April 2, 2012, agh, there's nothing like the feel of Silk

Slept in until 7:30, breakfast by 8:30, on a bus at 9:15. We have been on the go for 3 weeks! Going to a national park and a silk factory this morning...fascinating process, very expensive. After lunch a tour on a 'gondola' (really a tine boat with a roof and a motor, on the canal. Saw people 'voiding' (sorry) cleaning, cooking, living. Saw poverty played against the very wealthy...no different than we've seen most every where. What i forgot to mention when we were on the 3 Gorges Damn tour was this was a very controvertial sp?...tired))decision to re-locate these people from their ancestral homes to spots further up the mountains but two of our guides said the government subsidized the purchases of their new homes substantially and that they were far better off than many of the Chinese people of the same age in other cities. The state owns all of the land...even the land that the hotels are on or the foreign businesses. The state gives the businesses (and tenants) 75 year leases. In Beijing an apartment that was 32 square metres was $15,000 Yuan per square metre. Our guide in Chongqing had a 1,200 square foot apartment paid off. he was 35. Dinner was back at the hotel. very good but nothing we hadn't seen before. We've eaten Chinese since we arrived here except for two nights. Tomorrow has us moving to a new hotel in Shanghai. we'll visit a cashmere factory and I'll give you more details tomorrow. We're pooped but still happy. the group we're travelling with is so good. Good night from china!