Souzhou

Here are pictures from our recent trip to Souzhou (pronounced Sue-Joe). While St. Louis was struggling with 1 degree temperatures, we were forecasted to have a weekend in the upper 50s. As a result, we decided to take a little three day trip. Souzhou is located just one hour away by train. This was nice, there are no stories to tell this time about crazy train adventures. However, when we arrived at the train station in Changzhou, there was a bit of an adventure. Our tickets were for a departure at 2:50. We got there at about 2:20 p.m. Jane asked what gate we were supposed to go to, only to find out that the train left at 2:50 a.m. We were 12 hours late. Luckily, she was able to find someone who could help her out, and we were able to get tickets (for free) for a train that left 10 minutes after we got there (there are trains between Souzhou and Changzhou every 15 minutes or so, it seems).

Souzhou is an old and famous city in China. It has a population of 7 million. It is famous for silk production, and the local dish is the "huge crab". Most notably, Souzhou is known for its canals. It is located near the end of the Yangtze River, and waterways run throughout the city. This is how it earned its name as the "Venice of the East". These canals give great views, and the city also has tons of beautiful gardens. There is a famous Chinese proverb, "Paradise above, Souzhou and Hangzhou below." Hangzhou is another beautiful place we will go, but Jane is saving this trip for spring, when the weather is warmer, as taking a boat out on the huge lake there is part of the charm.

We arrived in Souzhou at about 4 p.m. Immediately, you could tell that it was an older city than Changzhou. Souzhou was established in 514BC. The train station was not that old, but it was much older than Changzhou's. It also seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. When we got off of the train, we asked where our hostel was, to find out that it was just up and over a couple of streets. It turned out to be about 25 minutes away, but probably due more to the pace you walk when everything around you is new rather than distance. The walk gave us a nice opportunity to look around. I am still fiddling around with the picture arrangements, but here are pictures of Dan and I sitting on a bridge overlooking a canal, as well as a picture of Dan and Jane on Tangshan lu, one of the most famous streets in Suzhou, lined with shops and restaurants.

When we checked in to the hostel, we did not have enough cash. I had to run to the bank, which ended up being good because I got to know where we were in relation to things. After I returned, we all went for a walk and to get some dinner. Here is a shot of Dan imitating a Jade statue, of a traditional chinese merchant.... it was pretty cool.

The Chinese New Year is coming up next week. As a result, many decorations were up, including lights and paper lanterns. Below is a picture of the kids and I; in the top left corner you can see the tip of a pagoda, a better picture of which is below.

We walked for a while and finally came to a very nice restaurant that we all knew: Pizza Hut. We don't ordianarilly do this, but thought it would be a nice treat for everyone. The Pizza Huts here are gourmet dining, it is pretty funny. We had fruit smoothies, potato salad, waffle fries, pork ribs, sole with dill sauce, shrimp and cheese pizza, and chocolate ice cream cake for dessert. As you can see in the picture, Etain was a fan of the ribs.

One store that we walked past sold nothing but swords. This was right up Dan's alley. Though he asked for one religiously thereafter, I didn't see any good coming out of that. We did let him get a picture with one of them though.

Here is a night shot looking down one of the canals, showing all of the Chinese lanterns that were lit.






When we returned to our hostel, women were out front dancing (exercising)complete with indian techno music. Dan joined in for a bit.

Etain also walked in and out of the dancers, who were glad to stop and play with her. Etain is extremely comfortable with Chinese people; she will let anyone hold her, as long as that person is Chinese.

I mentioned in a prior post that Jane gave a Rolex watch to me for Christmas. Here is a shot of my actual watch. When we were walking in downtown Souzhou, we passed a Rolex store. Outside was a picture of my exact watch, which should serve as proof that mine is authentic.

The next morning we woke up and headed downtown again. We bought a few boudzas to snack on, but also made the very neccesary stop at McDonalds for a good, cheap and fast cup of coffee. Outside of McDonalds, in the main square, there were a bunch of basketball machines. Here are the kids trying them out. Dan did great! getting a pretty high score. One kid, who I think worked there, had a score of about 1900 (2 pts. per basket). He kept playing and playing, never missing a shot, earning bonus round after bonus round.

In one area downtown they had a small bridge that went over a small waterway. Here is Evelyn on the bridge, dressed in her outfit that she received from Santa; she also insisted on donning a gold visor, sent by Gokie, for most of the trip. She is quite the fasion plate. I think the picture is funny because the bridge was wavy; I was on the top of a wave and she was on the bottom, with the result being that she looks a bit like a midget.

