special dim-sum lunch at a
local tea garden restaurant.
We take the train back to Shanghai and enjoy
lunch at the Yu Garden teahouse. We visit the Friendship Store and shop for
antiques. We enjoy a buffet dinner at our hotel.
The next morning we go high above the city to
check the view from the 88th floor of the Jin Mao Tower. It is the tallest
building in China and the world's third tallest. We visit the Bound Foot Shoe
Museum in a private home and the famed Shanghai Museum.
Some of our time in Hong Kong is unscheduled.
Many clients visited Hong Kong before and have favorite restaurants, shopping
areas, museums, etc. Of course, we all ride the Star Ferry and return to
Victoria Peak for another visit.
