Suzhou

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So far, the trip has been somewhat uneventful. On the way to the train station I stopped at a large grocery store and got some munchies and put them in my pack. I am rather glad I did as this hostel is no where near a grocery (at least as far as I can tell). The train was a slow one and made a lot of stops, the only issue with that is the stops sometimes woke me up. In the morning I did see my first bullet train (trains that run in excess of 300K/h or 176.5mph) and I intend to ride one soon.

Finding the correct bus, to the hostel, was a bit of an ordeal due to an expansion of a canal. To add to the problem, after I got of the bus I followed the directions provided exactly. This got me no where near the hostel. I then called and on the third try got a person who spoke some English. In her attempt to clarify the instructions she said," I'm sorry, I don't know which way right and left are." This was my clue. I returned to my starting point, where I got off the bus, and did exactly the opposite of what the instructions said; this took me to the hostel with no difficulties.

This hostel, SuZhou International Youth Hostel, is a strange one. It is on the fifth floor above a regular Hotel. Where most of the hostels have been... well, party central... This place is more like a hotel; it is very quiet and has a very different atmosphere than I am used to.

There is a small self service kitchen but there is no bar or food service, and, as one German I was talking to noticed, the toilets are squat toilets. There is a TV room but here is no public lounge. The real funny part is that it turns out that this is not the hostel that I made the reservations at. All I can say is that the website for contacting these hostels is outlandishly poor. I may go look at the place I was supposed to stay when I am out riding tomorrow.

Well, my roommates did show up. They were a couple of South Korean brothers that were studying in ShangHai and enjoying their spring vacation. They basically came in and left. We talked for a while as we ate breakfast and hat was about it. In the evening a German student also dropped in; I intentionally left my door open so that there would be some life here. He was leaving to look for another hotel. The toilets were it for him. I found it interesting that a person of Chinese heritage, and born in china, and who was studying Chinese culture would be so put off by the toilets; but I do have to admit it, squat toilets do smell pretty bad.

This morning I got up and rented a bicycle, for which I was charged 20RMB.This is about the going rate. The bike itself was a total mess, bad brakes, bearings, and about everything else. However, it was a bike and made seeing the city enjoyable.

Many people referred to Kunming as the garden city. Su Zhou has everything Kunming claimed to have. The first place I rode was the lion garden. It had a great stone maze. One thing that is notable about Chinese gardens is that they do not try to adapt to or in any way utilize the natural beauty. They are seen as objects of art in and of themselves. As such, everything about the gardens is artificial. That aspect takes some adapting to and adjusting our concept of outdoor beauty.

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I was surprised, considering the rain, just how crowded this garden was. Like most Chinese scenic things, there are many organized bus tours. Once you get away from the tours the crowds diminish rapidly.

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They are really into these stone boats, no garden is complete without one

From there I went and looked at some bicycles. The bikes I was looking at were high-end models that are, simply, not available in Xinyang. In truth, they were very reasonably priced when compared to what the same models cost in the states. As much as I am attracted to the skinny tired racing bikes, I am looking harder at the touring models.

The main two things that held me back at this shop were the consideration that I am going to ShangHai next and expect to see more, and better, bikes and the fact that I have some questions regarding shipping and with no one in this shop speaking English I felt that I needed to shop somewhere that I could get answers.

I then located Pan Men (coiled gate); a large park that recently hosted the Pan-Asian economics conference. Before entering I rode until I found a small shop that would provide me lunch. I then entered the garden and climbed the Ruiguang Ta pagoda, an 11th century structure. I then spent several hours wandering around the park and then visited the remaining sections of the city walls. These sections are also within the park.

This city is a great place to return to with Zeneta. Not only for the many gardens and photographic opportunities, but also for the silk industry and the many Chinese silk dresses that are available.

After leaving there I rode to the docks looking for a boat that would take me down the Grand Canal to HangZhou. I had a bit of trouble communicating with the boat crews; but, with Merrys help, I was able to determine that there are no more passenger boats that make that run. It was a ten hour trip and most people, simply, what to travel faster.

