suzhou, the venice of china

"the venice of the east"

...as soon as i heard that nickname for the city of suzhou, i knew we had to go!

this city was founded in 514 BC..what?! the canals, stone bridges, pagodas, and gardens were breathtaking. it is also a huge center for silk, so we were able to visit a silk factory and actually see the process of making silk from silkworms. i was blown away by the fact that they are still doing this by hand!

we loved exploring the canals & narrow alleyways

we were too hot to walk back along the canal, so chase found us some scooter rides with the nicest local chinese people! going over those canals at high speeds while holding on to a stranger was one of the best/ funniest/ most memorable moments. those are the moments i love travel for!

after exploring the canals, we headed to the most beautiful//huge garden and walked around it forever. i was obsessed with the giant lily pads, the elegant boats, and finding shade :)

more new friends

last but not least, we stopped by the famous silk factory.

i really felt so naive that i had never considered how silk was still made from silkworms.

the women were unwrapping the cocoons of silk made by the silk worms, and then putting it into machines to stretch it out and turn it into the highest quality silk!

after such a fun day we headed back to dinner at this pretty restaurant..

and then crossed the river into town to get to our next hotel.

suzhou was such a nice break from the bustling cities we had been in.

we loved it! next came hangzhou, which was even prettier!

xo