Suzhou

Yesterday O & I went on a day trip to Suzhou. Gosh I really don't understand, after living here for almost two years why we didn't go there before. It was so easy to go there by train.
On our way over, we took the new Chinese bullet train to Suzhou (it only took us 35 mins!). Wow the train looked slick. Many of the regional trains in and around Shanghai have been switched to bullet trains. You can now reach Nanjing in like 2 hours! (last time we went to Nanjing it took us 3,5 hours by the fast train, and almost 6 hours with the slow train)

The entry into Suzhou was horrible, like any other touristy destination in China. After you get out of the train station, people immediately start haggling and yelling trying to sell a 'tour around the city'. Once we got out of that part of town, we made the mistake to go to the number one tourist destination of Suzhou - Tiger Hill. Gosh, during these times I realize once again that I live in a country with 1.3 billion people. Imagine a crowd of people just coming out of a big stadium concert, but this time including one of out ten people holding a flag up and a microphone yelling out loud what this site is all about. I tell you...it is LOUD. I mean it is a beautiful park, if you are able to get away from the big crowds.

Much nicer part of the city is when we walked from Tiger Hill to Lingering park. It was very local, quiet and an 'old' part of town right by the water. (and after all, Suzhou is a 'water town')
[check out this article of Newsweek] While walking through the narrow streets, we encounter the cutest little old lady and asked us if we had lunch yet, so she could make lunch for us. Thinking that it maybe a bit awkward, we did follow her to her home (read: a 2 x 2 room, with no windows) and started chatting for a little bit. Apparently she didn't have any family anymore in Henan (another province) and came to Suzhou a couple years ago because she knew some other Henan people that could take care of her.

I wasn't really looking forward going to Suzhou, since all I wanted for this weekend was a nice and quiet weekend. (I have traveling quite a bit lately) But it was well worth it. :-) And now with the easy and quickness of the bullet trains around Shanghai, O & I decided that we need to see some other cities close to Shanghai - like Ningbo or any other city 2/3 hours away from Shanghai for like a short weekend or so. :-)

From Suzhou