How to do a silk painting?

I'm going to China in a few weeks and am required to do a painting on a piece of real silk. I am not an artist at all and tried looking things up online, but I'm so confused and don't know what anything means. Basically, all I want to know are the basic rules on how to paint silk. Is there any pre-treatment i must do to the fabric? Should I use certain types of paints? (I asked Michaels and some other store and no one carried silk paints). Can I use spray paint to get it over with easier?