We left Zhangjiajie and travelled by train to Yichang and unfortunately we had to stay the night as we couldn’t get a connection straight to Chengdu. But the next night we were in Chengdu for Sechuan food and pandas.

We awoke pretty excited as today was Panda day! In northern Chengdu there is a Panda research base that has single handedly increased the Panda population to the point they are no longer endangered. The facility started with 6 rescued pandas in the 80’s to 180 today due to successful breeding techniques. 

We unfortunately had picked a public holiday to visit the park but were given the heads up by the guy at the hostel to go early and we should beat most of the crowds. So we caught the first bus out and were soon in the park walking towards the enclosure. The park is massive with the enclosures really large and full of trees. The first two enclosures we came across the pandas hadn’t been let out of their air conditioned sleeping quarters but they were encased in glass so we got out first views of the bears and Wow they are something. Their colourings are so distinctive.

We walked on to another enclosure and found a group of sub adults sitting together eating their way though piles of bamboo shoots. They were using as little energy as possible chowing down on their breakfast. They use their eye teeth to peel the shoot and their molars to chomp. Before they finish one stick they have another in their other hand waiting. Apparently they only digest 17% of the food they consume so have to eat about 50kg a day of bamboo. 

We walked around some more and pretty much saw all the pandas in the same sitting or laying position beside their piles of bamboo. If they had finished they were sleeping near by. I don’t think they are the most active of animals.

Not so for the Red panda. They are the size of a border collie and have very similar facial markings as the giant panda but in red and black. They also have the most distinctive black and red striped bushy tail. They look half panda half raccoon. Which we found out they are related to. They were patrolling around their enclosures marking their territory. Or sleeping in the trees.

We also got the pleasure of seeing baby pandas. These guys were adorable. They had been plonked out on wooden stages to get the morning sun. The bigger ones were at the stage of commando crawling but most were just asleep. We found out that pandas have a 50% chance of having twins but in the wild the mother picks the strongest and only nurses it, therefore the other dies. The park has been able to save the other baby and swap them in and out with the mother which has contributed to them being able to increase the population so quickly. 

By this stage the crowds were out of control. But we had seen everything so headed home. On the way we got off at the zoo because there were massive amounts of food vendors lining the streets and we got some tasty noodles and dumpling soup.

After that we walked through the people’s park. Another really well done park with beautiful gardens and a lake filled with people in little boats. This was very entertaining as it was kind of like dodgems on water. Some of the boats were powered by tiny inboard motors and some were just row boats. There were crashes everywhere but they didn’t go fast enough to cause any harm. We were originally going to the park to drink some tea in one of the tea houses. We had a bit of a picture in our minds what the tea houses should look like such as linen tablecloths, bone china and a lady in traditional dress pouring our tea in a tranquil setting. Stereotypical I know and the reality was nowhere near that. Packed in like sardines on plastic tables and chairs with a plastic urn beside your table filled with water to refill your cup. We decided to skip the tea house.

For dinner that night we went to a traditional Sechuan hot pot restaurant. Famous for its spiciness. You pick your meat, vegetables and noodles and drop hem into a cauldron of boiling spice. Like a fondue. We went for half hot and half not so hot. You also get a bowl of cold oil filled with fresh garlic and coriander and soy sauce to dip the ingredients in after it had been cooked in the boiling oil We had a little bit of trouble at the start losing our meat in the cauldron and our noodles were so hard to get out of the boiling oil with chopsticks. But we managed and it was delicious. The hot one was a little too hot for me but Tim loved it. S

Cuteness overload. The enclosures just had a big concrete wall surrounding them with the path higher on our side. So we actually got to get within about 5 metres from them.

You can see here the size of some of the enclosures. Top left is a concrete structure were they sleep in air conditioned comfort.

Some of the poses they were in were just looked staged. You could watch them for hours eating their bambo.

Two of the babies. We watched them for about 10mins but they didn’t really move, even with the crowd making lots of noise. 

