Day in Suzhou

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Today we took the 9 a.m. train to Suzhou sitting in hard seats. The ride was only 45 minutes long, so it was not too bad. We were expecting a town of all canals, which is not what we got. I am not sure if we read too much into the town’s description or if they embellish a lot. There is one main canal that surrounds the town and others connecting but not the “whole town is a bridge” concept that I expected.
We did visit a lovely garden, called “The Humble Administrator’s Garden”. We spent the afternoon wandering around checking out all the waterscapes, landscapes and buildings. This is considered one of the four top gardens in China. It was first built around 500 years ago. It is peaceful and I am sure during the spring blossom it would be amazing.
On the way to the garden we picked up a stray, I mean a teenager. He had a sad story about being homeless and jobless, yet he was dressed impeccably and spoke English well. He told us he came from a very poor family in the country and needed money to be able to eat. He tried to work but was unable due to not having proper ID. I told him numerous times that we were not going to give him money nor buy him food. He kept asking why we didn’t believe him. I told even if I did we were not giving. He obviously thought I would change my mind, since he followed us for 12 blocks or around 4 km and kept asking. I told him to ask someone else and he said that the Chinese people just screem at him. It got to the point of being amusing. Scott said I need to get a “better” bitch look. He thinks I look too nice, because it seems that I get every beggar or salesperson asking me to help or buy.
We took the train back to Shanghai, using the soft seat section. In the short commuter it was not much of a difference between the hard seat.
Tonight we went to a Sichuan restaurant, where we noticed that we are not in Sichuan anymore. What this means is that the food was not very spicy. We got a kick out of the soup we ordered. It was the smallest bowl of soup we have ordered so far, yet it still could feed a family of six. They love to serve big bowls of soup. Check out the photo.

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Comments

[Audrey]

beautiful!
Hey Guys! It looks like you're having an amazing time. I love checking out the site...it's like playing "where in the world are Sam and Scott?" Thanks for sharing everything! When are you coming home?! Have fun!! Audrey

[Sam Scott]

Coming home - unknown??
We think we should be home in April, but at the current rate of expenditures it might be earlier.