23 July 2015

Gentlefolk,

This post describes our quick, 24 hour, visit to Suzhou on 14 / 15 July 2015.

Suzhou is in Jiangsu Province, 40 minutes by fast train from Shanghai's Hongqiao Station (2nd class train ticket $7).

Shanghai was still a sleepy fishing village when Suzhou was already a commercial and cultural center famous for silk, canals and beautiful women. It benefited from its location on the Grand Canal which linked Beijing in the north with Hangzhou in the south.

But following their victory in the First Opium War (1842), British and other foreign companies established themselves in Shanghai, which rapidly became the leading port and business center. Suzhou as lived in Shanghai's shadow ever since.

Once described as the 'Venice of the East' Suzhou is now better known for its wonderful gardens. Many canals have been filled in, but the gardens have survived the march of time.  The names of some gardens conjure up all sorts of images, for example:

Garden to linger in
Blue wave garden
Couple's garden
Lion's grove garden; and my very favorite name
The Humble Administrator's garden

Suzhou is only 40 minutes by fast train, west of Shanghai.

Suzhou County is adjacent to Shanghai. Suzhou city is near Taihu Lake.  Nowadays other small towns such as Tongli are regarded as better examples of canal towns.

Suzhou's latest landmark: the 302 m (94 storey) Gate of the Orient Building.  It has been disparagingly dubbed "The giant underpants". Designed by British architects RMJM, construction proved difficult and costly and took 10 years.

Rickshaws are still a common sight around Suzhou.

We passed this sign - thought better not to investigate! 

The Taoist "Temple of Mystery" near the center of Suzhou dates back to 1181.  It contains many statues, including the one-horned ox (like a unicorn), which was said to have conveyed Laozi on his travels.

Ancient Pingjiang Street along a canal is a popular pedestrian area with many small art & craft shops and cafes.

We did an evening boat tour around the old city.  Attractive lighting along the shore (but night tours in Guilin are much more extensive).

We had breakfast at this make-shift little cafe near the Youth Hostel. It was all packed up and gone by 9.30am. 

We visited the must-see Suzhou Museum, designed by IM  Pei. There must have been close to 200 people in the queue (wisely, they were only letting a few in at a time); we don't normally queue-jump, but it was very hot and we needed to get out of the sun, so we pulled age - we told the attendants that we were near 70 (which is true), and they let us join the front of the queue.  

The Suzhou museum is not big, but what it lacks in size it makes up with style.  Simple, clean, geometric lines, with the obligatory pond and zig-zag bridge in the center.

The main hall, near the entrance of the Suzhou Museum. 

Vera in the Main Hall of Suzhou Museum, with the central pond and imaginary mountains in the background.

There are a dozen famous gardens in and near Suzhou, but we only had time to inspect one.  So we chose the "Humble Administrator's Garden".  Isn't that a wonderful name?  It is the largest garden covering an area of  about 5 hectares. Some of the pavilions inside the garden have attractive names: "listening to rain; and " looking into the distance".  

A view in the Humble Administrator's Garden.

An old gate in the Humble Administrator's Garden. Construction of this garden started in 1509.

...


From Suzhou we returned to Shanghai, and a couple of days later we flew to Hong Kong to catch up with our son Andrew, his wife Caroline and Little Eddie.

The first couple of days in HK were clear, but then it rained solidly for the next 5 days.  Cramped our style a bit.

Tomorrow night we leave for Brisbane. A week there with the Roberts family and then we will wend our way down to Canberra to catch up with family and friends there.

As you know, we've signed up for another year, so will be back in Qingdao on 3 September for the start of the 2015-16 academic year.

Best wishes, keep well, and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah (aka The Intrepid Duo)
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Thursday 23 July 2015 (one more sleep in Hong Kong)