The red Panda. You can really see the similarities to a raccoon.

Amazing climbers.

I couldn’t resist buying a panda hat.

I’m on a step! Watching our delicious noodle preparation off the back of a motorcycle.

The rows and rows of food bikes. And a local who caught us in the act.

In a lot of public places you will always see large groups of people dancing. I think it starts with a few people and their speaker and then people just get up and join and try and learn the steps as they go. I don’t know if they give the instigators a few dollars but we have never seen money exchange hands.  It’s really great to watch. These guys were all dancing the waltz.

Our not so romantic tea house.

This was amazing! The lady draws anaimals on the slate with toffee and puts the stick in and let’s it dry and hey presto you have the most amazing lollipop ever. Of course I got one. You spin the wheel and get which ever animal comes up. I was hoping for the dragon but got the chicken. It looked too good to eat but that lasted all of 2 mins. It was really tasty toffee.

After the epic day we had had yesterday we awoke feeling a little sore in the feet and legs yet were really excited about another day in the park!! After another interesting breakfast of coffee, dumplings and spicy noodles we were ready for the day.
The efficiency of getting around the park was all quite brilliant, I guess it has to be because they have to get a lot of people around the place and if it wasn’t up to scratch it would be a nightmare!
Once again our host Sue had done brilliantly with her suggestions of where and when to go places and we got to start the day off with a hike along the canyon floor with hardly anyone else around!! We were actually able to enjoy some peace and tranquility for what felt like the first time in a long time.
The great pinnacles were towering up around us and the stream/river flowing down the canyon was crystal clear. The woods were full of unusual looking plants and leaves and all in all we had a great start to the day.
We even encountered some Macaque monkeys which there were plenty of warnings about. These guys have worked out where to get food and rather than waiting to be given it, were more than happy to take it themselves!! Luckily we weren’t attacked but enjoyed watching them jumping around.
As we got closer to our destination we also got closer to the tour groups and general throngs of people. But again the size of the place and the facilities meant that the numbers could be coped with and it wasn’t long before we were up on top again after a short cable car ride.
It was another walk around a pathway with various lookouts and if it’s possible it was actually better views than yesterday!! Every time we stopped at a lookout we were presented with unbelievable views, truly a spectacular place!! We had also timed it right and were walking around during lunch and so numbers were down.
Lunch was a fantastic find but a little expensive at $3! Noodles with strips of cucumber stirred in with chilli, lime and soy sauce. Simple but delicious.
Since we had been lazy and caught the cable car up the mountain we thought we had better walk down. While it was a lovely walk it took us about 1.5hours and we have no idea how many steps we descended but we were both more than happy that we hadn’t walked up (I think we would have still been there). 
When we got back to town we decided to treat ourselves to a foot massage. We have been lucky enough to experience these in Thailand before and they were quite relaxing. The Chinese version was less so. After lengthy negotiations about which massage we wanted, we wanted the cheapest and she wanted us to have the most expensive, we eventually managed to get what we wanted and sit down to relax.
Bowls of scalding hot water were brought and we put our feet in them to be sterilised, fair enough. About 20 minutes later and nothing else had happened and we actually were wondering whether this was it! There had been lots of phone calling though and eventually two ladies arrived and started massaging and punching our feet!! It was a pretty hard massage and about halfway through they brought out a vile of some sort of liquid and then hustled us out of more money to rub it into our legs! We have no idea what it was but definitely got scammed by the place!
We spent the rest of the evening walking around the other half of the town which was quite a bit more buzzy with loads of shops, restaurants and bars. We had a fairly disappointing dinner which looked good but turned out to be very expensive and Sarah is still unsure as to what the meat we ate was! I guess one bad meal here and there is to be expected. The massage and the meals certainly won’t detract one iota from what has been a superb couple of days in the National Park. T

Looking up at the canyon during our morning walk.

The locals waiting for their opportunity.

Another fantastic cable car ride.

