Here we can see the worms when they are about two weeks old. The insect is cooked, killed and then this material is extracted. We came for a ride in the famous little straw cans.
It's scary, they hit it really hard. It got even faster! Stop him!
We found ourselves in Hoi An, known as the silk city of Vietnam. Historically, one of the most important ports in the entire Asian continent for its strategic geographical location on the so-called Silk Road. Since the fifteenth century, sixteenth century, this town settled as one of the most important economically, because traders from China and Japan stopped here to buy goods and then resell them.
And honestly, it's very much the architecture, the streets, everywhere, to this day, the textile industry is still of utmost economic importance. And in this video, that's what we're going to see. We're going to address these issues, we're even going to see how silk is made, which is a bit of a disturbing process.
Come on, we have a very nice adventure ahead of us. We're going to give you, or as they say around here, D. D.
We've all heard of silk, one of the most expensive fabrics in the world. Some of the most sought-after garments are made from this very soft material, which has a unique sheen, is hypoallergenic and breathable while retaining warmth. All these properties have made it a very, very expensive seller indeed.
And interestingly, this material is extracted from worms. Let's see, it's not really new information, I think it's pretty well known, but when you see the process up close, it is quite shocking. Let's go step by step, I'll explain it to you, because in this factory where I was welcomed you can see it very well, you can see it up close and look how curious and interesting it is as well as a bit disturbing.
Here we can see the silkworms. This thread can also be extracted from some types of spiders. In the same way, nowadays it can also be manufactured artificially by chemical processes.
But this is the method, let's say, more traditional and more widely used around the world. It turns out that this little worm, known as silkworm, needs to grow for a few good days to produce its cocoon, which is made of this material and to extract it, the insect is literally cooked, killed in boiling water and then this valuable material is extracted. Here we can see the worms when they are about two weeks old.
They are still very small and eat a lot of blackberry leaves and this will eventually make them very fat, very strong, very productive. A week later, they are quite big and here our friend can see how she starts to separate them from their food. Enough swallowing.
Let's go to the next stage of your life, which is not going to be pleasant, my dear little friend. Here we can see how the little worms are already starting to make their cocoons. Let's see, like many species, they are a worm, then it is a cocoon, eventually they become a beautiful butterfly.
So these, if you let them grow and continue their life cycle, they will become a type of moth. But this is when the human hand intervenes, they grab the cocoon, which is made of, literally, silk thread and then they are put here, in extremely hot water of 70 to 100 degrees centigrade so that they die and then, little by little, they are going to pull them, they are going to put them together with this machine, because if the little animal, the moth, is born, it could break the thread trying to get out of the cocoon. And what the artisans want is to have meters and meters of thread to be able to work with it later.
The most impressive thing is that from each cocoon, obviously from a very productive and strong caterpillar, up to a kilometer of thread can be produced. holly molly, right? That's a lot.
The natural color of the material, at least of this style of worm, is like the color of Elsa's hair, from Frozen, which is then pigmented so that it takes on different shades. With a machine like this, all the threads are then joined together to make meters of fabric, and with this, the artisans will then be able to work to make clothes. Here we can see many talented artisans working on it, and wow!
The designs they come up with and make are blowing my mind. You can ask them to portray a photograph, a drawing of an extremely complex landscape and they will make it possible in a completely manual way. Seeing the whole complicated process, one can understand why it is so, so expensive and why silk is desired internationally.
I'm making a custom shirt. It's so crazy that to make a garment like that, or for example, a complete dress, 3000 to 10 000 little worms need to die. Do you turn me into a killer?
I think so, just like eating a hamburger, just like everything, everything in this life is what it is. But it's still very disturbing. Hey, wow, it's really impressive how many clothing stores there are everywhere, but more than any other city.
And you can find cheap clothes, shirts for 2, 3, 4 dollars. And I feel that they are giving me tourist prices, they must be much cheaper. Well, yes, the textile industry for Vietnam in general is very important.
In fact, I dare you to look at the label of the clothes you are wearing right now and it will probably say: Made in Vietnam. And this, being the city of silk, of course is much more economically dependent on this industry. Of course in Vietnam, as in many places, there is a lot of piracy, but what is striking here is that you can buy piracy in very nice boutiques.
It's not like in many cities in the world where you go to buy piracy, it's like: Yes, come here, man, let's go here to my place that is here. All dark, all suspicious. No, here they are open and tell it like it is, so this is a store of imitations, premier imitations, they call it.
And while you are waiting, they sell you your coffee, your water, you can sit here. Buying piracy in these cities is even an elegant experience. And you see the ladies who come here all dressed up buying their imitation Rolex for their husband.
I can't believe it anymore, so many friends I have who say they have thousands of dollars worth of clothes. They don't fool me, most probably they buy in this kind of stores because they look identical. This store is a clear example of how much of the textile industry works in this city.
