Ni hao!
This morning we took a boat cruise on the Suzhou canal. Suzhou's nickname is "Venice of the East" since their canals look a lot like Venice. The canals used to be used for trading and markets, but today they are just a major tourist attraction.
After our beautiful morning cruise, we went to the Suzhou Silk Institute to learn how they spin silk and make products from it. This tour was similar to many other tours of factories in China. Our tour guide showed us around the factory and then took us to the gift shops to buy some real silk. This was one of my favorite stops so far and I did bring home quite a few souvenirs.
We then visited the milk processing plant where the dairy farm that we visited yesterday ships their milk. It was interesting to find out that China does not have a demand for cheese because the Chinese just don't eat it. They also only processed whole milk at this plant. You would never find skim, 1% or 2% milk in China. They make a product called "student milk" as well. This milk contains even more nutrients than whole milk. After the tour of the plant I had the opportunity to try their yogurt, which is packaged in a cup and is drank through a straw. This was the first time I have eaten dairy products on this whole trip. Their milk is packaged in single serving bags and is drank warm in the winter and cold in the summer.
The last stop of the day was at the Suzhou Vegetable Research Institute. After visiting about five greenhouses in China, I am realizing that plant research is a specialty of theirs.
We had a long bus ride back to Shanghai tonight. Thanks for reading!
Caitlin
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