Some more amazing views of the park.

Lunch, just that easy, cheap and good.

The scenery was beautiful on the way down but the steps were agony.

Our last view of the amazingly beautiful Wulinyuan National Park.

We woke early and headed to a nearby restaurant for our 15 yuan or $3 breakfast. Which was a traditional Chinese breakfast so it pretty much consisted of what you would eat for dinner here and hard boiled eggs, steamed buns and some overcooked rice like porridge thing. But it was cheap and filling and had decent coffee so can’t really complain. I do miss bread though.
After breakfast we walked to the park gates and caught the next bus into the park. The cool thing with the park is that there are free buses that transport you around the park. Some on the plateau and some in the valley. The view driving through the valley to the bottom of the Bailing escalator was breathtaking with soaring pinnacles and jade green lakes. The Bailing escalator which is really an elevator literally takes you up the side of a mountain. About half way up, the outside turns to glass and you get an uninterrupted view of the skyline and the vastness under the elevator. It was pretty exhilarating and scary. The view from the viewing platform was breathtaking with the sun shining off the peaks. 
We were now on the plateau and caught our next bus to another section of the park. Sue the lady at our hostel who was marvelous and gave us a route to follow said it would be busy but as we had gotten to the park when it opened so it wasn’t too bad. The views here were really something. We didn’t know what to expect from the park but had high hopes considering they were touting it as the inspiration from Avatar and they were right. It was very otherworldly.
One of the most unusual things but one of the best was that at regular intervals there were stalls set up selling food and drinks. Mostly boiled and then fried potatoes covered in delicious spices, fruit and meat on sticks. We were making good time so decided to complete the next circuit before lunch.
We didn’t quite realize what we had gotten ourselves into. The path wound sharply down and then up and up and up for what felt like eternity. The route was called One Step to the Heaven so we should have realised it was going to be up! But then we came to a ladder which took you up onto the top of a very high and narrow pinnacle. The views! 
The walk back down was fine and we then got to sample some of the delicious potatoes at the bottom! We then caught another bus and were at the final leg for the day. As it was just after lunch this area was packed with tour groups. We actually had to wait in line to get to the edge to take our photos. This wasn’t the greatest but it was all kind of fun because we got to people watch along the way. 
To get home we had the option of walking down 8000 steps or catching the cable car for $13 each. We caught the cable car. But it was really worth it as it descended between two pinnacles and over the forest. I don’t why it but it feels way scarier in one of those things when there is no snow below! S

Easily one of the most impressive elevators.

The views from the top of the plateau were incredible.

The place looks physically impossible and it’s difficult to capture the sheer size and height of the place.  These features are about 850 m high

Tying on our red ribbon for luck.

Food always available.  These potatoes were particularly delicious.

It was difficult to wipe the smiles from our faces the whole way around.

An amazing cable car down through the pinnacles.

