Sunday, May 27, 2007

Suzhou (05.26)

Finally, we got out of Nanjing! Saturdays trip to Suzhou started at about 7 in the morning after a long night at the clubs at 1912 (a bar district by our apartment). Suzhou is a small city about half way to Shanghai. Its supposedly one of the most beautiful canal cities in the area, but seems to be experiencing quite a bit of industrialization and growth. While we were there we went to Zhuo Zheng Yuan (the Humble Administrators Garden), the Suzhou Museum, and a very beautiful Pagoda for which i have no name. I am almost ashamed to say this but, the garden was of the most interest to me. Not because of the beautiful landscape, but because of who i met there...and by met i mean followed around for about 30 min. I was taking pictures and looked up and saw the one and only Natalie Portman. For those of you who don't know, she's the beautiful actress from the new Starwars movies. In case you where wondering, she's just as hot in person as in the movies. Ok, back to school now. The garden was amazing. Apparently, it was built during the ming dynasty in the 14th century and although it has been rebuilt recently, retains many of the same characteristics of the original garden.

After the garden we went to lunch which was better than i had anticipated. On the way jfk decided to try to fit in with the culture but instead just came off looking like a racist American. We then went to the Suzhou museum, a recent installment in the city. It was very nice but i'm still not a huge fan of museums. I'd much rather just experience the city in it current state which is actually what we did next. We had about three hours to kill until our train back to Nanjing so a few of us went exploring. When we got away from the main drag we experienced some very culturally rich areas. After we decided that we were totally lost we hopped into some rickshaws and headed towards the cities pagoda. Unfortunately, our request was lost in translation and we ended up at a "massage" parlor". The drivers all laughed as they called the girls out to the cart and made rude hand gestures. I would explain further but I'm sure you can use your imagination. After that fiasco the drivers actually took us where we asked.

The pagoda was amazing but the hike to the top definitely took it out of us. I didn't realize how out of shape i was until i reached the top and was gasping for air and seeing stars. Thats about it for our excursion. The train back was about as eventful as a train can be. Overall it was a good day. I'm looking forward to more excursions like this one. One more week of hard work and then we will have plenty of time to explore! I cant wait.




Views of the Zhuo Zheng Yuan Garden





Just some shots from around the city


The "nameless" Pagoda


9 comments:

don said...

Brice:
I did this once, and then went back in to see where it put my comment. Must have done something wrong, because it said that there were "0" comments. So I will try again, but I am sure that I will not be as witty as previously when it was off the cuff.
I think it is cool that you saw Natalie Portman. Please tell me that you went over and introduced yourself instead of just stalking her.
The rooms look nice. I think that clean, air conditioned, and a modern toilet are all that one could ask for. And from what I hear from you mother, the last is most important to you. You always call her when you are running back to use the facilities.
The gardens look beautiful. The shots that you took look great. My favorite is the "Rickshaw Drivers".
Well I am going to say good bye again. Your mom and I are on our way out to see Pirates 3.
Love you,
Your Mom and me

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