World China Jiangsu Suzhou

R.O.T.I.P. (Retirement on the Installment Plan) 2008 India & China

Suzhou 2 May 2008

Mavis and I took a high-speed train to Suzhou (pronounced “sue-joe”), a city that dates back to the 6th century.

From the train station, we took a bicycle rickshaw. (This is a three-wheeled bicycle. We sit in back, the driver pedals.) In order to get up over a bridge, He dismounted and pushed!

Our first stop was the Suzhou Silk Museum. It had exhibits showing how silk has been produced for the last 6,000 years. I was fascinated with how similar the process is to the production of wool or cotton cloth, with the obvious exception that you start with a worm not a lamb or a plant. A bought a very soft, pure-silk man’s robe for myself in the museum’s store. It cost about $75; it would have been several hundred dollars in the U.S.

When then took a motor rickshaw to the next museum. (This is also a three-wheeled vehicle were we sit in the back; but, it has a small, noisy engine.) The driver claimed to know where the museum. He didn’t. He clearly was not at all familiar with the town. After taking us all over town and asking many other drivers, he finally got us there. He had the nerve to try to raise our previously negotiated price because it took so long. We made it clear that he wasn’t getting extra money for wasting our time!

This stop was the Suzhou Museum. The building was designed by I. M. Pei, who is known as the last master of high modernist architecture and one of the most successful Asian architects of the 20th century. His family is from Suzhou.

Next, we visited The Humble Administrator’s Garden, which was created in the 16th century.

Finally, we grabbed a quick lunch at a Muslim restaurant that served a style popular in the Northwest region of China near Russia, which is predominantly Muslin. Once again, I had no idea what I was eating. But, it was very tasty.

We took a slow train back to Shanghai. Then, we worked on this blog.

Tomorrow, I fly to California!