We had had a bit of a reshuffle in our plans as we had planned to go to Huangshan mountain but due to the G20 summit most residents in Hangzhou had been given the week off and by most reports many of the 6 million had gone to Huangshan mountain! We thought that the numbers of people would be a bit too much, plus we were struggling to find a decent way out of there to head further west.
Back up plan, go to Zhangjiajie a place which has been described as being the influence for the movie Avatar. If we are going to be honest neither of us could remember the movie but the inference was that this was a good thing so we were pretty happy with our decision.
With our tickets in hand we arrived at the train station in Hangzhou only to be completely amazed by the massive modern structure that it was!! Easily bigger than most airports yet completely efficient, clean and easy to get around and in no time we were on our very bullet looking train heading for Yichang.
The train was great and we were excited/relieved as we are about to spend quite a bit of time on them!! We had just over 1000km to go to get to Yichang as the crow flies. Unfortunately we went on a more circuitous route but we hit speeds of 200kph fairly regularly and ended up at our destination in about 8hrs.
We were only stopping at Yichang for the night to make our train connections and the budget hotel we had booked near the train station were very excited to have us and insisted on taking our photos on arrival!!
We had a bit of a bonus with dinner that night as we stumbled upon the place to be!! There was a guy outside who was cooking exciting looking stews in clay pots and with a bit of help from other diners and some walking around pointing at things we soon had a clay pot full of fairly spicy (we are getting closer to Sichuan) beef stew, some cabbage and two large beers!! The food was wonderful and soon enough the place was packed and tables and chairs were being erected outside to accommodate more people!
The next day we had a much shorter train ride to Zhangjiajie, only 5 hrs. This time the train wasn’t quite so impressive, it hopefully wasn’t going to go at 200kph!! Still the tickets only cost us $8 each so to be fair it was pretty impressive. 
The best thing about it was we could see the blue sky!! So far apart from a couple of days in Shanghai we had been surrounded by cloud and smog!! The pollution seems very bad and you just can’t escape it, but to be fair we haven’t suffered health wise as far as we can tell it’s just fairly unpleasant. I guess that’s what happens when so many people live in one area and this area around Shanghai has been completely full!!
The journey was very slow and stop/start but we had learnt from the day before and came prepared with our “pot noodles”. This is what everyone eats on the trains and there are hot water stations at the end of the carriages to fill them up. They had a bit more spice and flavour than the pot noodles we remember from our Uni days!!
We had decided to stay in Wulinyuan which was a little town at one of the entrances to Zhangjiajie national park. Once again it was much hotter than we thought it would be but wasn’t a city and there were lots of beautiful mountains around. Our host Sue was incredibly helpful with sorting out where and what we had to do in the park so we went out for a quick dinner to prepare ourselves for a lot of walking for the next two days!! T

The train station in Hangzhou.

Our hotel in Yichang…getting pretty good at matching up the characters.

A couple of shots of our lucky find dinner in Yichang.

There is massive amounts of construction going on everywhere we go.

Our plan today was to walk all the way around the lake. Ambitious but doable. But first we had to go and buy our train tickets for the next part of our trip the next day. We discovered that there was a train ticket sales office in town so we walked there and using photos of the places we wanted to go in Mandarin we managed to purchase our tickets easily. We are getting pretty good at this!

We then made our way to the lake and the throngs of people. We got about 2 kms around and decided that it was a stupid idea to walk around the lake. We were really struggling due to the heat and smog and also our legs and feet were killing us from the past week of our walking. We are both kicking ourselves that we didn’t keep our fitness up in Australia! The lake really was beautiful but it didn’t really change the whole way around so we decided to catch a nice air-conditioned bus to the Lingyin Buddhist Temple.

The temple was in a large park area and before we even got to the temple there was a hillside covered in Buddha carvings and statues. It was really spectacular. Very Indiana Jonesish. Opposite this was the temple and upon entry we were given 3 incense sticks. At the base of the temple there were pits and people were lighting their incense sticks. Raising them to their forehead 3 times in each direction and then depositing them into the pits. I don’t know much about Buddism but I believe it is making an offering before entering the temple. There were three temples ascending in a row up the mountain. All with some form of giant Buddha in the centre. Every temple we have been into feels pretty powerful somehow. I don’t really get that feeling in a church but seem to feel something close to spiritual in these temples. Maybe it’s just the incense making me crazy.

After the temple we caught the bus back to our hotel and rested our very sore feet. West lake has been lovely but it’s still hard to comprehend that what was described as a majestic and tranquil lake is situated beside a city of 6 million people, and thousands of people each and every day come to walk the pathways lining the water. S

Obviously in a country with over a billion people you are going to have a parking problem. Easily fixed. Just use the pavement. In certain streets cars are also allowed to park on the pavement. I also love the escalators up and down from the overpass in the background. 

Tim under one of the pagodas out on the lake.

A relatively quiet section of the walk. As you can see the tree lined pathways are really beautiful.

Trying to pick an interesting drink for morning tea.

As you can see th smog was pretty bad this morning.

