Suzhou, Part II

On to part II of our Shanghai/Suzhou trip.  Arriving at Chuck and Caryn's apartment after our cold day in Shanghai, we regrouped and then enjoyed pre-dinner hour long foot massages at their local favorite massage place and then went out for Sichuan food. That'll warm you up.  The next day our first tour stop was a 1000+ year old Buddhist temple with a big pagoda called Huqiu Tower or Tiger Hill Pagoda.  It's a nice walk up the hill through the grounds and various other buildings up to the pagoda.

 

This was the start of the walk and you can see the famous pagoda framed in the background.

 

Throughout the park there were various signs encouraging appropriate behavior, but Paul and Chuck are not civilized and do not add grace to the scenery.

 

 

A good view of Suzhou from up top.

 

The tower has seven stories and eight sides and has a definite lean as you can see here.  It used to have a traditional wood exterior, but that was torched during the Cultural Revolution.

 

There were many pretty spots throughout the garden with waterfalls, big rocks, sculpted trees.  Would be prettier in spring, of course.

 

 

After lunch we explored the classical Chinese garden in Suzhou, which is a UNESCO heritage site.  Lots of pretty buildings, ponds, waterfalls and gardens.  The architecture is amazing.   

 

 

There's also a giant ancient metal bell that I was saying how fun it would be to ring it, when sure enough, for about $1 you can bang it three times with a big wooden battering ram and then get a souvenir postcard.

 

 

And the third sight of our day was wandering down an old waterfront road with lots of old buildings converted into little shops and food places.  There were little bridges and cobble stone streets, it actually reminded us of some of the European old town areas we've been to.

 

That night for dinner we joined a Seagate event at a big German restaurant featuring German food, Malaysian food, and karaoke.  Kind of a funny mix.  Our last day Paul and I both made work visits.  Paul went with Chuck to Seagate to tour around and meet some people and Caryn escorted me into Shanghai on the train so I could visit the Target Sourcing office there, where my boss is based, and have yummy Shanghai food with the Finance team for lunch. 

 

After lunch the four of us all met up for one last tourism bit--going to the big fake market.  You're all getting $10 "Rolex" watches for Christmas next year, surprise!

 

Paul's last request on the way out of town was to take the "Maglev" train to the airport, seen below.  This train moves via magnetic levitation rather than wheels and averages 260 mph, but disappointingly you can't actually see it levitating. Boo.

 

And that's it!  We packed a lot into four days, thanks Chuck and Caryn!  Next stop, Bali...