After walking around downtown for a while, we decided to go to a place called the Lingering Garden, known as one of China's most beautiful gardens. On or way there we bought the kids some gloves from a woman selling them out of a box. Grandma sent us the Power Rangers movie, which Dan has watched plenty of times. The gloves looked like Power Ranger gloves, so for the next two days Dan did fighting stances. Evelyn acted right along, imitating her brother at every opportunity.

Here are the Power Rangers in one area of the Lingering Garden. The Garden was originally built in 1593. It fell into disrepair later, and it was used as a breeding ground for Chinese war horses during the Sino-Japanese War. It was then taken over by the Souzhou government, rebuilt and repoened in 1954. The garden was pretty amazing, it was like a maze of gardens, rock sculptures, building and lakes.

Here are Jane, Dan and Evelyn atop one of the stone hills.

Can you spot Dan in this picture?

Again, they are ready for any sudden attacks.

This picture was taken in one area of the garden, separated from the 20 or so other areas of equal beauty.

Here is Dan on a stone bridge in a maze of pathways.

Trips and falls are not that uncommon for the three O'Toole kids.

They always bounce back.

Evelyn apparently has noticed that Dan does the peace sign when taking pictures. She has been trying to do it as well, though she does not quite have it down. She instead holds up five fingers, and she usually puts her hand directly in front of her face.

Here is Etain walking along one of the many gardens.

One area of the Lingering Garden was full of nothing but potted plants. There were hundreds of banzai trees throughout the garden. Often, they would have rocks placed in the pots as well, in order to make the rocks look like mountains with the small trees looking like trees on the mountain. They sometimes try to make the individual pots look like actual scenic areas throughout China.

I took this picture of one such pot, only to notice later that Jane's head was sticking out of the top of the mountain.

When the kids got their Power Ranger gloves, Jane bought a knitted hat for herself. After wearing it for a while, she decided it looked better on the kids. Here is a good picture of Evelyn wearing the hat. Again, because I crouched down to take the picture, she crouched down as well.

The girls and I walking along one of the paths.

When we left the garden, we headed back downtown for some food and then to head home. We walked by one electronics shop that was having some huge sale. To advertise, they had a full drumming band out front. Dan went up and inspected the drums and then they started playing....... Apparently Dan thought it was too loud.

He had no problem however, when they allowed him to join in with the band. This is one of the perks of being a foreign kid in China; I dont think they would let just any kid come up and do this. It actually probably draws more of a crowd than just the band alone.

Here is Dan at the entrance of the walkway near our hostel. This was a cool street that sold everything from silk to swords to food to statues to paintings to any other nic-nacs. Jane thinks that cars are going to be the downfall of China, in that they are unnecessary with such good public transportation, and they really hurt the character of places. This street did not allow cars, though it did allow motorbikes and motorcycles. It would have been better had it banned all motorized vehicles.

Instead of going to a restaurant, we decided to get street food, which is what we usually do. We found one small block that sold many different kinds of food, and it had benches to sit and eat. I ate fried noodles, while Evelyn and Dan had fried rice. Jane ate something else, which I am not sure of. I think it was large fat noodles, though the noodles were made of rice.

Here is a shot of Dan and Etain that captures a lot of what current China offers. In the back is a statue dedicated to Souzhou workers, on the far right is a McDonalds, surrounded by cars, then with a few rickshaws here and there. It is a real blend of old and new.

Here are Jane and Evelyn on a main street, leading to downtown, full of shops and restaurants. Far in the background on the left side you see a towering building. That famous monument is a Holiday Inn.

This is a picture of the band's area for outdoor concerts. Souzhou is also apparently known for concerts, especially opera. This was music only, with string and wind instruments. It was great and leant a lot of character to the street.

The two oldest heading home for the evening. Our hostel is on the left. Jane, again, did a great job picking the place. It was cheap, full of character, and located right in the heart of the active parts of Souzhou. It is the former residance of Mr. Wu Yi Peng (1460-1542), the Prime Minister of the Ceremony Department of the Ming Dynasty. For any interested visators, I have full confidence that Jane can help you plan an awesome trip!

Here is Etain in the hostel's courtyard, with a Chinese admirer following along. Thankfully, even though he was Chinese, Etain did not go running to him, hoping he would pick her up.

Peace...

Here are Jane and the kids outside the door that lead to our courtyard and our room. As you entered the door, there was an outdoor seating area made up of stone tables and stools, with the individual hostel rooms around the perimiter. There is a picture of the courtyard later on.