They really know how to do gardens. All around the lake there are parks with immaculate waterways and gardens

The hill beside the temple with the Buddha carvings.

One up close.

Making my offering.

One of the Buddhas  inside the temples.

The temple from the outside.

The craziness of the city just moments from the lake.

It had been absolutely wonderful wandering around the gardens and streets of Suzhou but we had to keep moving as China is such a huge place to travel around. Today was going to be the first bus experience in China and it started off pretty easily as our host booked our tickets using her smartphone and then we got a screenshot with our ticket, seat numbers and gate number on. Too easy.
We chuckled as we arrived as to how quiet and clean the bus station was, especially in comparison to the places we have been in South and Central America. There was no shouting of destinations and no food stalls (bit of a shame really). Anyway we went and sat next to our gate which is still a little confusing as there was no English writing so we weren’t 100% sure we were at the right place, but sure enough when the time came to board we were right and it was all a little bit too easy and uneventful. The only main difference in the Chinese busses we noticed was that the seats were a little narrower so we were quite glad we were sat next to each other!
As I said it was all too calm of a trip but our bus driver soon sorted that out! He drove the bus as though it was a Ferrari, overtaking and undertaking everyone and darting into gaps that really were only just big enough for a small car. It was all pretty crazy and this guy seemed determined to get us to Hangzhou on time! When we encountered traffic jams he would simply cruise up the hard shoulder or race through a service station. I said when we safely got off that if we had crashed we would have only been able say that “that was inevitable!”
I have to admit that most of the time was spent watching the road and waiting to brace for impact but when we could look out the window it was a pretty grim sight. It has to be a smog haze that we have been in since we arrived, apart from the odd day the visibility has been pretty bad. To be fair it has been worse on cloudy days but it’s definitely there. It’s also quite amazing as to how many people live just in this relatively small area, Shanghai 24 million, Suzhou 1.3 million, Hangzhou 6.2 million! Plus there are loads of other cities we haven’t been to so all in all there are millions of people living here and judging by the smog you can certainly tell. It will actually be a really nice change to head out towards the countryside and see what that’s like.
Our hotel here is the first we have stayed in without any English in the sign so we weren’t exactly sure we were in the right place! The receptionist didn’t exactly fill us with confidence either as she really struggled with checking us in, but eventually we got a room key and got charged the correct amount. Getting the wifi code was a little harder but again we succeeded thanks to online translator apps and the fact that the Chinese people so far have been so welcoming and hospitable it is fast becoming one of the best places we have been!!
There wasn’t long left in the day so we decided to head down to take a walk for sunset next to the West Lake. It was quite bizarre walking through a massively developed city expecting to come out and see what was meant to be a spectacular view, but we did and it was! It was really quite a spectacular sight and although the sunset wasn’t fantastic we enjoyed walking along looking at the sight. So did about 200,000 others!! Once again we have been flabbergasted by the sheer number of people here and the fact that we didn’t see another westerner the whole day! To be fair though the pathways were huge and there was space for everyone so it was still enjoyable.
We had found a place highly recommended just near the lake to eat but unfortunately so had everyone else! Outside all the massively busy restaurants were ticket machines where you entered your phone number and the number of people in your party and waited for your text or your number to be called. We decided we were too hungry for this so wandered off and found ourselves a lovely little noodle bar and then finished the evening off with a walk through a fairly disappointing night market. Still looking forward to tomorrow! T

A video would have been better, but this shot gives an idea.

Boating on the West lake at Hangzhou.

It all looks quite serene and beautiful.

Of course, this being China someone has built a much bigger boat!

The crowds! They may be larger than normal as everyone in Hangzhou was given a weeks holiday during the G20 in an effort to cut down on the smog.

This is the queue at the restaurant to put your name down to be in the queue!

