Watertowns of China – Suzhou and Hangzhou

The train ride was so fast that it  felt like as soon as we sat down and took off our coats, it was time to get off at Suzhou station. We spent more time getting our tickets than actually riding the train. We took a quick taxi ride to our hotel located right in the middle of the tourist center. Hotel Soul Suzhou was very nice and a great find for $60 per night including breakfast. We had a relaxing evening enjoying our nice hotel, happy hour at the bar and really comfy room.

The next morning we set out on a long walk. Not far from the hotel we stumbled upon Chenghuang Temple. They offered free entry so we took advantage and quietly made our way in. There were people in the temple worshiping and performing a traditional ceremony. Men played music and a family made an offering of a paper goose. We all stood and watched as the smoke started and the flames consumed it until there was nothing left but ash. It was a very unique experience that we were lucky to have.

On our way to the west side of town, we walked down some alley ways in the local neighborhood. We saw a few interesting things as part of daily life including laundry hanging to dry on the power lines.

After about two miles of walking we arrived at the Lingering Garden located outside of Chengman Gate. It is considered one of China’s best traditional gardens.

It was built in 1583 by Xi Taishi, by a bureaucrat of the Ming court. It covers an area of 2.3 hectares.  The off season price of entrance is 45 RMB ($7.14). We wandered through the garden for about 1.5 hours taking in all of the beautiful flora and fauna.

After our time at the gardens we started to make our way back toward our hotel. Since we were quite a way from that area, we decided to take the public bus. Bus #1 makes a route that stops near most tourist locations. The older folks on the bus were fascinated that we were riding along with them.

Day two we decided to take the metro to the north side of Old Town. Our first stop was at the Bao’em Temple. Parts of the temple complex date back to construction between 1131 and 1162 AD. The pagoda is nine stories high. While pagoda is closed we explored the temple complex including walking around the pagoda in a clockwise route in order to keep the “spirits” happy with us. It’s part of the local beliefs.

A short walk from the Bao’em Temple is the Humble Administrator’s Garden. The original part of the garden was built in 1509. It covers a very large area and takes a minimum of two hours to walk and enjoy all the different sections the garden offers.  Humble Administrator’s Garden is much busier that the others we visited so far and also more expensive. The low season price is 70 RMB ($11.00) and 90 RMB in high season. The gardens have many pavilions, ponds and rockeries to explore. On warmer days it would be a great place for a picnic.

Just two blocks down from the garden’s exit is a small stand offering canal boat rides. We were excited to have the chance to ride the boat and this one is a much less expensive option that the large motorized boats on other parts of the canal. The cost is 40 RMB per person and we got our own boat. The ride was around 45 minutes long. While the canals are not as scenic as those in other parts of the world, it was a great way to see every day life in the city. We also got a chance to “steer” the boat. I did not do well!

While walking back to the center of Old Town, we came across the Phi Shi Street Bird and Flower Market. We couldn’t believe the amount of animals that they had in such small cages. It was very sad to see them so crammed together. The good things was all the animals were very clean and seemed to be well fed. The market is where locals come to buy fresh flowers and also find a pet. There many different animals for sale including puppies, bunnies, kittens, turtles, birds, guinea pigs, gerbils and many kinds of fish.

Our day would not have been complete without a meal of our favorite new Chinese food… fried dumplings. We found a local restaurant near the famous shopping street, Guan Qian Street. The menu was only in Chinese, so we did our best to point at pictures to order our food. The small shop did not disappoint. It was another great meal of pork fried dumplings and white rice for approximately $3.00 for two people.

The next morning we grabbed our bags and took the metro to the train station. After standing in line for quite a while we discovered all the tickets for morning trains to Hangzhou were sold out. So we made a run for the bus station located across the street. Were we on a bus 20 minutes later. It turned out to be a great way to travel and cheap too. We arrived in Hangzhou 3 hours later and took a taxi to our hotel in the Old Town. We were in the taxi for almost an hour because traffic was CRAZY! We settled into the hotel and then set out to find some dinner. We located a restaurant near our hotel and enjoyed some Kung Pao Chicken. It was spicy but very good.

Our hotel is a four block walk from Westside Lake the main attraction of Hangzhou. It is a man-made lake covering 2.5 square miles. There are a lot of things to do along the waters edge as well take a boat ride to the island in the middle.  During our two day visit we spent two afternoons strolling the boardwalk, watching the locals play cards in the park and following the cormorant birds as they fished along the shallow water.

We also took the boat ride to the island in middle containing  “The Three Pools Mirroring the Moon.” It was basically a Chinese garden on an island in the middle of the lake. It is beautiful with calm waters throughout the middle with small pavilions along the outside.

There are many different kinds of boats that will take you to the island. Of course they all have different prices ranging from 55 RMB to 120 RMB. We opted for the cheaper option and found out that on the way back you can take which ever boat you want. We took the smaller covered boat there and the decorated own on the way back.

Along the water is a very large elevated park. We climbed the never ending stairs to the top and were rewarded with beautiful views of the city and lake. There is much to see in the park with many temples, pavilions and the City God Temple. We leisurely enjoyed an afternoon in the park.

In front of the park is Hefang Street, a historic pedestrian shopping street lined with shops and food stalls.  In present day, it’s quite touristy but fun to see all the Chinese tourists on vacation. Everything is geared toward Chinese tourists. Robert just had to try one of the local treats, sugar glazed strawberries. So good!

As we did in Suzhou, we had to find some great local food to try in Hangzhou.  We are lucky that to be staying only one block from the very famous Kui Yuan Guan Noodle Restaurant. It was founded in 1867 and serves Anhui-style noodles. Yummy!

 

This morning (yes, 7:30am Monday) we woke up to watch the Super Bowl Live. Robert had his coffee in hand and was yelling at the iPad. We had fun enjoying a little piece of home. Hope everyone had an amazing Super Bowl Sunday.

 

Tomorrow we are off to Huangshan for a visit to Yellow Mountain. See on the other side of the clouds…