Suzhou

Well, we loved Suzhou :) And if you've seen the photos on facebook (yes, they're there now), you can tell.

A little about Suzhou...it's about an hour and a half train ride from Nanjing (fast train) and one of the canal towns, which equates it a bit to Venice, Amsterdam, etc...but of course, there's no real equivalent...you can't compare Chine and Europe :) But it's a gorgeous city. Lots of little back streets, alley ways along the canals (without a map, we would've been lost many times), tiny narrow roads filled with bikes, and lots of preserved Chinese architecture and walkways. I was impressed. Living in one of the more "modernized" cities of China has kinda given me a pessimistic view, that all cities are trying to be like Shanghai, in that they're losing their traditional China. Not so in Suzhou. Though there is modernization (like the area where the Suzhou fellowship meets, an industrialized area), the vast majority of the city is still the feel of "old China", and I loved it. It's charming. I rarely use that word, but it really is. I loved the bridges, the brick roads, the canals, even the bus stops (see facebook photos)...the whole city is just cute :)

On Friday, we got to the city around 11 and got a taxi to our hostel. We didn't realize that taxis can't go along the back roads, so we had to walk a bit, and getting a bit confused by the address, we found the hostel, in a traditional style Chinese residence. We had lunch at an Indian restaurant by the walking street, across from the alley area where our hostel was, then tried to walk around in the freezing rain. Didn't work. So we went back to the area by the hostel and found Bookworm, an English bookshop/cafe Danielle had mentioned. Drank some hot chocolate, bought a cool book, and beat my hubby in Scrabble. Take out Xinjiang food for dinner, and an evening in :)

Saturday was the better of the 2 days. We headed out really early (wanted to avoid the rain) and headed to Master of the Nets Garden (one of many gardens in the city), and like many things, it's hidden back in a maze of small roads and pathways. But the garden was gorgeous. Then, we were off to the twin pagodas, followed by the silk factory. The factory/museum is free, and surprisingly so (I thought). You get to get up close to the workers who are heating the cocoons, pulling out the silk, soaking it, stretching it, then you pass to the automated looms. It's a cool process to see in person. Then there's a large silk store with all different kinds of products. Not often do you get a chance to buy some that you know for sure is authentic. So we bought a new table runner and a little outfit for a little friend who has a birthday coming up. Raul also bought himself a tie. Then, we walked to a Starbucks for a break (we did a lot before lunch!) before having lunch at TGI Fridays. I was shocked that they have one in Suzhou (Shanghai does, but for some reason we don't...little peeved). Had an awesome lunch (with cherry coke!). We split after lunch...Raul did some shopping and walking around while I headed back to the hostel to rest. My cold had started :p After more Xinjiang food for dinner, we went back to the walking street in search of a bar with a Filipino band (not quite the needle-in-a-haystack situation it may seem...it's common). After asking, we hopped in a taxi and found a cool bar (again, using existing traditional Chinese buildings) with, you guessed it, a Filipino band :)

Sunday morning we packed up and headed to the Suzhou fellowship, located a bit outside the city proper, but still easy to find (I'm shocked that we didn't get lost once on this trip!). We arrived an hour early, so we relaxed and I enjoyed listening to the worship rehearsal. It's a change from NICF, but we both enjoyed it, a bit more mellow service with a different style, both in the worship and sharing...more of what Raul and I were used to in our more traditional backgrounds. It was a nice service, and we were able to meet some people. We also met up with some Filipino friends who used to live Nanjing and had lunch with them before heading back to Nanjing in the afternoon.

And there ya have it. :) A busy weekend, but something both of us really needed, and really enjoyed. We're hoping to go back again when the weather's better.