As we prepare to travel on the overnight train to Suzhou, tour guide Charlie tells us what will happen.
Upon arriving at the train station, we have the choice to wait with the masses, or we can purchase passes which will put us in a special waiting area where we will get priority when it comes to boarding the train. While we all have allocated seats, Charlie strongly recommends the latter approach, explaining that everyone will rush to board the train so that they get the premium spots for storing their bags. The advance passes sound like a good idea and we hand over our money.
Once on the nearly empty platform, Charlie explains that Chinese people don't queue in straight lines, they form Chinese fan shapes and push to get on trains.
The train is nearly ready for boarding and Charlie guides us to our train entrance and calls out "fan shape". Dutifully, we squeeze into an arc to prevent locals from pushing their way past us to board the train. Our efforts are not in vain as one particularly persistent gentleman tries entering the train from our left, then from the right, then tries reaching over the group to hand over his ticket...all to no avail.
After relaxing in our room with three-story high bunk beds, for a while, Tim decide it's time to visit the other half of our group several carriages away. Making his wobbly way past many people relaxing and eating cup noodles, Tim finds the other half our our group in high spirits having opened up a bottle of Chinese Fire Water.
With only a small amount of encouragement, Tim joins in the festivities and is pleased to discover that despite the name, Fire Water is much more palatable than tequila. A few warming sips and much silliness is enough though and he makes his now, even more wobbly, way back to the original carriage to rest the remainder of the journey.
The first day in Suzhou sees us visit the Master of Nets Garden. The Master of Nets Garden is a picturesque, traditional Chinese garden, that feels like it should always have the sound of Chinese string instruments audible in every corner; accompanying the sound of rainfall cascading down ornamental roofs and causing beautiful ripples to dance across the koi fish ponds.
At this World Heritage site, we learn a little about its almost 900 year history as we're given a tour of the many rooms, often with antique furniture. Tim would love to, one day, be rich enough to have a setting like this as his personal backyard and takes a moment to do a ridiculous Tai Chi pose for the camera before we depart the gardens.
Soon, it's night time and we make our way down to the riverbank for a scenic cruise. As the riverboat travels through the light fog, we can clearly make out the beautiful lights outlining the bridges and architecture along the banks of Suzhou's rivers. The tour ends at a pretty, though fairly touristy street, where we eat our dinner before catching a taxi back to the hotel.
The next morning we farewell the city in the usual style with Tim, Ness and a fellow traveller Bella, once again up early to eat Chinese buns with a variety of fillings for breakfast, before boarding a bus for the journey to Shanghai.
Upon arriving at the train station, we have the choice to wait with the masses, or we can purchase passes which will put us in a special waiting area where we will get priority when it comes to boarding the train. While we all have allocated seats, Charlie strongly recommends the latter approach, explaining that everyone will rush to board the train so that they get the premium spots for storing their bags. The advance passes sound like a good idea and we hand over our money.
Once on the nearly empty platform, Charlie explains that Chinese people don't queue in straight lines, they form Chinese fan shapes and push to get on trains.
The train is nearly ready for boarding and Charlie guides us to our train entrance and calls out "fan shape". Dutifully, we squeeze into an arc to prevent locals from pushing their way past us to board the train. Our efforts are not in vain as one particularly persistent gentleman tries entering the train from our left, then from the right, then tries reaching over the group to hand over his ticket...all to no avail.
With only a small amount of encouragement, Tim joins in the festivities and is pleased to discover that despite the name, Fire Water is much more palatable than tequila. A few warming sips and much silliness is enough though and he makes his now, even more wobbly, way back to the original carriage to rest the remainder of the journey.
The first day in Suzhou sees us visit the Master of Nets Garden. The Master of Nets Garden is a picturesque, traditional Chinese garden, that feels like it should always have the sound of Chinese string instruments audible in every corner; accompanying the sound of rainfall cascading down ornamental roofs and causing beautiful ripples to dance across the koi fish ponds.
At this World Heritage site, we learn a little about its almost 900 year history as we're given a tour of the many rooms, often with antique furniture. Tim would love to, one day, be rich enough to have a setting like this as his personal backyard and takes a moment to do a ridiculous Tai Chi pose for the camera before we depart the gardens.
 |
| Click to view larger |
 |
| Click to view larger |
 |
| Tim & Bella after getting buns. If the line is long, it must be good! ;) |
No comments:
Post a Comment