Today we had to get up early, WAY EARLY! In fact, so early the 6:30 am breakfast buffet wasn’t open and the tour group had arranged breakfast boxes for us to take on the bus and eat as we traveled to the airport. The breakfast boxes had a sandwich and a few other little things to munch on, but no COFFEE! Michael and I ended up getting some way expensive coffee at the airport while we waited on our flight. The coffee was something like $15 for two cups. As we were drinking it, Andrew and Brandon came walking up with Starbucks and said they got it across the way for about half that. Bummer but….we just weren’t in the mood to explore since it was so darn early.
The plane ride went smooth and Michael and I got extra leg room, which was nice. The flight was only about two hours or so. When we landed in Shanghai, we were met by our new tour guide, David.
David speaks and spells English perfectly. We started out a little rough with him as we were all pretty hungry by that time and he didn’t want to spend the time to let us eat (there was a KFC in the airport real close to where we were all waiting). After someone spoke out (loud enough for David to hear) that this would reflect on his evaluation. Once that was said all the plans changed and we got to get something to eat.
The bus was a double decker with huge glass windows in the front. Michael and I were able to get the front seats and were excited. By the time we got underway for Suzhou, we were wishing we had sat in the back because there were so many close calls. Driving is crazy in China. We got on the bus and David talked while the bus drove to Suzhou. The drive was quite lovely and we got to see the countryside. Such huge homes in China. David explained that a lot of the large homes we were seeing were farmer homes that didn’t want to leave their land. I’m talking homes that were three and four stories high. Also as we were driving, we saw many people who just pulled over to the side of the toll road and took a pee (hopefully just a pee). I even saw one that was really close to a police car so it must be allowed there.
When we got into Suzhou, we went straight to the Lingering Garden. What a beautiful place. Parts of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and other movies were filmed here. Just beautiful and peaceful. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We could have stayed there much longer but it was getting late and almost everyone in our tour wanted to do the optional boat ride on the Grand Canal with a walk around the local market ($29 US option). As we drove to the area we got to observe the stores and quaint little streets. David pointed out there are a lot of bridal shops in Suzhou, which we saw.
We got to the Grand Canal and onto the boat. It was very exciting as there was very little (if any) room for boats to pass. We banged into a couple boats as we were going along. We got to see people doing their laundry in the Grand Canal, people getting water for dinner from the Canal (don’t think I would trust it but I guess if it’s boiled), and generally just how the locals lived. Some of the homes would be exciting to live in as they looked like they were ready to topple into the Canal at any minute. We went to a main intersection, turned around and went back up the canal. Going back up the canal on the boat we got to see the lanterns all lit up for the evening. Just beautiful. When we got out of the boat, we walked down a narrow alley and saw shop after shop of local fruits, vegetables, and other things they were selling from little cubbiest. Loved seeing what I call the “real China.”
We had to walk a little ways to get to the bus, which was an adventure in itself as the traffic was horrible and we had to cross a very busy street. David escorted us with his flag held high but it was still scary as heck hoping (and praying) the cars would stop for us. We all laughed and hollered for joy when we made it across, but it was exciting.
We got to our hotel, the Pan Pacific Suzhou, which was absolutely beautiful.
After we got our things into our gorgeous room, we went back downstairs to have dinner at the Garden Brasserie. A little pricey (for China) but the presentation was lovely and the food was delicious.