Travelogue: Suzhou, Jiangsu Province

On my third day in China, I took a train from Hefei to Suzhou. The journey was about 2 and a half hours and most of the time was spend swapping places with strangers so I could sit with my mates instead (our host only managed to get us separate seats). The thing with stopping trains is that people will board the train at different stops so an initially empty seat could end up being occupied later on, hence there were a lot of reshuffling to do. When I could finally bring myself to sleep in peace (without strangers tapping my shoulder telling me I'm in their seat), we were already five minutes away from our destination. It was also the Chinese New Year period so many Chinese were travelling on the train to go back home. We were also the ones with the most luggage that had to occupy walkways and whatever empty spaces we could find. Lugging it to our bus parked 15 minutes away from the train station is another story altogether....

Nickname: Venice of the East (for their water canals, namely the Grand Canal)
Weather: about 5C and rainy (hence it was cold!)
Time Difference: None
Accommodation: Marriot Hotel, Suzhou

Best feeling in the world - to be greeted by super single beds in a perfectly lit 5-star hotel room after a long and tiring train journey. 

One of the clubs on Suzhou Downtown Street where we had dinner at this cosy authentic Japanese restaurant on the first night. 

Tastes nothing like fish soup but like BBQ instead!

The only hotel that provided PROPER american breakfast throughout the trip. Marriot was my haven for 2 nights. 

Humble Administrator Garden

Mandarin Ducks also known as Love Birds

Boat ride on the canals

people still live in these homes

Leaning pagoda of Tiger Hill

more Suzhou nightlife

Tomato beef rice on the second night. Was famished by the time my food came..

From my hotel window. By the way, its always hazy here in China regardless of summer or winter. In case you have not noticed, the sky is always grey/white and never blue on this side of the world...

Ancient wheelbarrow

A lake at Suzhou Industrial Park

Our host, treated us to a grand lunch once again (this is just part of the meal, there were more dishes after this). The Chinese are very generous with their food. Unfortunately, it was not to my taste as I am too used to Malaysian Chinese food. Will blog about food in China in another post :)

You've come to the end of my photo diary from Suzhou. Next stop: Hangzhou!