We woke to more rain. But fortunately it’s not heavy just a constant mist. Our plan for today was more gardens but on the way we walked down Pingjang Lu street right next to one of the canals. It’s a pretty famous street in Suzhou and is lined with restaurants, food stalls and silk shops. When we went it really wasn’t that busy so we got to meander our way down without fighting the foot traffic. Obviously we had to watch out for scooters but we are getting pretty used to that. The street really is beautiful with the canal, bridges and trees with hanging branches sweeping into the water. 
The next stop was the couples garden. Along the way we took a turn off Pingjang Lu Street and walked along another canal lined with homes. They all had little planter pots filled with veggies growing along the river. 
The couples garden was also pretty quiet and we got to experience most of it without seeing too many people. Although still very nice it wasn’t a patch on yesterday’s garden. While I was in the toilet, Tim was asked if someone could take his photo which he obliged and soon had the baby in his arms and the whole family surrounding him. I missed it all so now we have started a competition to see whose photo gets taken the most.
We then headed for some lunch and our first place although really busy didn’t have any pictures or English and it seemed as if there was a complicated ordering system involved so we ditched that and found another equally as busy but with nice big pictures on its menu for us. Again the food was so delicious and cheap!
We then had to make a pit stop at the free museum we went to yesterday as nature was calling and European toilets have become few and far between. I don’t have much trouble getting myself into the required position but it’s quite a difficult position for western men. Well my western man anyway 😂.
We then walked to the North Temple Pagoda which was once the tallest building south of the Yankee river. It really is quite impressive but even if we could climb it there was absolutely no point as the weather had gotten worse and I think we would have seen about 100 metres. 
Suzhou is the home of silk production in China and fortunately the silk museum was right opposite the pagoda. We headed in there to get away from the weather. The most impressive sights in the museum was seeing the old manual looms in action. They were so intricate and needed two people to work them. We also got to see silk worms up close in a basket eating the mulberry leaves. I didn’t purchase any silk items as they weren’t cheap but I bet if I looked up how much I would pay for that quality of silk I probably would have filled my bag with it.
We then were both pretty tired and decided to catch a taxi to our next stop. But unfortunately it took us awhile to find one so we had to walk a few kms down the road. But along the way we managed to a stumble across a fresh produce market. The market itself was so clean and all the produce including the fish and meat was so fresh. Definitely a step up from South America. I also must mention that you can apparently also drive your scooter in the market and shop from the comfort of your own chair. 
We soon found our taxi and although it was nice to sit down it wasn’t that relaxing. Everything i said about cars in Shanghai doesn’t apply to Suzhou. Lots of beeping and over and undertaking. But we made it one piece to Pan Gate. Which is situated on one of the original city walls. Within the Pen scenic area is another beautiful pagoda surrounded by stunning waterways and gardens. We again got asked for our photo and we certainly get many looks walking around town. By this stage we were knackered and went back for some early dinner and bed. S

Pingjang Lu Street

Some of the wares on offer.

The couples garden.

Just another side street. So picturesque.

Silkworms eating mulberry leaves.

The two person loom. The guy up top was manually lifting certain strings of silk while she created the pattern. It was all very confusing and to tell you the honest truth I had no idea how they were making the pattern.

The food market.

The pagoda at Pen Gate.

Pen Gate was a little less busy so we managed to get some really great shots.

