Shopping in Suzhou

Today was spent going from site to site in Suzhou, the so-called "Venice of the East." Our day started at the Lingering Garden, a very famous classical garden. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it was truly gorgeous. The garden dates back to around 1600. The garden is divided into four distinctly themed sections: East, Central, West, and North. There were a couple of gingko trees that were over 300 years old!

Our guide Jessica then took us to a silk factory. We learned all kinds of things about silk production from her, from the growth of the silk worm to the cocoon, to the eating of the pupa (believed to promote strength in men and beauty in women). I even volunteered to eat a silk worm pupa! It was kind of nasty - tasted fishy with a popping outside shell and a squishy center. It was WAY too much like eating a bean to be enjoyable. Probably the funniest moment was when we were ushered into a "Silk Fashion Show" where the first song played was Michael Jackson's "Heal the World." I admit to laughing out loud. The silk factory was cool, but definitely a marketing extravaganza. Our lunch was even at the silk factory. The most interesting thing about that place was that they had the snake wine, where snakes are infused into rice wine or grain alcohol. I swear to you that I even saw a jar with a turtle in it. Some of the guys had tried it on a previous night and said it tasted horrible, and Cindy said the stuff was called "Death" so before you ask, no, I didn't try any!

The next stop was very brief. We went to a teahouse where we drank - you guessed it - tea and listened to Suzhou opera. You might recognize the style from some music played in Chinese restaurants. After the tea break, we had a paddleboat tour of one of the canals. It took us through some neighborhoods and we were able to see how some regular people in Suzhou live - hanging clothes out to dry, the beautiful plants growing on steps leading down to the canal - but I will also tell you that the area seemed really poor by our standards in the US.

We then visited an embroidery institute. Suzhou is famous for it sembroidery, especially its double sided embroidery where the picture can be seen on both sides of the material. It was gorgeous stuff, but EXTREMELY expensive. Had I had several thousand dollars just lying around I would have bought something, but I didn't, so I am coming home empty handed!

We then got dropped off at Guan Qain Street for some shopping. SOme of us were shopped out though, and felt that it was in our best interests to look for dinner. Since we were on our own for dinner tonight, we got to pick, and we chose - PIZZA HUT!!! Let me tell you, this was the most amazing Pizza Hut I have ever been in. This Pizza Hut served steak, escargot, slushies...it was off the charts. I got this really good rose lychee frozen drink. We then kind of ambled around for a while until it was time to hop back onto the bus and go back to the amazing hotel that are living in for one last night.

Location: Gusu Jinjiang Hotel, Suzhou
Tooth Update: A little sore today. Just some pressure. It may be time to start the antibiotics again.
Weather Update: Absolutely GLORIOUS! Sunny, breezy, and just amazing.