2012-02 Suzhou

 On Saturday, I took the high speed rail from Shanghai to Suzhou for a day of sightseeing.  The trains run between 150 to 200 mph on elevated tracks going to many destination from Shanghai.  The 70 mile distance between the two cities took less than 30 minutes, much better than the 1-1/2 or more hours by car.  The best thing was the cost of only 40RMB ($6.50) each way.  When I arrived at the train station, I was inundated with offers for bus tours of the city for 15RMB.  Not knowing how good the English would be or how long it would take, I ventured on my own.

I got in my cab and was going to head for Jinjihu Lake.  I couldn't find a map at the train station, and the cab could not figure out where I wanted to go from the map on my phone, so I called a hotel on the waterfront and had them give the cab driver directions.  I made it to the hotel and then went in and got a local map and cab card with the various atrractions listed in Chinese.  I was now ready to head out.  A new twin towers building is being built on the west shore of the lake.  There is a large open park area that looks like it would host concerts and events, and it overlooks a dancing waters fountain in the small bay area.  It would be fun to be here in the summer for the show. 

While I was walking along the lake, I noticed a bunch of lime green bikes along the sidewalk.  These were part of a bike rental program that Suzhou has.  Unfortunately, I couldn't read directions on how to obtain the bike, otherwise I would have taken one to expand my range on my walking tour around the lake.



My next stop was Canglang Pavailion, a 1000 year old garden on small lake.  I made it easily by cab with the map and cab card from the hotel.  The garden coordinates the harmony between the rock formations, buildings and plantings.  Since it is surrounded by walls, it is very quiet and peaceful inside the garden area. 



I walked about a half mile south to the southern boundary of the old city, which is created by one of the many rivers and canals running through the city.  Suzhou is know as the Venice of China since much of the city is traversed by water.  Water taxis and small boats line the canals and bring people about the city, especially tourists.



In the shopping area, I wandered past a bar that had some very unique decorations out front including a 20' tall quitar as a sign and a sculpture of Larual and Hardy carrying a keg into a door that was surrounded by musical instruments.  This would have been a fun place to check out if I was going to be in Suzhou for the evening, but it was only 11:00AM and wasn't even open yet.



I now headed up to Tiger Hill, a 100ft high hill on the northwest side of town.  On top of the hill was large tower built half on bedrock and half on soil, so it started to lean to the side, much like the leaning tower of Pisa.  This one started to lean while it was being built, so the upper floors are built to compensate for the earlier lean.  I even tried to straighten it up, but to no avail.  Up until a few years ago, it was open and you could climb up the tower, but now more.  Tiger Hill is a popular tourist destination and is also surrounded by canals.  You can take a boat ride around Tiger Hill, or even take a horse drawn carriage around the grounds

The grounds around Tiger Hill are full of gardens and trees.  It is a very pretty park, and being on top of one of the only hills around, you can get a nice view of the surrounding Suzhou area.  After visiting Tiger Hill, I headed back down to find a cab to take me back tot he railway station for my quick train trip back to Shanghai.  A fun day making my way around Suzhou without a word of Chinese in my vocabulary that could be useful.  Thank goodness for cab cards and tourist maps from an international hotel to make getting around relatively easy.