And it is a workshop with a lot of recognition, has several branches, Hollywood celebrities have come to make custom clothing. They really have very top designs, some of the most experienced seamstresses work here and the customer is sold very, very nice custom designs, in the equivalent of 40, 50 dollars, jackets worthy of red carpet in the equivalent of 100 dollars. Many international brands, in fact, buy clothes here to be sold without labels.
They relabel them and resell them at much more inflated prices. I would not be surprised to see one of these bags in boutiques in Dubai, in Tokyo, for thousands of dollars, no exaggeration. As in everything, contrasts in the world, different costs of living.
There are many tailor shops here that offer you the service of making you a tailor-made suit, a tailor-made dress and delivering it to you in a matter of hours. It's great if you forgot to make your suit for your friend's wedding, or if it was your little brother's graduation and you missed the plane. Look, you come here, they measure it and in a matter of four or five hours you have it and at a very good price.
In fact, they tell me that it is very common that if your friend is getting married, the whole group comes, they take a little trip, they all get measured, they all get an identical suit to go in uniform. And yes, the delivery times are record-breaking, never seen before. In many stores here they offer leather garments, as I am learning that the leather they usually use is from Buffalo water and they can even make custom shoes.
You want to put the logo of Nike, Chanel, whatever you can think of, in 2, 3 hours they have it ready for you. No, I am very impressed. Yes, the textile industry is everywhere here, it moves the economy of this city.
This is very curious, as this is historically a city of merchants, the deity they worship the most is Tan Tai Kong, so to speak, the God, the figure of money. It is said that this was a man who came from China and settled in these lands and that he was a very good businessman. He became a super millionaire, he was in every possible branch of business.
So people come to ask them for favors to help them monetarily. Where it gets funny is that it is said that this man was very womanizing, he had many wives, children scattered everywhere, so some women, when they come to ask for favors, show him their breasts. And in this way it is said that you please him visually and he will help you back.
There are videos on the internet that show that, that girls even grab the little saint, let's call him the figure, and rub it on his body so that he will be happy and in this way business will prosper. We will not show him our body, but we will leave him a small offering here, a symbolic bill. My dear Tantai, brotherly, help us so that we may continue to do well.
Here is a little money for you to help us again. Likewise, the goddess of the sea is highly venerated. Of course, it is a city that depends economically on its port.
So, in order not to be hit by a strong natural disaster and to have respect for the sea in general, she is venerated, many people come to pray to her. We came for a little ride in the famous straw boats. The basket boats are called that literally Vietnamese translates to that.
They are made of bamboo and so that they don't get all muddy, nowadays they insulate them with plastic and so on, but traditionally this was done with buffalo poop. It's very lively here, very beautiful, it's like very touristy and there are some boats that go around, crazy. Very to see the sunset, more than appreciable.
As appreciable and beautiful as it is extremely risky for the daring. Xomecha gets a very hard ride. More than one of them has to be guacareared there.
It's a good thing they insulate these boats. Otherwise, they would be dripping vomit. They give you super price.
It looks like a lot of fun. Personally, I don't want to try it. I feel like I'm just going to throw up.
I don't tolerate those kinds of rides very well, but Arisita did try it. I got dizzy. I mean, I felt that when she slowed down I could see everything in a blur, it was really hard.
It got faster. Stop him. The truth, very cool, very good attraction, and yes, and yes, here you do absorb a lot of the local entertainment, what a nice time you have, how beautiful the sunset is, how beautiful everything is.
This is blowing my mind. It's called a confusio cup. It has a little doll in it, very cool, which is a cup that teaches people not to be stuck.
This is a very complex technology. I'm going to pour some water. You pour yourself some water, a normal measure.
There's your water, drink water, you're fine, everything's fine, hydrate yourself. But what happens if you suddenly want to get stuck? Like this: I want a lot more water than I'm entitled to.
When you pour the water up to the top full, like this, this, this, this. You see, it starts to drain by itself. And it drains until it empties.
So you are left with nothing. I want to understand what the mechanism is here. Look, it's blowing my mind.
And the teaching here is to tell people like basically don't be stuck, because being stuck is not cool and it can lead to running out. How's that? The confusio rate, somebody explain to me how that works.
Check this out, the 20 000 DONG bill has the Japanese bridge right here. Nice, isn't it? And it was right from this angle that the picture was taken, the image for the bill.
Beautiful, no doubt, a city of money. At night in certain public squares there is a game called Baichoi, which is basically like a bingo, like a Vietnamese lottery, in which the presenters play a little song live, they are singing. Each participant has a little card with three figures and they are announced, just like in the Mexican lottery.
When you have that figure, a person hands you a little flag and the first one to collect three little flags wins. And if you win, you get one of these ornamental lamps. I loved it and people celebrated a lot.
A very joyful moment. At night, the city looks beautiful. Check out all the lighting, the streets take on another life, another very pleasant atmosphere.
Hey, honestly, I had a wonderful time. What a productive and enlightening day. Thank you very much for joining me in one more adventure.
I hope you enjoyed it, that you learned something new. See you, as always, as you know, in a few days with a new video. Bye.