I then returned to the hostel, returned the bike, and walked to a restaurant for dinner. I am strongly considering cutting my stay here a day short and heading for ShangHai tomorrow.

Today it was still raining when I got up; so, I first checked out of the hotel. While checking out I tried to get the hotel staff to write what I needed to say at the train station. They got it wrong. This was not a typical full service hostel and they were not prepared to get the tickets for me; which was just as well, seeing as none of them spoke English.

The train station was its own ordeal that I will go in to in short order. However, after the train station I went to two museums and had a good lunch (good because I managed to get lunch).

I arrived at the train station with a note that did not say what I wanted. I wanted a first class ticket on the high speed (bullet) train to ShangHai. The staff at the hotel had only written, "SuZhou to ShangHai." An English speaking Chinese woman tried to help. However, she, seeing that I wanted a bullet train, got me a ticket that would have gotten me to ShangHai faster than any other way. She booked me a ticket on a regular train that was leaving in about twenty minuets.

What she failed to understand was that I did not need the fastest transit to ShangHai. I wanted to ride one of China's bullet trains.

I got back into line after taking a picture of one of the promotional posters for the train and, after waiting in another unbelievably long line, showed the picture to the woman at the counter along with pointing to the words, "first class." It seems that her vocabulary was limited to the word, "mayo," which is a form of the word, "no."

I finally got into another of the intractably long lines and made another try. This person was willing to tell me that there were no first class tickets available on the bullet train that day and that the next ticket was for a train that left at 8:47p.m. I took the ticket.

I then went in search of the Silk Museum. It was supposed to be on Ren Men Lu (people's road); however, due to construction, I was having trouble finding this road that is in each and every Chinese city.

After walking several kilometers (remember, at this point I am carrying a pack) I started to give upon that museum and caught a bust that should have taken me to the SuZhou city museum. As I passed the museum I was assured that I was on the right bus and I also realized that I would have a walk back.

The museum itself was a very good and modern one. The bathrooms even had clean and modern toilets (that fact that the condition of the toilets is considered something worthy of note should tell you something about China). The exhibits were a collection of jade pieces (found in all Chinese Museums) and some of the artifacts removed from, nearby, pagodas and tombs. Many of these artifacts are of such quality that they are classed as national treasures. However, as you will notice, there are very few pictures from this museum; thus, few lasting memories. Like many places in China, photography is forbidden. However, unlike so many other places, this place was crawling with guards to enforce this rule.

After I left the museum I started walking toward where the next museum should have been. I stopped at several places for lunch but they all insisted that I point to what I wanted on the menu. Very simply, my ability to read Chinese is not that good and I refused to call on Merrie's great skill with the language just so that I could eat lunch (For those who are wondering why she did not help me at the train station, she is not with me. When I need her, I phone her. If Zeneta were to come I would ask Merry to accompany her; but, I am making this trip on my own).

After lunch I walked further and found the Silk Museum. I passed a pagoda on the way there but realized that I was coming close to closing time at the museum and wanted to get there more than I wanted to see the pagoda. A couple of more blocks put me across the block from the museum.

The silk museum was interesting with a number of samples of ancient silk, which has been cultivated since about 4000BC, and a large number of looms and other traditional machines for making and processing silk. Unfortunately, there was supposed to be a room where I would be able to see a plethora of the little mulberry munchers at work. However, they were all dormant when I visited.

Leaving there I caught a bus that took me most of the way to the train station. I was not able to bull my way into the first class waiting room as I did not have a first class ticket and this is a large town that is used to dealing with foreigners (in fact, I was surprised at the number I saw in this town). Someone did help me find the correct waiting room and a seat; yes, I could have found the room and a seat on my own but people like to feel helpful.

At that point, it was just a couple of hours of reading while I waited for my train. I did have one person who told me that he as a senior, majoring in English, and who wanted to talk for a while (he was also having trouble with the he/she thing). So, I chatted until it was time to catch my train.