Old Suzhou

I didn't go to China to be a tourist.  I went to be with David, so we don't do very many tourist things.  But yesterday some friends took me to Old Suzhou to go on a boat ride on the old canals.

The first stop on our adventure was at McDonald's.   This is my friend Helen.  She is such a great friend and she speaks English!  Not her first language but she speaks it along with Korean and Chinese.  I haven't seen many McDonald's here, KFC is the western restaurant of choice in China.  Seems like there is one on every corner.

This is a canal in Old Suzhou.  I know a woman who grew up here.  Her mother and grandmother lived there until just recently.  These sightseeing boats go up and down the canal.  It is captivating. I have no idea how old everything is.  The city is 2,500 years old. 

 

We were in the front row of the boat and it was a lovely spring day.  The last time I had been on a similar excursion about 10 years ago it was way over 100 degrees and 100% humidity.  Not a happy memory at all. 

 

This is one of the very old bridges, older than me anyway.

 

One of the things the Chinese like to do is have photos taken wearing traditional Chinese garments.  The couple on the right are having a photo shoot.  In the second story porch you can see people playing Chinese music with the traditional instruments.  In another part of the city, Mudu there is shop after shop of photographers with really cool costumes you can wear in these ancient settings.  They look beautiful on young Chinese people, but I don't think Dave and I will be doing that any time soon.

 

I thought I should add a couple more photos.  I didn't take that many.  You just can't capture what it is like.  This is where we got on the boat.  We were the first ones on in front of a huge tour group.  We walked by that really tough looking building on the other side of the canal after the ride and it looks like a great restaurant.

Another view.  I wish I could have taken a photo of each place.  People still live in most of the homes so you see laundry hanging, all sorts of containers with plants growing in them, women rinsing out their mops in the canal and hanging them out to dry.  Some places look pretty tough, but it is fascinating to experience.