A Trip to Suzhou

Events of Saturday, 20th July 2013

I was picked up from my hotel at 9.00 a.m. for a road trip to Suzhou which is a little over 60 miles west of Shanghai. The English originally called it 'Suchow', never being very good at mimicking local pronunciation. It's said something like 'Sue-joe'. We made the initial slow progress through the crowded city roads before picking up the Jiasong Highway where speed increased. As you might expect, the corridor between Shanghai and Suzhou is heavily industrialised with a many large factories and tall apartment blocks.

On the Expressway from Shanghai to Suzhou.

We eventually left the highway and made our way towards Suzhou through a fairly nondescript area. The famous Tiger Hill Pagoda was pointed out on our left but we did not make a visit. The driver dropped Michelle and I near some shops and we walked down a side road until we came to a waterway.

One or two 'trip boats' were moored so this was clearly the Grand Canal. We boarded one waiting boat and, with a crew of two, Michelle and I we set off. We started in a fairly modern environment with six-storey apartment blocks on either side but then the canal narrowed and the houses became older and smaller, built right up to the water's edge and generally having entrances straight onto the canal. We had a fairly intimate view of life next to the Grand Canal!

Houses are built right up to the Grand Canal and most have entrances onto the waterway.

We passed under railway bridges - two single-line steel girder bridges which I assumed was the 'original' railway and next a modern concrete railway bridge which I was pretty sure served a High Speed Line. We occasionally passed other tourist boats, passed under pedestrian bridges of the distinctive Chinese pattern with a round arch approached by steep steps on either side or passed restaurants gaily decorated with paper lanterns presumably for the tourists. The canal broadened and we were at a major junction. A large crane mounted on a flat boat appeared to be dredging at the junction. Our boat turned round and we retraced our route back to our boarding point. I confirmed my thoughts about the High Speed railway line - a train passed just as we were about to pass under the bridge but I wasn't able to get a picture. All too soon, we berthed and rejoined our car.

Nearby, we visited a very grand silk embroidery showroom. The workmanship was very impressive but I didn't find the artistic results very satisfactory. The prices were fairly astronomic and I'm sure that the ladies we saw actually embroidering receive only a small share of these prices. They didn't allow photography.

We next drove to the city centre. Michelle had changed the proposed restaurant, partly to improve the chances of there being fish on the menu for me, partly to avoid a lot of driving around the city. We ate at the Holiday Inn which was very satisfactory. After my usual soup, Michelle ordered fish - and what a fish! Even between us, we couldn't finish it but it was very tasty.

Fish at the Holiday Inn.

We met the car and drove through the town to the famous Net Master Garden. This is a private house and garden laid out in accordance with Chinese principles and I was very taken with the place.



The lake in the Net Master Garden.

Then, it was back to the car for the return journey to Shanghai. The girl in the Toll Booth at the entrance to the highway told the driver that there were delays on the Jiasong Highway due to an accident. After passing the toll, we were able to elect for an alternative highway back to Shanghai - a little longer, I think, but at least we'd be moving, so that's what we did.

Shanghai has Outer, Middle and Inner Ring Roads. We dropped Michelle at the intersection with the Middle Ring Road, fairly near her home and we said our 'goodbyes' as she was not intending to go to the airport with me the following morning when I returned to England. The driver then carried on into the city and dropped me at my hotel.

So, how was I to spend my last evening in Shanghai? Take the Metro to visit the two main railway stations, of course. I walked to the nearest metro station, People's Square, and used the ticket machine to buy a ticket to the northern station. When I arrived, I took a few pictures of the modern station but didn't explore - I was starting to tire. Nonetheless, I decided to carry out my plan to look at the other main station. Going back into the Metro, I couldn't find any automatic ticket machines, only a busy staffed ticket office. Armed with my map, I showed the girl my destination. Total puzzlement. First she seemed to suggest I needed Line 6, then she had a conversation with her colleague, then she took my map in through the ticket window and studied it seriously for a while. Then she issued a ticket for 4 Yuan without comment.

Well, the 4 Yuan ticket worked fine and the journey gave me plenty of time for discreet 'people watching'. The southern railway station was very modern and huge. There appeared to be two stations side-by-side - the 'conventional' one and one for the High Speed Services. And there were lots of people. By this time, I was definitely starting to 'fade', so I made my way back to the Metro for the trip back to People's Square Station. I managed to exit the Metro by the correct entrance (number 14 - People's Square is a very big Metro station) so I only had a few minutes walk to my hotel. I detoured to buy a bottle of Coca-Cola and some sweets at a convenience store before returning to the hotel, completing my packing and finally 'crashing-out'.

