Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

We’re just wrapping up our time in our 5th Chinese city tonight. We arrived here after a hectic morning and afternoon yesterday. Our train leaving Nanjing was an hour late and when we finally did get to board it was filled to the brim. It is unbelievable to me how many people they see fit to stuff into these trains. We unfortunately only had hard seat tickets which is also the same as first come first serve on board and since we are only being picked up half way through the train’s run there is barely anywhere to stand let alone available seats. We crammed in the doorway of the the train and stayed there until the first stop until we could move farther in. I don’t mind the standing so much as I mind everyone continually trying to walk up and down the aisles. They continue to wheel the carts up and down to sell food and newspapers even though there’s only about 6 inches between all of the passengers.

After getting off the crowded train we emptied into the Suzhou station and for the first time in China, got lost. It was super hot when we got off the train and eventually found our way to the taxi stand. However, we didn’t have the address to the hostel so we could only get dropped off at a nearby landmark which turned out to not be so nearby. We ended up walking around for close to 3 hours with all of our stuff until we could find a wireless signal to get some more information. Turns out the hostel was not actually on the street it said it was on, but just back from the main road. Anyway, we got checked in and luckily survived the whole ordeal.

Today was a lot more successful. We ended up seeing the majority of Suzhou’s main sites – The biggest garden in Suzhou, the Suzhou Museum, the Silk Museum, the old historic part of Suzhou and the shopping district. To wrap up the day we took a night cruise down the canal. Suzhou is a nice city, but I think I’m ready to leave it. I feel like we’ve seen most of what it has to offer. It was definitely pretty though with a lot of trees especially along the canal. The city seems to have maintained a lot of the old charm and character which is interesting to wander around.

Tomorrow morning we take our first shot at a long distance bus in China. Keep your fingers crossed.