Serene Suzhou

I have been a bad blogger recently.  No posts for two weeks and now two in one night?  Where's the consistency in that?  Well, there is an explanation, to be honest.

Two weeks ago we went on holiday for a week.  With very few exceptions, I turned myself off of technology.  For those of you that know me, THAT NEVER HAPPENS.  I opened exactly ZERO work-related emails for 6 days and barely a few personal ones.  Then, when we returned, I had my busiest week of work/school yet as a bunch of my kids had early university deadlines to make.  Between that and the SAT, I was in the office 7 days in a row.  Then, this past week was short (and therefore rushed) because on Thursday and Friday I was out of the office and away from home on a counsellor meeting in a city about an hour away.  So, really, it couldn't be helped.  Plus, this last weekend, the cough I've had for weeks now worsened terribly and I got a fever, had the shakes, and felt downright miserable for about 24 hours.  I'm better now, but it was a bit of a shocker.

The city I went to is called Suzhou, and since it's only an hour away, I had Pete and Reese meet me on Friday afternoon and we made a weekend of it there before taking the train back into Shanghai earlier this afternoon.

Historically, Suzhou was supposedly the "Venice of the East" as all these canals were built into it and there are still many there.  According to some historians, even Marco Polo visited there when he came through China and he is reported to have said something along the lines of "anyone visiting China would be a fool not to see Suzhou and Hangzhou."  Apparently, he came in the off-season when there were fewer tourists.  :)

Any case, below are some of our photos from this week's adventure, and before I got really sick.  (
Again, better now, thanks!)

On our first evening there, Pete had mentioned that he was missing Turkey and then we happened to find this Uighur restaurant so I figured it was no coincidence and that we were meant to go in!  (The Uighur minority in China, some of whom are Muslim, lives in the far west, just north of Tibet, and the region is roughly halfway between Shanghai and Izmir.)  When the bread came out smelling of roasted, smoky lamb, we knew we were in the right place.  It was delicious!

On Saturday, we strolled through "The Humble Administrator's Garden," a city park with ponds, walkways, bridges, and all sorts of lovely places.  

 All the details were perfect, from the tops of the roofs with dragons down to the paving stones, which were arranged into fish, flowers, trees, or symbolic characters.

 There were Chinese men drinking tea everywhere

 and, of course, tourists taking photos of Reese.  I'm happy to say I handled it better than I did in Hangzhou.

After leaving there, we went to the Suzhou museum, a building known just as well for it's contents as for its architecture.  It was designed by I M Pei, who also designed the glass pyramids in front of the Louvre, in Paris, and made me think of our friends, Gloria & Wayne, who were just there (Paris) a couple weeks ago.  

Afterward, we strolled down a pedestrian shopping street where people were selling dumplings

hand-made combs made of bone and horns

and even lotus seed pods.

One women was stitching all kinds of traditional Chinese scenes (including bright red koi fish) and selling her prints

  while another owned a tea shop with dozens of jars of dried leaves and flowers for different herbal teas.  As my friend, Gloria, would say, it was all very "magical."  While it was a bit touristy, we loved getting a chance to see parts of old Suzhou.

 

The street, named Pingjiang Lu, was parallel to one of the old canals, and there were people in boats (like in Venice), paddling down them and singing Chinese opera songs.  The ambience was great... and I promise to share some of Pete's photos soon so that you can get a better sense for the beauty (beyond what my iPhone captures).  

Before going on a night-time boat cruise, we went to Ruiguang Pagoda and the Pan Gate, parts of the old city walls along the moat, where the fortress once protected the oldest part of the city.

Again, gorgeous plants and trees, pagodas, waterfalls, rock gardens, and bridges.  The Chinese really do gardens well.  They are so meditative.  One day, I will return to them, with a book, and a bottle of wine, and spend hours in bliss.  Until then, I will continue to race around with my toddler playing catch and trying to keep her entertained while pretending to be oh-so-zen.  :)

Hangzhou Holiday

So, last week (Sept. 30 - Oct. 4) we got a one-week break ("holiday" in British) terms.

As we didn’t realize we had the whole week off until it was too late and too expensive to plan a big trip, we decided instead to go to a nearby city that we’d heard about.  We were told it was a “small city” and that it was very green with lots of parks, gardens, etc. 

[Before I go any further, I should note that we did have a nice time and that we saw a cool, new place.  So, there’s that.  But, would we do it again?  Never.]

