Change of Plans . . .

Wait.  Hold up.  Turns out, I do know someone in China!  

My friend Rena, who is an up-and-coming film director, texted me via WeChat (that's the only text that works here in China).   

She’s visiting her parents for a few weeks in Suzhou, and asked if I would like to come visit for a few days?   Um, let me think about it for a second?  (no time needed) HELLS YEAH.

I love unexpected surprises like this.  The next day I checked out of my Shanghai hotel and boarded a bullet train for Suzhou.

The Shanghai Rail Station.  

Lots of drama happened for me here because NO ONE, and I mean, no one, spoke English. But then an angel appeared out of no where to help me.  A kind gentleman in the line walked me down the street to where I needed to be to buy mine.  I think he missed his own train. I couldn't say, "Xie xie" (pro-nounced "she she") enough.

This my bullet train to Suzhou.

Off we go!

  

Arrived to Suzhou!

Rena gave me a WELCOME bracelet.  Fresh jasmine flowers. It smells so good!

We headed right to dinner so I could try traditional Suzhou style food.

It was great.  The town is known for sweet & sour dishes.  This fish is their most famous specialty.

An entire fish is deep-friend (in cornmeal, I believe) and then a sweet and sour sauce is drizzled on top. The fish is filleted before its fried, so it's easy to grab pieces with your chop sticks.  Those green eyes are bell peppers, which I ate :-)

After dinner we went to hear live music. They covered '80's songs, in English. 

Suzhou is pronounced “Sue Joe”.  To remember the name I think of my childhood next door neighbors, Sue and her older brother Billy Joe; and their baby sister Zina.  Get it, Sue (Z is in the middle) Joe :-) 

The next day we went to the Suzhou Museum.

The museum was designed by a famous Chinese architect that everyone here is so proud of. This was his last design before he retired.  His intent with this design was to merge traditional Chinese architectural design with the future, all while enhancing Suzhou cultural heritage.

They have relics from 610 AD! Most were recovered from tombs.

Suzhou is a very old city.  It was founded in 514 BC and is often dubbed the "Venice of the East" or "Venice of China” because it sits on water. There are water canals and beautiful bridges everywhere

I learned so much in the museum about the Ming, Song and Qing dynasties.  It actually made everything else I have learned on this entire trip so far, click into place. Suzhou is the birthplace of a lot of things in Chinese culture, and in Japanese culture too.

Next, we went to the Classic Suzhou Gardens. These are lotus flowers.

So lovely.

You have to pay $90 RMB to get in, ($14 USD) but it was worth it.

Then we walked to an 800-year-old street!  It's called Pingjiang Road. 

There, we hopped in a rickshaw to get to our next destination.

Our bicycle driver took us down a narrow alleyway and would yell and honk his horn for people to, "MOVE OUT THE WAY!"  It was kind of scary, yet so much fun!  I would do it again :-)

Riding in the rickshaw. A little scared and a little thrilled.

Our destination was a tea house.

We sat outside in a cabana. T Farris, I think we can make this patio look happen at TJ Maxx, right?  :-)

For dinner, Rena wanted me to try a famous Suzhou hot pot dish.  Hot pot is like a stew.  Lots of restaurants here in China have it.  Vegetables, meat, spices and sauces stew together in a pot.  Then the "hot pot" is brought out to you, and you usually spoon it over white rice.    

But in this restaurant, we watched it cook at our table.

We picked vegetables and fish.  The server kept coming back to stir.

Then he came back to pour this thick sweet sauce on top.

A little later, it was ready to eat.  It was DELICIOUS! And spicy.  But that's because we asked for it to be.

Another crazy taxi driver!  He was cutting people off and turned left from the far right lane, twice!  And then he got lost!! But I didn't mind one bit - I liked taking the scenic route back home.

This is Rena's parents garden.  I am sitting outside writing this blog.

~SS