Suzhou (The Garden City) and Tongli (The Venice of China)
Our last leg of the whistle-stop tour of China which had taken in Beijing, Jingshanling, Xian, Guilin, Yangshou, Longii, Shanghai and finally a day trip to Suzhou and Tongli.
This was our second trip on a super fast train (first time was from Beijing to X’ian).
The train was comfortable and very soon (around 30 mins to travel 110kms) we were in Suzhou. (It took over 3 hours to drive back). In Suzhou we were met by our final and most bizarre guide yet.
Suzhou used to be the place where scholars, officials and merchants retired to. It dates back over 2,500 years. Its longevity and continuity (despite the Revolution) has led to the creation of some stunning Bonzai collections.
The Humble Administrator’s Garden
Our first stop was at ‘The Humble Administrator’s Garden’, how humble he was is moot as the garden is vast with one area after another like rooms, each one different from the other.
Master of the Nets Garden
We also visited the Master of the Nets garden which housed a huge collection of Bonsai.
Our guide then hurried us along to a family run restaurant for a vast lunch.
(One of the best lunches we’d had)
We had barely finished when she chivied us back into the taxi. We would have liked more time to look around the old tea shop downstairs but the silk factory awaited us!
Silk Factory
Customer Service wasn’t high on the list of ‘must have’ personal or professional qualities for the ladies who worked here. However, we took the tour, applauded the end product and wandered round the extortionately expensive shop before our guide reluctantly let us leave empty handed!
When we commented on how unhelpful the shop assistants were our guide told us that it was government run so there is no incentive for the ladies to sell anything as their wages were static irrespective of how much or how little they sold. So why bother!
Grand Canal
Next on the agenda was a short stop at the Grand Canal which links the Yangzi with the Yellow River. It’s the worlds largest man-made waterway. (Allegedly!)
Tongli
Our final destination was Tongli, the Venice of China, which was lovely. Tiny streets that all front onto the canals, spanned by numerous tiny bridges.
Of course we had to do a water taxi tour. The lady ‘rowing’ sang us a song as we made our way along and encouraged me to join in.
The finale of the trip was to watch the cormorant fishermen. I know it’s how they used to fish but to just do it for the tourists seemed inappropriate and cruel. However, I did take some photos so I am culpable.
(Don’t look at this if you’re squeamish)
So that was our final day and a very busy one too. The following day we were up early ready for transportation to the airport. We boarded the plan then sat on the tarmac for nearly 3 hours! The stewardesses explained that this was a ‘normal’ occurrence, today the reason was the weather (it wasn’t even raining outside!). Allegedly every flight is held up for a whole range of reasons. (The airport is also used for military use, so they have preference.) This made us miss our connecting flight in Copenhagen.
The airline was very good and provided us with overnight accommodation in a nice hotel and a little overnight pack which included a tee-shirt (to sleep in), toothbrush and toothpaste, comb and brush, shampoo and soap. The next morning after a very nice breakfast a taxi picked us up and transported us to the airport and our flight home. Thankfully, our luggage followed us.
The only thing we did feel guilty about was that we’d have a few drinks from the mini bar and didn’t get the opportunity to pay for it!!!!! 🙂
