Lidu Jasper Hotel Suzhou

... enough.

an hour of tossing the apartment later, i went back to work with three boarding passes. (thank god i travel so much.) got one from my trip to japan, singapore and taiwan. the one for taiwan was over 8000 rmb so that should be good and enough, right?

wrong! went back to the accountant and she said that the one for singapore was from a long time ago- she said a year and a half ago. the others were also old- japan was a year ...

so it's official. i have less than a month in china now. and not surprising, it's beginning to affect my sleep. i woke up this morning at 7. my first class isn't until 1 p.m. so why was i up so early? because of stress and anxiety. despite my better intentions, i always procrastinate til the last minute to do everything. preparing for home hasn't been an exception.

i finally bought the final leg of my trip today. from nyc to nola on 11/17. so i'll be in ny for a week hanging out ...

Today us canadians celebrated Thanksgiving! you must be thinking, "rice on thanksgiving? that's ********" but no my friends we had a TURKEY! And stuffing and potatoes and gravy, oh my god i'm the fullest i've ever been in my life! It was one of the best nights i've had so far actually, I really don't think i've laughed as much as i did tonight since i've gotten here so thats always a plus =). Celebrating thanksgiving with friends is quite ...

... are the artifacts the museum holds. It is filled with exquisite porcelains, furniture, paintings, Buddhist Relics, and treasures of all kinds. After the museum we had some extra time and May suggested that we go to the Lion Grove Garden. It also one of the four most famous Suzhou gardens, yet not often visited by visitors. Without a doubt, this was my favorite garden that I ...

A rainy day today due to a typhoon but didn't hinder our day. We visited the Master of the Nets Garden and the Humble Administrator's Garden.
The Humble Administrator's Garden was established in the 16th century by a retired magistrate, Wang Xianchen, and developed over the years as subsequent owners made changes according to the fashion of the day. A 16th century painting shows that originally the garden was less decorative than ...

We leave Shanghai at 9am for Suzhou on the way we visit a water town established about 700 years ago and check out some of the old homes of the wealthy people back then that are surrounded by water canals. We then take a boat ride along the canals.
Had a lovely traditional dinner including a pig hock cooked and marinated in like a soy sauce, it was very nice.
We check into our Suzhou Hotel - Suzhou is about 1 and a half ...

... the surface of the river. You can take the windy pathways in, out, through, under and over to leave you wondering where exactly you are. As we were set to leave we headed back to get our things and went to the station only to find out there were no trains to Nanjing so had to stay another night in Suzhou, where we spent the night in the dorm and relaxed with a glass of wine in the bookworm a very nice bookshop with books from all over the world.

Day #2 of Emily and Erin's visit we went to Tiger Hill in Northern Suzhou. A famous Song Dynasty poet, Su Shi said, 'It is a lifelong pity if having visited Suzhou you did not visit Tiger Hill.' So, we went. It is named such because when King He Lu died in battle (496 BC), he was entombed in this man-made hill. Three days after his burial, a white tiger came and sat on his grave, as though he was guarding it. Tiger Hill is a beautiful area. It is quite ...

... that we really were only staying the day and needed to get tickets onward again to either Chengdu or Chongqing if they had them. Our main mission explore all we could while still getting to Chongqing on the 30th for our Yangtzi Cruise. So we went down to the Bund, Peace Park, the Pearl Tower (through the crazy tourist tunnel and up to the 263m level), and my favorite Yu Yuan Garden amidst a bazaar or touristness. The Bund is a huge modern shopping area ...

Currently I am still in Suzhou hanging out with the kids. I've gotten to know the students quite well and many have taken an interest in teaching me Chinese. As for the mosquitoes, they are still biting heavily. Although, they are not as big as I imagined them to be, what they lack in size they make up in quantity. The campus is practically a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Every night, I walk back to my dormitory and face the grim reality that I will be bitten. It is not a matter of ...