Somerset Emerald City Suzhou

... The sites, sounds, and smells were a real eye opener. Children ran up to us to practice their English and have their picture taken. Other Chinese tourists and locals enjoyed waving to us and Denise and I bought Oreos, Lays potato chips, and a Dove chocolate bar for about $2.50 at the local market. <br><br>Joe had us climb up one of the old bridges to take pictures as the lights came on along the canal. When we got back to him, he had an ...

... side of the street are homes, shops, eating establishments, hair salons, a scooter mechanic shop, a small hotel, and many street vendors. It seems like the entire neighborhood is out on the street every morning getting ready for the day. As we turn onto the street we often see a little old lady hunched over as she works on her small garden plot beside the road. A few more meters and we pick up the pace as we pass the ...

... br><br>Another day takes us to Panmen, a beautiful old scenic area by the Grand Canal which has the only land and water gate in China, once controlling access to the city by either route. I climb up inside the pagoda and tick another box. <br><br>Are we getting better at dodging the bikes? Not sure but we have time to practise before we hit Vietnam where crossing the road, from what I have read, is an even worse experience.<br><br>Shirley &amp; John

... go back to their rooms to sleep(you can see a lot of clothing hanging outside the dorm room windows in the pictures below. That's because there are only washing machines in China, no dryers. So even Lois and I have to hang up all of our clothes after we wash them. Should be interesting this winter). Chinese people love to sleep, and their super good at it. They sleep anywhere and everywhere they can. Whenever we ride the bus at least every third person ...

... Disney parks, Cinderella carriage tours, Mickey Mouse<br>and other fairy-tale star performances, etc., the average price of<br>which is about 27,000 U.S. dollars, balanced with the average American<br>wedding ...

... was all very beautiful. We then drove the bus around the city to dinner. It tasted almost identical to lunch. When we got to the Central Hotel, we discovered we have real toilets, fast internet, HBO, and a pool! YAY! I also discovered I had work to do for my business fraternity, so I ended up working on that all night. But I think tomorrow will be another busy adventure!<br>

... geting a kick back but we were in awwe of the neat stuff. Later in the day, we visited the Emrboidery Institute, an abosluelty incredible place. this was not on our tour, but our guide knew the place. The women that work there are in training for 8 years beofre they are considered proficient. Some silk "paintings" embroidery take 10 years to complete, and cost thousands of dollars. they only work in natural light - so even on a cloudy day, they were by ...

Suzhou, for us, was a city marked by gardens, canals, buses, late-nite massage parlor bars, small animals, Italian food and chilli fries. It was a city filled with beautiful Chinese women and was well-kept and clean. It was a little too Guilinish for my taste but over all a nice place. Great showers in the ...

After buses and trains, the option to travel by boat from Hangzhou to Suzhou was too good to miss. It is also pretty good value and an opportunity to see the Grand Canal close up. In engineering terms the Grand Canal is every bit as impressive as the Great Wall as it linked up the key seats of power and commercial interest of Eastern China. The boat is hard to pick out from the coal and sand barges on the dockside and the cabins are cramped ...

... sont encore habitees. La jonque repose devant de vieilles maisons en stuc entourees de leurs petits potagers. Pour l'entree dans les trois petites gorges, on passe a nouveau sur un bateau plus petit qui mene vers un temple et une pagode. La ca devient un peu plus touristique. Des chinois sont postes un peu partout en habit traditionnel, faisant mine de porter du bois, et commencent a chanter des que le bateau arrive (les guides font mine de vous expliquer a quel point vous avez de la ...