First time catching a train in China and really when you think about it catching public transportation shouldn’t be too difficult. It wasn’t. The station was absolutely massive though and it took us a while to navigate around but we were soon on the train and soon speeding our way to Suzhou.
85km in 30mins for $7.50 each, not bad at all.
As we left Shanghai we never really saw any countryside all the way to Suzhou. It wasn’t densely populated but there were still plenty of apartment blocks. It must be the industrial area as the smog was the worst we have seen, you certainly couldn’t see the horizon in fact I would be surprised if we could see more than 2 km. I have never seen anything this bad.
The hope, I guess, is that there is evidence of them making at effort to reduce the pollution. The scooters are all electric. I am not sure whether this will result in more or less human death as they are now silent!! Scooters can be seen going the wrong way down roads, through traffic lights and even on footpaths!! We certainly keep an eye out for them.
We had no idea what to expect in Suzhou but were very pleasantly surprised when we got here. The hostel was perfect and they even gave us a map to help us with where to go. Surprisingly enough we had some dumplings and wonton soup at a recommended place when we arrived and they were delicious. Slightly less English here and the lady at the hostel had to write down what we were going to have!!
They were dumplings full of soup and filling and after a couple of disastrous attempts at our first bites which resulted in soup squirting out everywhere a kind gentleman at the next table showed us how to eat them. Very very nice indeed!!
Suzhou is famous for its gardens. We started with a visit to the Suzhou museum which is actually a modern take on a Chinese garden and was actually quite cool and different to walk around. Yet again the museum was free!!!
The main park is called “The Humble Administrator’s Garden” and was just around the corner so we thought we would finish off the day with an amble around.
It was truly superb. We weren’t sure what to expect but it was 5.2 hectares in total and was a combination of little houses, lakes, bridges and walk ways and was so delightful to walk around.
It wasn’t spring and the weather was pretty dreary but even so it was absolutely breathtaking. Somehow it was full of people yet also relaxing in the same way. The thought and effort that must have gone into constructing such a thing of natural beauty must have been immense. We were both thoroughly impressed and can’t wait to see what the rest of Suzhou will bring!!!
For the evening our host at the hotel had recommended a local restaurant serving a local delicacy, fish with a sweet orange sauce. She again was nice enough to have written both the name of the restaurant and the dish down for us so off we set trying to match up the Chinese figures on our piece of paper with the ones in neon outside of the restaurants!! We felt pretty proud of ourselves when we found the place and set about ordering our dinner. The place was pretty quiet and we had a menu with pictures so we were feeling pretty confident. I am going to say that I don’t think our waitress was the brightest, but chaos ensued. We showed our written instruction which she understood but then we tried to get her to show it to us in the menu or at least tell us how much it was going to cost. Everything I pointed at in the menu to try and indicate that I wanted her to show me, she just wrote down on our order…this was going nowhere. So I pulled out my wallet and eventually she got the idea…and it turned out it was too expensive, back to square one. By this stage the table next to us were in fits of laughter. She must have been a bit insulted as she then lowered the price of the dish and we ordered some vegetables and then a beer. Brilliant.
We then tried to order rice. Not so hard in a Chinese restaurant but no matter what we tried she wasn’t going to understand. We even had a little bit of Internet and tried to do translations but she still wasn’t playing the game. At this point we just gave up. Dinner was great in the end although it did lack a bit of rice. T

The modern style in the new Suzhou Museum.

Some of the trees in the Administrator’s gardens were just so beautiful.

Pondering.

Everywhere we walked in the Administrator’s Garden there are waterways and bridges.

One of the many highlights for us were the gardens full of Bonsai trees.

We spent hours walking around the gardens and we could have spent longer!

Outside the gardens and on our way back we passed a shop where you could pick your own pearls!  Sarah is here picking her oyster.

The Oyster was then opened and all the pearls were hers to keep!  They cleaned them up.

And then made them into a bracelet.

The streets of Suzhou are an eclectic mix of canals, narrow alleyways, multi laned traffic filled and these lovely tree lined avenues lined with an array of wonderful shops.

