Highlights of Suzhou

Thursday, September 10, 2009
Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
Weds 9th Sept. Tour Day 18: Suzhou

Our overnight train arrived in Suzhou at ~7am. Unfortunately, most people hadn't had much sleep because I'd decided to have a few beers in the evening to help me sleep, which resulted in me snoring and keeping everyone else awake. Dave had also decided to keep prodding me when I started snoring so I didn't get much sleep either. Ho hum.

Suzhou is characterised by canals, lots of them, with the biggest being the Grand Canal. Construction of the latter began in 486BC and continued over the next one thousand years. The Canal is now the world's largest man-made waterway, running all the way from the Shanghai area to Beijing in the north of the country. Completion of the Canal allowed the city's prized commodity, silk, to be exported northwards. Suzhou also drew an influx of scholars and merchants who built themselves many beautiful gardens, which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Humble Administrator’s Garden is Suzhou's largest garden and is considered the finest. It was a costly 70 Yuan to enter. The garden was very peaceful, with beautiful pavilions, walkways, water features, plants and some colourful Mandarin ducks.

We then paid a visit to Suzhou Museum. Contrary to what it said in some of our guidebooks, it was free to enter and the information was in both Chinese and English. The museum contained many interesting and beautiful pieces, I particularly liked the intricate, exquisitely carved ivory and bone pieces.

It was onto the Tiger Hill Scenic Area, most famous for the Cloud Rock Leaning Pagoda, which at it’s highest point leans ~2m from the perpendicular. It actually looked like it leant much more than it and it could have toppled over at any moment. The area is supposed to contain the burial place of the founder of Suzhou, buried along with 3,000 swords apparently!

In the evening, we had a boat ride along the Grand Canal. The section we travelled along contained a number of very nicely illuminated trees, bridges, temples and pagodas. After the boat ride, there was also a chance to join in with the locals who turned up at a square by the canal to go dancing.

A bit of a change in cuisine tonight for some of us with a visit to Pizza Hut.






Thurs 10th Sept. Tour Day 19: Suzhou to Shanghai

This morning, we took pedicabs to the Silk Factory for a tour. This was rather unfortunate for our driver as he was about 60 years old and really struggled pedalling two overweight Westerners around. He had to dismount every time we stopped and give the pedicab a running push start to pick up some speed before mounting it. Poor chap. The tour gave an interesting overview of the silk-making process, from the silkworm to the finished article, with the obligatory shop at the end. The clothes, especially the shirts, were really nice but pricey, about 500 Yuan (£40-£50), but I presumed this was cheaper than it would cost back in the UK. The bedding was also nice to the touch but pricey and would be too bulky to get home.

Afterwards, some of us visited the North Temple Pagoda. It was 229 steps to the top of the Pagoda (I counted) for fine views over Suzhou.

The group then caught a high speed train to Shanghai after lunch - the maximum speed was 240 kph (we reached 206 kph) and it took about 40 minutes to get to Shanghai.

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