What a Difference a Day in Souzhou Makes

Wednesday 23 August

The whole party was feeling more refreshed this morning when we set out to see the Lingering Gardens here in Souzhou. Like the hotel, the city (only 6 million people) has a definite laid-back, easy-going feel to it. We passed along leafy boulevards, crossed canals, and wound our way through small side streets to reach these gardens that had once belonged to a wealthy businessman back in the 1600’s. The town itself dates back 2,500 years and parts of the city wall from that time still remain.

As soon as you entered the gate to the gardens, there was a feeling of peace and tranquility. A young lady in Chinese costume sat playing one of the old traditional musical instruments – the flat harp – much the same as the ones we had seen in Mongolia. The tinkling music definitely added to the charm. The gardens are a series of corridors and rooms which look out on to courtyard style gardens, with lots of granite and water and trees and large rock sculptures all arranged in typical Chinese style. We wandered around – our guide, Jasmine accused us of “lingering” too long in places, and found the ice cream shop – where I had a salt water lolly! (not like me at all) – it wasn’t at all salty and tasted more like frozen lemonade. But the temperatures were again in the middle 30’s, even at 10.00 in the morning, so I needed something to cool me down. Colin found this place frightening, as it offered up lots of ideas for the pond and pergola in our garden. I think he was almost pleased to leave.

From here we went to Temple Hill to see – what else – but a temple! Actually it was the burial site of the first Emperor of Wuhan Province, whose capital was at Souzhou. His actual tomb is under the pagoda at the top of Temple Hill. There are about 100 steps to the top but there were three sedan chairs parked near the entrance which would take you up, and down, for 50 yuan (about 3 pounds GBP). Three of our party quickly jumped in these and they were off up the steep steps towards the hill. Between the three chairs they were a man short, so they had resting places where one man would come back and take the third chair to catch up. They invited Sanjit (one of our party) to try and lift the chair carrying Harry, our Trinidadian Dad. He not only managed it, but the other carriers had to chase after him to get him to stop. Needless to say all those who were walking spent most of their time laughing.

On the way up, via several steep stairways and a series of courtyards all with large camphor trees in the centre, and students sitting around the edge painting, we found a hidden Bonzi Garden. You entered through an old wooden gate in the centre and found yourself 50 or so feet above a large garden laid out like a maze with the small trees – some of which were over 300 years old, but still perfectly formed. It was very simple, but the effect was stunning.

We continued climbing up and around and down and back up the steps until eventually we came across a “sword hole” where the Emperor had made all his subjects deposit their swords, because after he had found the best sword in the world, he didn’t want anyone to possess a better one than his! It is now a grotto, with a shallow pond with goldfish.

Onwards up to the top and the site of the Pagoda which was built between 959 and 961 AD - much later than the Emperor was buried, which was about 2,500 years ago!. The structure was unusual for its time as it was made of bricks and wood (the wood was burned in the inevitable fire at a later date) but the brick building still remains. It is just under 50 metres tall, has eight sides and seven floors, and leans almost 4 degrees to the north, a result of there being no foundations to the building (they have tried to get the top floor upright, but all attempts have been unsuccessful so far). Nobody knows why the pagoda was built at this particular place, as the tomb was only discovered by archeologists during the last century. They have made preliminary excavations inside the tomb to confirm the date of the contents, but there are no plans at present to open it fully – bet there will be one day.

Only Harry braved the sedan chair back down to street level – apparently it was extremely hot and airless inside and the chairs tip and swing wildly as they descend. But he made it safely easily passing us on the way.

After lunch at a restaurant beside the canal, we went to the Silk Factory – a highlight for everyone visiting this area, as it is a chance to spend big money. We were shown the silk worms at the various stages of their life and then taken to see the workers and machines separating the threads from the cocoons and spooling them ready for weaving. All the threads are dyed before they are woven into the most intricate designs. There are various types of silk from those mixed with polyester to the heaviest brocades.

As I mentioned this was the time to spend. First stop is the bedding shop where they show how the filling for duvets is made from double cocoons, by taking the outer covering from the cocoons, soaking it in water and stretching it over lasts, like elastic. This is then dried and stretched once more to make a very light, but warm, filling for the duvets. Four of us had a go at stretching a piece - it was a bit like pulling pizza dough – and it split in several places. Colin and I had experienced these bed covers before when staying with Juz, and I particularly like them as they are very light, but seem to keep you at the right temperature – just what a duvet should do. We bought one with cover and pillow cases and cushion covers in a red dragon design that Colin particularly liked and have had them shipped home – so I will feel like Suzy Wong now when going to bed! Most people bought several items here before moving on to the fashion shop.

When struggling with my packing before we came away, I tossed out my dressing gown, but I have really missed it, so I purchased a new one here with three shirts for Colin – he wore one last night and his comments were that it didn’t crease and was very comfortable – so sounds like a good buy.

After about two hours we all clambered back on the coach with our purchases – our guide was absolutely gob-smacked at how much we had bought and has threatened to take our wallets away so we have money left at the end of the trip.

Back at the hotel, I went for a swim – the water was much warmer here than in Beijing – but couldn’t stay too long as we had to be out by 19.00 and we wanted to partake in Happy Hour before we left.

This evening’s entertainment was a ride in a gondola along the canals of Souzhou – nicknamed “Little Venice”. Much work has been done in this area to develop it for tourism and it is now very pretty with lots of buildings outlined by coloured lights and red dancing lanterns along the sidewalks. There are lots of restaurants where you can sit outside and people-watch, so I am sure it is going to grow in popularity as tourism here increases. The narrow canals were very dark, only lit by the bridges (which are numerous), but showed up the swarms of large midges attracted to the lights. The gondolier stopped at one point to allow us to wander along the side streets, to “experience” the area, where we noticed there were lots of bats zooming around, presumably feeding on the midges – they need to eat a bit faster because as soon as the boat was anywhere near the lights the midges would appear in their thousands.

We were all hungry again after the boat ride (well may be the men were a bit peckish), and the coach dropped us off in the narrow main shopping street of Souzhou. By now it is nearly 21.30 and all the shops here are still open, so it is like Christmas in Oxford Street, with loads of visitors and locals browsing the shop windows. There is a Shamrock bar and a Red Lion pub in between all the assorted Chinese shops. We went to a local Chinese restaurant and took over a couple of tables. Our table consisted of eight – Dave and Sue, Avril and John, June and Alan and Colin and myself. We studied the menu – which luckily had an English translation of all the dishes – and managed to order a delicious meal that suited us all – some spicy, some with and some without garlic – soups, meats and shellfish, rice and noodles. All washed down by a dozen large bottles of local beer. When the bill came it was 259 yuan for the eight of us – the equivalent of 3.50 pounds GBP each! We were amazed – there had been so much to eat and drink and it cost us less than one dish at the local take away at home!

We wandered back to the hotel through the residential streets where some front rooms (or only room downstairs) were small shops still open selling fruit and vegetables and groceries, and there was even a barbers shop with customers still waiting for a haircut. On arrival back at the hotel we settled in bar for a couple of drinks – the girls with short skirts were there again, singing lots of western songs and even asking for requests. On reviewing the day, we all decided it had been one of the best days of the tour, and the hotel is definitely the best we have stayed in so far on this trip – in China that is – it doesn’t quite match up to the Metropol and Kempinski in Russia. Souzhou is one of the nicest cities we have visited – the pace of life seems relaxed and it is pretty with its canals and no high rise buildings. Many of the houses are two storey white buildings with black roofs.. Industrial areas appear to have been moved to the outskirts of the towns, where many of the houses are still poorer and need redeveloping.