丝绸

Why this place

Silk was China's monopoly for three thousand years — the secret of reeling it from silkworm cocoons was a state secret, and the route it travelled west gave the Silk Road its name. It is still produced here, and the whole process from mulberry leaf to woven brocade can be watched in the same workshops.

What to see

• Suzhou's Silk Museum and the workshops along the Grand Canal
• Hangzhou's China National Silk Museum, the largest in the world
• Chengdu's Shu brocade workshops, where the traditional drawloom is still used
• Nanjing's Yunjin brocade research institute, with its gold-thread weaving
• Hangzhou's China Silk Town, for buying fabric directly

What to eat

• Not a food — but silkworm pupae are eaten as a snack in the silk districts
• The mulberry fruit (mulberry) is sold fresh in early summer

How to plan

Hangzhou's silk museum and Suzhou's workshops are both easy additions to a Jiangnan trip.

Best time

March–May and September–November

Practical tips

• Cheap 'silk' is usually polyester — check by burning a thread: real silk smells of burnt hair and crumbles