We once again boarded the happy bus to travel from Shanghai to Suzhou. We had one stop en route to the obligatory selling place - this time a silk factory. Ruth rather fancied some silk pyjamas but resisted after seeing the price (£86) and had a reality check about what else could be purchased for the same amount.
The next day we drove on to Hangzhou which again turned out to be a pretty town with tree lined streets and a massive lake in the middle. Hangzhou has a very large temple with stone Buddha carvings set into rocks which were quite impressive. We also went out to a tea plantation.
The next day we drove back to Shanghai and looked around a market. Our plane for Singapore (catching a connecting flight to Borneo) left at 8am so it was a very early start the next day.
So there we have it. 4 weeks of touring in China over and done with. We did enjoy it and we saw many wonderful things but we just found the constant on and off the coach difficult plus the mealtimes. Lunch and dinner (and there were over 50 of them) were spent around a communal table with communal dishes put in the middle of a lazy susan. We got really really fed up of this. Some meals were of a much better standard than others. However we craved some simple "un messed with" food like a cheese sandwich or a baked potato. Unlike the Indian tour in China it was very regimented as to when you had to do things i.e. eat now, you have 45 mins here, on the coach etc - there was no flexibility to make our own choices (but this is the nature of a tour like this).
Anyway some statistics
Number of hotel rooms stayed in in China : 13 (includes 1 overnight train and a 3 night cruise)
Internal Flights Caught : 4
Ruth Fav bits : Great wall, Terracotta Warriers, Lights in Shanghai at night
Ruth worst bits : The weather (was perpetually cold), the Fog/smog, people smoking everywhere and blowing it in your face, Chinese men yakking up flem all over the place.
Chris Fav bits : Three Gorges Cruise and along the tributeries, Great Wall
Chris worst bits : Hard Beds and 6 o'clock wake ups, disapointing food sometimes
We went to acouple of famous gardens (‘Master of the Nets’ garden and the 'Humble Administrators Garden'). The first was a small place with a massive pond in the middle and very manicured. The second had nothing humble about it and was on a very large scale with lots of water.
We also took a trip along the Grand Canal and finally became aware why Suzhou is know as the “Venice of the East”, a couple of streets really were like Venice but with the Chinese lanterns hanging up. It was a really pretty place.
The next day we drove on to Hangzhou which again turned out to be a pretty town with tree lined streets and a massive lake in the middle. Hangzhou has a very large temple with stone Buddha carvings set into rocks which were quite impressive. We also went out to a tea plantation.
The next day we drove back to Shanghai and looked around a market. Our plane for Singapore (catching a connecting flight to Borneo) left at 8am so it was a very early start the next day.
So there we have it. 4 weeks of touring in China over and done with. We did enjoy it and we saw many wonderful things but we just found the constant on and off the coach difficult plus the mealtimes. Lunch and dinner (and there were over 50 of them) were spent around a communal table with communal dishes put in the middle of a lazy susan. We got really really fed up of this. Some meals were of a much better standard than others. However we craved some simple "un messed with" food like a cheese sandwich or a baked potato. Unlike the Indian tour in China it was very regimented as to when you had to do things i.e. eat now, you have 45 mins here, on the coach etc - there was no flexibility to make our own choices (but this is the nature of a tour like this).
Anyway some statistics
Number of hotel rooms stayed in in China : 13 (includes 1 overnight train and a 3 night cruise)
Internal Flights Caught : 4
Ruth Fav bits : Great wall, Terracotta Warriers, Lights in Shanghai at night
Ruth worst bits : The weather (was perpetually cold), the Fog/smog, people smoking everywhere and blowing it in your face, Chinese men yakking up flem all over the place.
Chris Fav bits : Three Gorges Cruise and along the tributeries, Great Wall
Chris worst bits : Hard Beds and 6 o'clock wake ups, disapointing food sometimes
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