Suzhou
Today I went to Suzhou. A couple of people had told me that this is the real China, the ancient China, the historic China. Funny, to me that looks an awful lot like the new China. Everywhere you look, you see cranes. Lots and Lots of cranes. The ancient China is quickly being bulldozed and replaced with 25 story apartment complexes, at the speed of a bullet train.
This was a challenging journey. The Shanghai train station is a very big and very crowded place. When I first got in line, I saw nothing in English, everything was Chinese. Oh well, hopefully the person at the ticket counter is having a good day and speaks a little English. After a bit I noticed one line with a sign "English Spoken Here". Thank Buddha. With the help of a delightful man from Pakistan, I was able to get my tickets and some sense of where to go next.
The train ride was educational. I saw some of the most unbelievable poverty lining the one hour train ride to Suzhou. Ramshackle, dilapidated, corrugated tin roofs, with debris all about, surrounded by piles of dirt that are filled with trash. These where are some of the worst living conditions I have ever seen in my life. There are people living in tents, next to waterways filled with trash.
Once in Suzhou, I was surprised to see how big it is, and how much construction is going on. There are some very quaint, charming parts of it, but they are quickly disappearing. The city is laced with canals that are beautiful, and some of those waterways are lined with buildings that look like they are centuries old. I stopped by the Suzhou Museum, and while it didn't have much in the way of exhibits, it was a wonderful, meandering walk through ancient buildings with lots of courtyards and quiet hidden gardens.
But I didn't leave Suzhou with a wonderful sense of the past, which is what I was looking for. I left Suzhou with an image of crossing the Pingman bridge on my way back to the train station. On the left bank was an old, pagoda style building; it is beautiful, but starting to decay. The river itself is dammed up to accommodate some construction, and is collecting trash. The right bank was a buzz of jack hammers and bulldozers and construction. As the grandfather at Starbucks keeps telling me every morning. "you go there, much construction, much construction". He tells me that no matter where I am going that day. Much construction.
This was a challenging journey. The Shanghai train station is a very big and very crowded place. When I first got in line, I saw nothing in English, everything was Chinese. Oh well, hopefully the person at the ticket counter is having a good day and speaks a little English. After a bit I noticed one line with a sign "English Spoken Here". Thank Buddha. With the help of a delightful man from Pakistan, I was able to get my tickets and some sense of where to go next.
The train ride was educational. I saw some of the most unbelievable poverty lining the one hour train ride to Suzhou. Ramshackle, dilapidated, corrugated tin roofs, with debris all about, surrounded by piles of dirt that are filled with trash. These where are some of the worst living conditions I have ever seen in my life. There are people living in tents, next to waterways filled with trash.
Once in Suzhou, I was surprised to see how big it is, and how much construction is going on. There are some very quaint, charming parts of it, but they are quickly disappearing. The city is laced with canals that are beautiful, and some of those waterways are lined with buildings that look like they are centuries old. I stopped by the Suzhou Museum, and while it didn't have much in the way of exhibits, it was a wonderful, meandering walk through ancient buildings with lots of courtyards and quiet hidden gardens.
But I didn't leave Suzhou with a wonderful sense of the past, which is what I was looking for. I left Suzhou with an image of crossing the Pingman bridge on my way back to the train station. On the left bank was an old, pagoda style building; it is beautiful, but starting to decay. The river itself is dammed up to accommodate some construction, and is collecting trash. The right bank was a buzz of jack hammers and bulldozers and construction. As the grandfather at Starbucks keeps telling me every morning. "you go there, much construction, much construction". He tells me that no matter where I am going that day. Much construction.
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posted by Unknown at
3:56 AM
2 Comments:
Thanks for blogging your trip. I look forward to starting off my morning with it. What have you noticed about the Chinese food, there? Do you like it? I'm assuming it very different than we are used to.
Eating here has been very difficult. I am not brave enough to try the street vendors, and most of the resturants do not have English of any kind on their signs. My one night out at a Chinese resturant was uncomfortable. I am very hungry.
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