Suzhou, Zhouzhuang, and Nanjing

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I am currently in Nanjing where it has been very cold. I don't know what the temperatures during the day have been, but they haven't been very high. The hostel I'm staying at is also unheated, so it's difficult to even type right now. However, I want to get an update in before I leave for Xian tomorrow.

Over the past week I've moved around a bit. I left Hangzhou for Suzhou, where I stayed for 4 nights. During that time, I took a day trip to Zhouzhuang...and that's where I'll start.

Zhouzhuang is called the "Venice of China" and from the pictures it does have some similarities, basically the canals and the disrepair of lots of the buildings. I'm uncertain if people actually live in the town. It has a certain Disney feel to it, like they ship the people in each day to do their jobs. You have the myriad of shop keepers selling a variety of knicknacks for the tourists; what seemed like hundreds of different restaurants; and even the beggars seemed slightly false. There was an admission fee of 100 RMB to get in, which is more than US$10, a very costly visit by Chinese standards. It had all the Venitian touches including singing boat people. It was interesting, but just too touristy for my taste.

Suzhou was a nice little city with canals like Zhouzhuang, but with much less of a tourist feel. That does not mean it wasn't touristy though. It was, but there was no entrance fee at the outskirts of the town. Another downside was the weather...it was wet. Not hugely wet, just that annoying misty rain that would turn heavier at times and the go back to misting again. I rented a bike my last day and got soaked to the bone as I road all over town. I ended the day early and went back to the hostel to dry off and rest my soar back after riding a bike that was too small for me for a few hours.

After I left Suzhou, I came to Nanjing, which is a pretty modern city with lots going for it, not the least of which is a giant hillside park that houses the mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yet Sen, the leader of the first Chinese Republic. Tomorrow, my last day in Nanjing (I have to catch a train at 4:30 pm tomorrow for an overnight trip to Xian, where I arrive at 6 am) and I plan to go the Memorial Museum from the Japanese massacre during the early, Japanese expansionist days of WWII. It is said that during the occupation of Nanjing, the Japanese killed more than 300,000 Chinese. The museum is supposed to be very interesting including photos taken by the Japanese of their own atrocities. Since I have an interest in that time period, I hope that it is as interesting as the guide book says.

Anyway, I think most people are most interested in the pictures than my words, so here are some from Suzhou and Zhouzhuang.

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