Suzhou Park

Our time is very quickly coming to an end. I read a blog about how once you leave an expat assignment you realize there was so much more you could have done and seen while you were busy living your daily life. I decided I wanted to have as few "I wish we would have..." thoughts as possible, so I asked a few other expats if there was anything in Suzhou they thought I should go see or do before we left. Just short afternoon trips that are doable with a toddler. While there are many places we would have liked to have visited in the country it just wasn't possible with a little one and constraints of vacation time. One of my friends mentioned Suzhou Park. I am very glad we went and checked it out. Such a good place for seeing what the young and old do on a lovely weekend.

Most of these activities I have seen from time to time, but never all in one place or at such scale. The warm temperatures must have brought out the crowd. I think these pictures really show what the older generation enjoy doing in their free time. I suppose I can admit there really are many things I enjoy about China. The "feel" at this park is one of them. Okay, enough babble, enjoy the picture show!

You won't find anyone above 6 practicing their ABC's in the park in the US, but with a system of characters it is not uncommon to see older men or women using these brushes and water to practice writing. I believe there are somewhere around 20,000 characters, but I think knowing 3,000 to 4,000 qualifies you as being fully literate.  Study up!

I imagine these people probably know many more than the standard and are attempting to retain their knowledge and demonstrate for others.

The kids fishing pond. Many moms, dads and grandparents spending the afternoon fishing with their little ones.

With as many people as there were fishing on this one day, I pictured workers dumping buckets of fish into the pond each morning.

They were fishing for goldfish!

So many people playing instruments, all of them older. I wonder if the younger generation will know how to play them?

The guy playing the bells took his part very seriously.

Also lots of singing, no Miley Cryus songs here.

If you look closely there is a guy without a shirt on. We were not sure what was going on. A massage maybe??? Whatever it was, he had a group of on-lookers.

There was also a large mass of dancers.  It was really pretty sweet.

Heels are a must anywhere you go.

The dancers and their audience.

Carnival Rides!

Clif asked if I wanted to take M on the ride, I declined after seeing some split pants ride past us.

Ummmm.....

 You could also find some people practicing their Tia-Chi.

 

And no matter where you go there is always some young couples canoodling!

 The only activity I did not snap a picture of is the old men playing games such as Chinese checkers. If we had more time I think it would have been a perfect spot to people watch. Suzhou Park is for sure a place you should check out before you leave.

Visitors!

People actually got on a plane a flew for 14 hours + 2 hours in a car to come visit us! YAY!

 In May my friend Stacy came to visit for a week. I think Stacy's favorite part was how relaxing it is to ride in a cab to Old Town. We took her to the Suzhou Zoo. That was an experience...

Yep, feeding the bear. People brought food just for the purpose of feeding the animals.

We chose not to let M feed the animals that day. We wanted to take our baby home with us.

I know why this little guy is sad. There was one tree in one of the cages, but it was in its own cage so the monkeys could not climb on it.

Cover eyes, what is this little fellow up to?

The next day I took Stacy to a garden I hadn't yet visited. I had heard it was one of the best. It turned out to a bit of a rocky maze. At least we worked our glutes!

Just a leisurely stroll!

Girls day out

There are 13 lines on the Shanghai metro, I braved them for the first time for Stacy. For the most part we were successful. Our first stop was the fabric market. I really thought I knew what stop to get off at, but when we came out of the metro I did not recognize a thing, so I decided we should get in a cab. After a ten minute cab ride we arrived, though in hindsight I am pretty sure we were real close and the guy just drove us around knowing I was clueless. Anyway, Stacy had a lovely cashmere coat made. We were then off to lunch at a tasty Thai restaurant and our last stop was Pearl Tower.

Just another picture perfect day!

Stacy never actually stepped foot on the glass floor.

When the building under construction is finished it will be the tallest in China and second tallest in the world.

Miriam was a bit embarrassed to be caught in Pearl Tower wearing the same outfit as her previous visit.

 A few days after we said good-bye to Stacy, Marijane landed. I felt very popular for a couple weeks.

While Marijane was in Suzhou we visited a water town called TongLi, which you can read more about on a previous blog post if interested and also went to the City Wall.

Lunch at TongLi. It was a little Mom and Pop place, very good.

I can't post anymore pictures of TongLi because they are all inappropriate pictures Marijane insisted on taking at the Sex Culture Museum.
 
Panmen Gate and the City Wall. I was pleasantly surprised. I was under the impression we were just going to see an old wall that maybe we could walk along, but was greeted with a beautiful garden.

 A nice family photo other than M's serious widow's peak, or maybe she was going for the count from Sesame Street.

Ah...here is the wall. Which we did walk along until some man would not stop trying to get a picture taken with us.

I also took Marijane in Shanghai for a day. My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew were also there on a layover to Bali.

L thinking, "What the heck is cousin Mimi doing in China???"

Getting a closer look at each other.

We also went to Yu Garden. Since I had already been once, this was the only picture I took.

The morning stop was Yu Garden. I offered to take Marijiane on more sight-seeing, but she decided she would rather spend the afternoon at a copy market. She enjoyed it so much we missed our train back to Suzhou.

Oh, she also tried a China flavored Starbucks, I think she really misses her green tea and red bean frappucinno.

Even though my blog is about 5 months late, I am very thankful anyone made the trek to come see us.  It was great having them and I hope they enjoyed it just a little.

Being a Tourist Part VII: Shanghai Stay in Pictures

To finish up Clif's parents' trip we stayed three days in Shanghai. This post will just a picture walk of our stay. Enjoy!

Below is a picture of us in front of the same skyline. The difference is quite amazing.

2013

Pearl Tower:

 

I would love to be here on a clear day. I bet the view is pretty awesome, but in my three trips in two months to Shanghai this was about as good as it got.

Looking for pigs in the Huangpu River

In the glass viewing deck with the cutest baby in Shanghai.

If only you could see the other people also taking pictures...

A peek at The Bund, originally a British settlement.

People's Park
I would LOVE to come here on a weekend. I have been told Chinese parents congregate and post info sheets about their single children trying to make love matches.

She said she needed some knock-off clothes. Such a girlie girl.

Abercrambre - Since 1892

On the last day we went to Yu Garden, which is now one of my favorite spots in Shanghai. It's located in the area that was the original city.

Maybe the best smelling toilet in China?

Mid-garden dental check. Yep, all there!

Miriam's favorite part.

Well, this catches us up to the end of April! Only four months behind now!