Suzhou: Old China By Boat

For me, the name Suzhou (‘Sue-joe’) will always evoke a 1500-year-old city of canals and canal-side houses festooned with comforters, but surrounded by a modern city of high-rise apartment buildings.

This bedroom community, population 6+ million, connects to Shanghai by the 431 kph Maglev. That 267 mph bullet train covers 60 miles in less than half an hour — two hours by car, in the mad traffic. Though we didn’t notice factories from the highway, the area has modern light industry — manufacturing TVs, washing machines, air conditioners, refrigerators for companies such as Phillips and Samsung. Plus major rice production.

We had been on the bus at least an hour when our guide announced that we were still in Shanghai… it’s that large. Much of the farmland surrounding it has been converted to housing, though there is still room for what appear to be community gardens all along the expressway. In mid-March, people were out gardening and there was lots of green in the beds already.

There was also room for litter. I reached my own conclusion: Shanghai is immaculate not because the Chinese culture does not litter, but because there are so many workers to do the cleanup. On our way out of town, we saw a man in a ‘water truck’ sluicing gutters with his high-powered hose. He was right next to these very large birds. Note that the plantings are in bloom. It was 35 when we left the ship and 50 when we returned, and Spring was definitely in the air.

But, onward to Suzhou. Founded in 514 BCE, ‘the City of Wu’ was originally walled for defense. Some of the ancient walls have been restored, and with the original moat and the canals, the old part of the city is 42% water. One of the best preserved ancient cities in China, it clings to its history with its canal-side houses. We took a fabulous canal boat trip up and back along their Grand Canal, which was completed in the year 605.

I decided that Friday, March 9, falling just one day after International Women’s Day, must have been China’s National Wash Your Comforters Day. You’ll soon see what I mean.

A fascinating note about the city’s walls — though I can’t prove it on google: When cities are under siege (and this is not ancient history), the inhabitants can be starved out. So, according to our guide Benny, the clever Chinese decided there was a good way to be sure they had food during an enemy siege: they made their walls out of bricks made with… rice. Benny did not explain how the walls could protect the people under siege if they were eating their own defense…

Heading towards our canal boats...

Our boats, on the Grand Canal...

Very difficult to pick my favorite canal photos… these are all grab shots from down in a covered boat, and the window was at shoulder height. I waved often and sometimes got waves in return… one uniformed worker on a boat called out ‘Good morning!’ I saw, but wasn’t fast enough to capture, slabs of meat and whole chickens hanging from hooks outside windows — right behind the drying underwear. Well, it was March 9 and pleasantly cool.

Doing the wash...

Enjoying the sun...

Study in blue...

Gardens...

See what I mean about the comforters?

Reminiscent of ancient Chinese landscape paintings... the willows were just leafing out.

But, wait...more comforters!

I was sorry to leave the canals. I could have passed on the visit to the Silk Embroidery Workshop, and I found it very easy not to shop in the large gift shop. Others in our party shopped till they dropped… one woman dropped $1400 on an embroidered screen, complete with carved stand. She bargained down from $2000 when she said she would take it with her. The package is the size of an attaché case. Personally, I wouldn’t have room to take it home. The amazing thing about this embroidery is — it is identical on both sides: as perfect on the back as it is on the front.

The aforementioned screen...

In the garden behind the embroidery workshop...

Lunch for about 150 Vikings at the Wyndham Gardens Hotel in downtown Suzhou was eminently forgettable. Most tables I passed had not eaten the funny yellow fish dish, the mushrooms in broth, or the seaweed which might have been frilly mushrooms… we weren’t sure, even after we tasted it. What we did eat — fried rice, and plates of pork, steak, chicken with vegetables — was no better than what I get from the shopping mall in Newburyport. Highlight of the afternoon was a visit to The Humble Apprentice’s Garden, still in Suzhou. On the approach...

Dating from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) period, the garden (whose owner was not humble in the least) was designed and built in the 16th century. Chinese gardens are traced to one a king built for a concubine 2400 years ago. This one is considered one of the four best gardens in China and is one of nine in China designated as UNESCO National Heritage Sites. Its ‘ingredients’ are water, rocks, plants and buildings. It is a truly lovely place... but so crowded it was hard to enjoy, and I had trouble composing and picking shots with minimum people.

Traffic slowed our return trip back to the ship and, since my iPhone was down to 1% so I couldn’t take any more photos, I napped. Back on the ship, preparing to leave that extraordinary city. To reprise my opening Shanghai quote: ‘Its willingness to embrace and assimilate change has defined it. It has also rendered the city itself a marvelous work of art.’ (Condé Nast Traveler)

As of this writing, I have been to Hong Kong. I prefer Shanghai... it was extraordinary.