Wu Zhen & Suzhou

Trip from Hanzhou to Wu Zhen, a "water village," was along a bumpy expressway. A water village is an old community along the water that has become a tourist attraction. We went to one from the Qing Dynasty (the last dynasty) that has been developed for tourism rather recently. These villages attract a lot of foreigners but also Chinese, who want to see what the old life was like. There is a museum of beds, a demonstration of dying blue flowere Qing cloth, weaving, period clothing, etc.

On to Suzhou which Susan visited and again I have been to the third time. First stop was the Han Shan (or Cold Mountain) Temple. Everyone liked the name of the temple, because of a n
North Carolina namesake. Like Hangzhou, the weather is very hot, in the 90s F and with high humidity. We were dripping persperation, Americans and Chinese alike. Outside the temple is bridge that poet Jiang Qi memorialized when he failed the exam into the imperial bureaucracy. Out guide read the English translation to us, then the Chinese, and then I asked for her to do the English again. Eac h guide has a different style. The last one was jokey. This one has wonderul grammar, a great vocabulary, and is thoughtful. She has finished her bachelor's in marketing. I hope she goes on to the US for further study. She is the one who taught us to say thanks in Hangzhounese dialect. She says that it can be recognized in Suzhou. But she taught us to say in Suzhounese ayoyo (good, pretty) and ayaya (bad), and we kept misusing them throughout the evening. And of course we ended up with saying ayayai.

We spent about an hour in town at a busy downtown pedestrian mall. I had a lot of traditional Chinese snacks. I couldn't eat after our usual meals. Wished I could shop here for sweets to take home. I did get a snack at the water town; it was sticky rice and had the option of being served sweet or salty. I chose salty. Hangzhou food is not spicy. Suzhou food is sweet. Our dinner had a fish that was slightly sweet and excellent as ever. So was the whole meal. One of our group made the observation that when you had a breakfast, for example, in the USA the food is frequently the same. As we browse and graze through China, we are surprised with all the new dishes we encounter. I wonder how old you'd have to be to have tasted everything in China. It would take several reincarnations if we are to do the cuisine justice. Just one culinary delight after the other.

Our bus went into the old part of town through narrow lanes to our hotel. The young people refer to our accommodations as motels. We're staying in a place originally housing officials, so it is quite good, and now it is open to the public.