05/05/2010

(Wednesday)

So, here I am  in SUZHOU.

Map of Suzhou

My hostel is the Minhantang. It is near where Guangli road crosses a canal going south from the train station

The Hostel's Map

Good for taxi drivers I think, but not much use otherwise.

06/05/2010

(Thursday)

Pleasant day walking about Suzhou . It’s not as uniformly pretty as Venice , but it does have its moments. There are lots of little corners offering private views of the canals, or views of the canals as a domestic feature, and those are unexpected. Not unexpected is the dirt and pollution of the water.

Day and night

From the bridge behind the hostel

Picturesque scene for wedding photos

On the bridge visible in the photos above

Canal boat

Canalside kitchen

Shopping for chickens

Went to Beisi Ta – a large pagoda – and tromped to the top with two others. There were quite impressive views of the old city from up there; the grid pattern is apparent, and to the east one can see the Zhouzheng Yuan, or Humble Administrator’s Garden. 

Beisi Ta

  North Temple Pagoda

Happy Fo

In the grounds of the Beisi Ta

I then walked to see this Humble Administrator's Garden. It's obviously on a smaller scale than the Imperial Gardens in Beijing , which it is supposed to have partly inspired, and spoiled a little by the number of people who were also there with me, this still impressed me as a garden. There are lots of views and paths, and sudden revelations, and also many places where one  is clearly invited to sit in quiet contemplation.

Street sculptor

In the pedestrian area outside the Museum

Humble Administrator's Garden

Contemplate the stillness of water

Humble Administrator's Garden

Contemplate the unstillness of schoolkids

I had to go out to dinner since the hostel’s restaurant seems to close at 6 pm. I could really do without the look of amazement at being aasked about the possibility of dinner at 7:30: it’s not really an absurd question you know. It is a normal dinner time. The meal I eventually had at a restaurant on the canal near this place was pretty tiresome. Steamed chicken pieces – each with 1-2 shattered bones in it so that the experience is rather like eating a pincushion. What the hell is the point of that? And a too, too sweet bucket of mango and sago for dessert.

From the hostel’s library, I am enjoying the ‘Tales of Saki.’

07/05/2010

(Friday)

Explored the supposedly more interesting southern parts of the city today, but I came away not entirely convinced of their superiority.  Took a taxi down to Wang Shi Yuan (Master of Nets Garden.) The first taxi I hailed for this turned my fare down because I was on the wrong side of the road. How could this possibly matter? Must be some superstition that I’m not aware of. Or perhaps a union shop rule. Anyway, the garden, so highly spoken of in my references, was just awful. It was cramped and pointless with nothing to attract the eye. What am I missing in this? Why is it so admired? I didn’t take a single photo.

The Master of Nets Garden

Perhaps the painter sees merit that I cannot

The same limitation was also true of the Canglang Ting Yuan; but this one at least had a little more space and interest. Some parts, I have to say, showed more enthusiasm than taste: the prunus mume (? did I get that right?) furniture, for example, was just horrifically over-carved. Other parts seemed more appropriate to the amusement of children, such as small grottoes and mazes and such like. Those items lacked the serious humour of the grottoes and caves of the Italian gardens I’ve seen. On the other hand, the water features were nice and one pavilion, the elegant Bamboo House, was very attractive.

Canglang Ting

Surging Wave Pavilion. Surging waves seem unlikely, but this was a pleasant spot on the outside of the main garden grounds. To the right is a dusty street scene that isn't very attractive. People are fishing in the pond over there

A Gate in the Canglang Ting

Near the bamboo pavilion. 

Were the Chinese much rounder the olden times? These doorways seem to be very popular.

Overall, I would say that I enjoyed the day. The walk north through normal business streets was a bit dull though, and the section of the Grand Canal before Cheng Yu Lu was also very industrial. Still, it’s good to have seen it.

