Suzhou

Suzhou is beautiful. It is the first truly Chinese city we have been in, with the others being more western, touristy, or international. I can't really compare it to any other place, as I have with other citites, although Venice and St. Pete come to mind because of Suzhou's canals. The two most impressive features of Suzhou are its gardens and its night market.

In the afternoon we heard a presentation by a manager from Suzhou's Parks District, then visited two gardens. Both gardens integrate water (with a pond), gazebos and pavilions, courtyards, plants, trees, grass, and rocks, and hill; steps, arches, and tunnels. Each space is cozy and for the most part separated from the others. You almost have to search to find the way from one yard to the next. The wood and vegetation are both lush.

The night markets had four types. The first section is the low-end fastfood courts, where you can get a tiny skewer of pork, chicken, squid, camel, ostrich, goat, deer, or anything else you can imagine. They also have different types of veggie-filled breads, pancakes, crepes, and cakes. The second section is the trinket section. This is the first trinket mall which seemed targeted to locals rather than foreigners. Instead of stamps and chess sets, they had socks and toys for sale. The third section was the large plaza in the middle of the department stores. There was arcade basketball, rollerblading, a pond/river with a bridge, two water jet features, a water tunnel, and a bumper-boat ride for cars, where the kids bump each other with paddleboats instead of cars in a large, low inflatable swimming pool. The fourth section was the high-end food court, with the veggie-filled crepes (including plum sauce), and the dancing Aussie Chinese krewe with their exotic animal meats.

Even our hotel is impressive, though certain sections of it look like it is still under construction, and in this sense it reminds me of Vilnius just after they started to open up in the early '90s. A year from now they should have it all fixed up.