I didn’t quite know what to expect from Shanghai before we left but we absolutely loved the place from arrival. It actually made it on the list of cities we could live in. We prefer it to Hong Kong as it seems more oriental yet still user friendly for Westerners.  
I know a few days is not a lot of time to make comments on a place but first impressions are that I feel more comfortable/safer here than in South and Central America. Now we never had any problems over there, I am more just commenting on at face value, asian people are far less threatening. Trying to put my finger on it I think it is that South and Central Americans are a harder people. Writing that it sounds stupid because of course they are going to be harder as most of those countries are third world and China certainly isn’t. I also think here they are more expressive and smile a lot more. Also they are tiny! Not just short but tiny. Anyway I shall ponder more on this and keep you posted.
While I am comparing I will also mention that over here they are far more reserved in their driving with little horn use and they generally stick to the road rules. The exception on all of the above are scooter drivers. They don’t seem to have rules and anywhere a scooter will fit it is allowed to go. For example up the wrong way down a one way street, on pedestrian walkways and parks. They are also all electric so you can’t here them coming and are most are held together by cello tape. Not duct tape as any normal person would use, but cello tape. It’s quite unnerving to be walking down a pathway only to have a scooter drive past you. You pretty much need to look every which way before crossing even if it is a green man. 
So far most things have been written in Mandarin and English which has been great. I have a sneaky feeling that might change when we leave the more well known cities. I think we might be eating a lot of what the person had in front of us or on the table beside. But so far the food has been wonderful.
The fashions here are fascinating. The general fashion sense is very casual, you fit in with denim shorts and a singlet. But you could be brushing shoulders with an immaculately dressed lady in stilettos and silks or alternatively she could be wearing cat ears. Anything goes and their smart clothes are cutting edge and very fun. No wonder the high end brands all have shops here. 
A few negatives we have experienced here, one being the spitting. It is socially acceptable for men and women to hock up a giant spitball and spit it out on the pavement. It’s really gross. Another is the no concept of queuing. But that was the same in South America so we are pretty used to that. The smells over here are pretty intense as well. It’s a lot cleaner than I expected yet sometimes you get a waft of something from their bins that is pretty eye watering.
But so far we are loving our China adventure. Tomorrow we catch a train to Suzhou so we shall see how we get along with that. S

We had read that the Yuyuan Gardens were a must see but they get very crowded on a weekend. So we went Monday morning thinking that it would be quiet, especially with the slightly overcast weather.  It wasn’t. The streets around the gardens were chokers full of people and lined with souvenir stalls, people selling knock off watches and little food stalls. Inside the walled gardens they were not as busy as outside and even with the people you still found a sense of calm. Rather than big open gardens which I was expecting, they were instead a rabbit warren of waterways and gardens being split by traditional buildings and rocks. The gardens took 18 years to develop in 1559 in the Ming era and although we missed it, in spring apparently the magnolias are in bloom and are beautiful to see. The gardens really were breathtaking with scenes out of the movies. But our photos without people were very painstakingly waited upon. 
We then caught the metro to the French Concession area where there were two separate areas that had been developed out of traditional long tang alleyway homes. The first one we visited was the upscale Xintiãndi. It was lovely and modern but wasn’t really our cup of tea. Filled with fancy restaurants, art galleries and clothing stores it felt really western. Upscale but with not a lot of character. I am sure if you lived here it would be a wonderful place to come, but for us looking for something different, not so much.
We walked then to the other section called Tiánzîfáng and it was so much more fun. The alleyways were filled with food stalls and little funky shops selling all manner of things. You just walked down two central alleyways and then branched off into these smaller ones when it took your fancy. It was vibrant and fun. Still very touristy but more kitschy than upscale. Well worth the trip around town to get there.
After a quick rest we were back out again in the streets looking for some dinner. We decided today that we would start picking one dish a day that was adventurous. Tonight we had red pork and sea cucumber. The pork was really great as usual and what we thought was the sea cucumber was fantastic. But we soon discovered that what we thought was sea cucumber was actually pickle. The actual sea cucumber (which we thought was pork rind) had the taste and consistency of rubber. Well our first attempt at new things didn’t go down so well but it can only go up from here!…….. Hopefully. S

Like I said it was pretty beautiful.

The new and the old. Te Shanghai Tower in the background.

One of the streets around the gardens. We see the occasional Western tourist but we are definitely a minority.

One of the alleyways in Tiánzîfáng. As you can see the shops are at the bottom of houses.

One of the food stalls. Some of these looked weird and wonderful but not so appetising.