More difficulties with dinner: no cook, no meat. I eventually agreed to have a pathetic fried rice thing remarkably similar to what mum used to make. (Ooh, that doesn’t sound quite right.) Uninspiring, and a huge pile of it. I don’t think I’ll even bother trying tomorrow.

Hostel animal

This dog was extremely active. It made a game of running flat out in circles and over the chairs in the dining room, stopping only to enquire about the possibility of scraps.

08/05/2010

(Saturday)

Bit of a wet day in Suzhou , but I took my umbrella and the opportunity to walk north to Tiger Hill. I’m very glad I did. It’s far and away the nicest garden that I’ve seen here – perhaps because it’s built on a more expansive scale. It may even be nicer than the Imperial Gardens in Beijing .

Dragon Hill Fence

Note the horse and carriage in the background. 

Dragon Hill Pagoda

A very unstable structure. No entry. 

Dragon Hill Bridge

Elegant ruins 

Dragon Hill Garden

A forest of tiny trees in pots. 

09/05/2010

(Sunday)

A dull day travelling to TAIPEI 

There were only three points of interest.

First, I had a long chat to one of the transient staff at the Minhantang hostel. We wound up talking about ‘The Lord of the Flies’ which is a book she has been set to write a paper on by her professor (she’s studying English.) That naturally led to a discussion of whether Man is naturally good or bad. I was able to make some connections between that story, the Christian doctrine of Original Sin and the Fall, and the interminable Chinese philosophical debate on the topic.

Second, Shanghai airport and, especially, the maglev were impressive. At 431 km/h the ride is dead smooth, but you still feel like you’re travelling.

Shanghai's Maglev

They can be rightly proud of this - but I doubt that it is a sound business investment 

Third, Loha’s, the hostel where I’m staying, is a very odd place. As my friend said, it feels like someone’s converted apartment. I really don’t feel all that comfortable. I was unable to find any signs leading me to this place. There’s a HI sign in the street, but it’s clearly referring to a different hotel nearby. If I hadn’t had the exact street address I wouldn’t have known what door to knock at at all. (And I’m grateful to the Sheraton staff who drew me a map and gave me a map to get me on my way. I briefly considered whether they had a room available.) When I did eventually find the place, the only person who met me was the proprietor’s non English-speaking mother who gave me a phone to get key instructions from the proprietor, but then took the keys from me and was trying to show me things wile the lady on the phone was talking. Very confusing, but how hard can it be to work out which key is which. (Now see tomorrow.)

10/05/2010

(Monday)

Not a good night’s sleep since there were people talking loudly in their rooms until about 3 am. And I was worried about my friends not being able to get in because there’s no reception and no-one in attendance to answer the door. So I got up pretty early and went to stand outside, but I met them at the door just as I got to it.

They agreed the place looked odd and we didn’t feel comfortable there so we went for a walk about town even though it was drizzling pretty consistently. First to Taipei 101 and New York , New York , and then to check out the snack streets and the types of food available. At the end of the day they left me near NTU and pointed me to some bookshops where I spent a happy few hours.

Taipei 101

Very impressive to stand under. Extraordinarily expensive to shop in or eat at.

Taipei bazaar

Somewhere near NTU I think

By 10 pm when I started back to the hotel, it was raining quite hard, but the best was yet to come. I couldn’t use the key. It got stuck irretrievably in the lock and wouldn’t open it. I rattled and rang at the door for about 25 minutes, since I was sure that there had to be someone inside, but no good. So I went back to the Sheraton to call the lady (I had to buy a NTD100 phone card to do that,) but the number she’d given me was incorrect. I asked about using the hotel internet, but that’s only for customers (I don’t hold that against them.) So back to the hotel and knocked for another 20 minutes until, FINALLY, someone came to the door. I queried heatedly why they’d taken so long, but since they didn’t speak my language that was a waste of time. I then called the lady and told her off.

11/05/2010

(Tuesday)

Got up in the morning and moved into the Taipei Backpackers. Met my friends here briefly and we then went out to see more of the city.

Chiang Kai Shek's Mausoleum