Alexander Hosie 
On the Trail of the Opium Poppy [PDF ebook] 
A Narrative of Travel in the Chief Opium-Producing Provinces of China

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. I have spoken of the silks and satins of Chengtu and I may mention that the city contains 6000 looms, while out side the walls there are as many as 3400 looms for the manufacture of silk crapes. There are, too, 500 gauze looms in and around the city with numerous ribbon looms, and the weaving of silk braid by hand may be seen in almost every street.