June 6 – Shopping!

Ok, finally what I am here for! We hit two shopping spots today … pearls and silk. Did just die and go to heaven!?!?! I can’t reveal too much because some of these will make appearances as Christmas presents, but it was fun to help the other kids get pearls and explain to them just what a great deal this is. The No. 3 freshwater lake in china is famous for producing the no. 1 rare pearl, the gold pearl. A pendant with one gold pearl costs about $600 U.S. and they don’t negotiate too much with them. By the time I left I was offered a smaller one for $100 “best price for you1” and I declined, even though it was really hard.

The silk factory was next, and I love the story of the silkworm. My favorite part is when 2 silkworms “marry” they will stay together and create their cocoons, which turn out to be super huge, making the threads the longest and most coveted of all. Only about 7-8 per 100 end up “marrying” which shows how rare they are! All of this goes into making silk from Suzhuo the “No. 1 best spot for silk in the world!”