It had been a fascinating and varied day.

My Pictures

Suzhou.
Cruise on the Grand Canal, Suzhou.
Net Master Garden.
Shanghai Metro.
Railways around Shanghai.

A Day in Shanghai - Friday, 19th July 2013

Michelle and the driver picked me up at 9.30 a.m. and we made our way through Shanghai's always-heavy traffic to the Shanghai Railway Museum. It was almost deserted when we arrived but I didn't realise that it was school holidays and very soon two coachloads of extremely noisy schoolchildren arrived on a holiday visit. It became very crowded but I managed to record most of the stuff I wanted. I was quite impressed with their 'Cab Ride Simulator'.

We had some trouble extricating ourselves from the car park at the railway museum because of the coaches. They opened the rear gate and the driver patiently manoeuvred until he could reverse through this gate. We were now in the yard of the head office of the local railway company and soon we were back on the main road, tangling with the traffic.

Our next visit was to the famous Jade Buddha Temple. Although there were worshippers, both young and old, the place seemed devoid of any sense of spirituality with every room crammed with sales counters and crowds of foreign tourists swarming through (yes, I know, I'm a foreign tourist too).

Then we moved onto what I think was called the South Sea Center (they use American spelling). I had no idea what this was but it turned out to be a small demonstration of artificial pearl culture attached to a huge showroom of pearl products. There were quite a few tour groups looking round and they seemed to be buying, too. I left as soon as possible.

Next, we drove to the French Concession area which is now a fashionable place to lunch. Whilst most of Shanghai is modern and very tall, some of the older structures in the concession area have been retained and adapted. Our lunch was at the Zen Restaurant which features Chinese Cuisine. With help from my guide, Michelle, I chose a vegetable soup followed by what appeared to be sago with pieces of mango.

After a pleasant, relaxing lunch, our driver took us to the Shanghai Museum in People's Square. At Michelle's suggestion, I went round with an audio guide whilst she waited for me in the Tea Shop. The Museum has some very interesting exhibits and I spent well over an hour and a half going round the four floors of exhibits. It was rather crowded but well worth the visit.

We then headed for the river, where we visited the 'Silk Museum'. This is actually another big showroom but in this case they demonstrate the life of the silkworm and show how a silk thread for weaving is produced on a clattering, elderly machine. There were looms on show but they weren't weaving. What they did demonstrate, which I found fascinating, was how they make a silk 'felt', used in upmarket duvets and padded jackets. In contrast with the pearl museum, I enjoyed this visit.

We continued to the famous 'Bund'. This refers to the section of the western river embankment passing through the various 'Concessions' and it enjoys a similar iconic status to the London Embankment. It's been totally modernised but remains a magnet to visitors and local people alike. The original rather grand Concession buildings on the west bank have been retained and are now protected by Heritage legislation. These buildings now face the new, towering office blocks on the east bank. Michelle and I walked along a section of the 'Bund'.

I was then dropped off at my hotel and handed a ticket to the Shanghai Acrobatic show for that evening. At 6.45 p.m., the car picked me up and took me to the theatre in plenty of time for the 7.30 p.m. performance. The 90-minute show was a rather odd combination of acts – tumblers, balancing acts, juggling, comedy knife throwing, plate spinning (21 plates), slack wire walking, aerial ballet. They asked us not to take pictures of the show, so I didn't (although a number of members of the audience took both photographs and video). The 20-strong cast were each the best I have seen in their  various fields.

At 9.00 p.m. the show was over and we all came out into the brightly-lit street where about seven coaches were waiting to pick up some of the audience. But I'd agreed with Michelle that I'd make my own way back so I walked to the nearest Metro station. The ticket machines work in Chinese or English so the only problem was that the touch screens seem a bit erratic. Talking to Michelle afterwards (and by observation) it seems I'm by no means alone in having that difficulty. Armed with a plastic credit card ticket which works in a similar fashion to London's 'Oystercard', I made the journey without incident but got a bit muddled emerging from the station and headed in the wrong direction before I realised my mistake.

As promised by Michelle, I found the 'Bund' magical by night with the buildings illuminated and probably thousands of people, Chinese and foreign, milling about in good humour. Eventually, I made my way back to my hotel on foot, looking at more Heritage buildings on the way. Incidentally, my hotel is, itself, one of the Heritage buildings.

My Pictures

My pictures of Shanghai are here.
My pictures of Shanghai Railway Museum are here.
My pictures of the Jade Buddha Temple are here.
Pictures at the Shanghai Museum are here.
Pictures at the Silk Museum are here.
My pictures of Shanghai Metro are here.