Hangzhou is a one-hour train ride from Shanghai and we decided to go for 4 nights.  When we planned the trip, we still thought Pete would be having a surgery on his shoulder, so a chill, quiet coupla days in some parks sounded like just what the doctor ordered. 

Now, I realize I’ve already said this, but we went during the first week of October.  That’s a crucial detail.  Apparently, the reason that we had the week off in the first place is because that week is the October National holiday in China.  It’s like the anniversary of the country’s founding.  Translated: a BILLION people were on vacation for a WEEK.  Here’s what that means for every subway and train station:

 

The city of Hangzhou wasn't actually much to look at, but on the west end is a nice lake, surrounded by loads of parks, botanical gardens, forests, pagodas, and green space for miles.  In fact, it's so beautiful, that it's THE place for wedding photos.  We saw 15 couples on our first afternoon there (a Monday afternoon, no less)!

Reese kept seeing "princesses" everywhere!

 She even decided she needed to do a little posing of her own.

Our first day there was the best one.  The whole place was empty.  We strolled through parks, Reese climbed trees, and we played in pagodas and  chased one another.  I daresay it was a "perfect" afternoon.

 I mean, really, THIS happened (see below).  A girl can't ask for more!

As the week continued, we rented bikes on a couple of days, we went for a hike to see a cave and a temple, Reese fed fish in ponds, and we ate yummy food.

 

After our first day, I was so grateful to the colleagues that had recommended the place to us.  It was peaceful, lovely, and stress-free.

The second day was a bit more crowded, but we climbed the stairs to the top of Leifeng Pagoda, and despite the haze in the air, it was still a great view.

In one park where we were being jostled among the hordes, we were still able to find a quiet alcove where a man was playing an instrument (that I don't know the name of) and we stopped to listen to him.

Reese was enjoying her lollipop, and even the casual people taking photos of her weren't too annoying.

 Plus, every now and then, amongst the crazyness, we would see and talk to small families occasionally, out with their little ones, just like us.

We saw Buddhist statues engraved in cliffsides

and watched women sorting tea leaves for drying.  Hangzhou is a huge tea-producing region.

 All these lovely local sights, and cultural encounters...

Even, if you can believe it, a happy toddler!

But, the reality was that there were TRULY millions of people everywhere we went.  The photos I have posted here do not paint the picture of the experience we really had.  By the end of the second day, and certainly on the 3rd, 4th, and morning of the 5th, we were completely exhausted. 

First, all these beautiful spaces and walkways were packed to the gills with people.  You were constantly being pushed off the sidewalk, having people elbow you, rush past you, step on your feet, shove ahead of you to see something, etc.  It was not the time or the place for claustrophobic (sp?) people.

Second, and much more exasperatingly, we were CONSTANTLY being photographed.  By "we" I mean Reese, mostly.  Although, at times, folks were just shooting all three of us.  I can honestly say that within the span of 5 days and 4 nights in Hangzhou, Reese easily had 1000+ photos taken of her.  I am not exaggerating.

What we came to realize was that many people visiting Hangzhou that week had never before seen Westerners.  Indeed, during our stay, we only saw 3 other western families or couples.  You guys, it was like being in a human zoo.  People would stare, point, and even laugh.  I lost number of the times I heard little kids say "foreigner, foreigner!" in Chinese to their parents.  

To some degree, we are accustomed to this.  In Turkey, Reese'e blonde hair and blue eyes definitely made her stick out and get plenty of extra attention.  People, even strangers, have been taking her picture for years.  But this was on a whole new level.  We couldn't stop in a park to look at something or sit on a bench for more than 60 seconds before a small crowd gathered around us.  At one point, I was literally pushing people's lenses out of our faces.

I tried to remind myself that I am a guest in this country.  I tried to remind myself that I am an ambassador and should act accordingly.  But, when an entire family stopped within feet of us, stared, laughed, and pointed, and Reese asked, "Momma, are they laughing at us?"... well, I lost it.  I started pointing my finger back at them and cackling, before I shoved past.  I'm not proud of it and it wasn't my best role-modeling for Reese, but it did get emotional.

Long story short, after several years of living abroad, we're still learning what it means to be "the other." I'm still learning to be more patient and more culturally-sensitive.  And yes, we're still making rookie mistakes.  Never again will we go to a Chinese tourist destination on a major Chinese holiday.  Next time, we're going to the Philippines!  'Til then, I am gonna learn to deal with being different, and I'm gonna remember that that's one of the other reasons we do this.