I tried to find out, but I could not get the name of this pagoda. It was probably about 8 blocks from our hostel. It is not that big, but this picture is pretty cool (as far as I am concerned).

This is Pan Gate, built 2500 years ago. It is at the entrace of the "city". In 514BC, a wall was built around Souzhou, as was done for many cities throughout China, for protection. This gate was the only way in and out of the wall. Because of its location on land and near the major canals, it is also known as the Land and Water Gate. Directly behind us, when we took this picture, was downtown.

That night we again hit the basketball hoops. This time they played techno dance music, to which Evelyn enjoyed a groove. It was not raining but there was a bit of moisture in the air. We changed the flash on our camera as a result, which ended up creating a glow effect.

On our way home we bought a few sparklers for the kids to play with. Here they are playing in the courtyard.

Because of all of the street food that is offered and bought, you can go an entire day to realize you did nothing but snack all day. At the end of the day, Dan and I finished off the rice before going to bed. One nice thing about the hostel was that everyone was in the same room. This was nice only because we all went to bed at about 8:00 pm., which was welcomed after a day of sightseeing.

Here are the girls, up and ready to head out the next day for more family fun.

On Sunday, we decided to head the other direction down Tang Shan Lu, the famous street. This section of the street was full of food vendors. Above is a picture of Dan standing next to a plentiful source of hot peppers as well as cinnamon sticks and other spices.

Here are all of the different types of marijuana that China has to offer. Just kidding, they are different types of tea. Drugs are extremely rare here, due to very harsh punishments. Tea, on the other hand, is quite common.

Birds were also for sale. This one is intended to be a pet, not a meal.

Here is Dan in front of one of the many fruitstands that we passed by. There are at least two or three fruitstands on every block. Sometimes you cannot believe that they could ever turn a profit with all of the competition.

Here we are at a very dead section of the street. You constantly have to keep a look out, one wrong step could put you right in front of a motorcycle. Dan is a habitual offender of making Jane yelp in fear, though nothing has ever happened. I guess she yelped a lot in the U.S., now that I think about it.

Dan along a canal. He is eating a fried bread that tastes just like a doughnut.

There were a lot of dogs and cats running around the street we walked down. Actually they didn't run, they just sat there. All of the animals here are quite docile. Dan named this section of China "Pet villiage".

Here is a door to a house, not so interesting on its own, but notice the picture of the Pope. Being that this is China, this made it picture wrthy. These houses will only have one or two rooms. One street that we walked down had a community bathroom, that every house on the block used.

A nice scenic spot along the canal.

Here we are at Tiger Hill. According to legend, the Wu emperor was buried here roughly 1000 years ago. Three days later, a white tiger was spotted crouching on the hill where he laid. Far in the background is the Huqui Tower, built in 959AD. It leans 3 degrees, roughly 2.32 meters. This is because the foundation is half concrete and half soil (the foundation was stabilized in later years).

We did not make it to the tower because we were running short on time and we wanted to take a gondola ride down the canal.

A personal gondola cost too much, but Jane was able to negotiate a ride in a bigger mass water taxi. It just so happened though, that we were the only people in the boat, soit ended up being a personal taxi after all. Evelyn was not all that excited when boarding, but she actually really liked it once inside.

Etain spent the entire boatride asleep.

Here are some of the views that she missed.

Houses sat right alongside the water. People washed their clothes in the canals, hanging them outside. Right along with the clothes you would find chickens hanging as well, drying out.

Here is a dog guarding a few live chickens, ready to meet their fate.

Evi flashing peace on the boat.




Deboarding and watching our boat head back downstream.

After getting off the boat, we had about an hour to kill. We again went downtown and grabbed some street food.

This time, one store was having a sale and they used two Mickeys to draw attention. Again, pairing our kids with them drew even more attention.

Dan enjoyed the cotton candy, the taste of which is pretty universal.

A parting shot of the nearby pedestrian walkway.

A nice picture of Etain after inheriting the hat.







We got back home at about 5:15 p.m. after a quick train ride. We then had to take a bus from the train station, which was another 25 minutes. By the time we got home, the kids were pretty happy to be done traveling. I have to say, Jane and I have to have three of the best little travelers in the world. They just go with the flow and take everything in, they are really loving all of our adventures. We got home with just

enough time to get a quick dinner, get cleaned up and get in bed for a solid night sleep.

So ends one of the longest posts in the history of blogdom.