Hangzhou > Wuzhen > Suzhou

July 31st

This morning it was raining again. In an effort to keep my backpack drier today, I wore a poncho which was basically a trash bag. Oh my god it was hot as hell!!!

We began with a leisurely morning cruise on the West Lake. Again, lots of beautiful gardens and historic sites to see.


Our Boat


Lotus flowers – they are all over China


View of Hangzhou from our boat

Mom in West Lake Park


Sorry, I couldn’t resist (and that is fresh water, not my pee - yet)

Then we visited the Pagoda of Six Harmonies. Which of course was surrounded by lush gardens and very beautiful. Still pouring, but beautiful. The Pagoda was built in 970 AD – it stands over 197 feet tall. It served as a lighthouse up until the Ming dynasty.

View of Pagoda from boat ride on West Lake

Tree growing in men’s room at Pagoda of Six Harmonies

Next we rode the bus for about an hour to Wuzhen where we took a tour of a 1,000 year old water town. A water town is just that – a town surrounded by water (moats). On the bottom level is your shop and above that is where you live. Quite rustic conditions.


Not in cage, just hanging out

We had lunch in the water town which is pretty much what I pictured all the meals to be like. For starters, it was about 110 degrees in the restaurant. We were seated on benches that were 2x4’s – and we were crammed in together. My back was touching the person at the table behind me.

The food was horrific… including the fish in his entirety. He was watching me from across the table the entire meal. I ate nothing. I sat (sweating) holding a napkin over my mouth and nose.

Once we escaped the sauna-like restaurant, we walked around water town and saw the sites.

After this, we got back on the bus and rode to Suzhou.

Here is a different style of squat toilet. Works the same – but this style typically has automatic flush. I was in the stall for over a minute so the attendant was banging on the door screaming at me in Chinese.


Suzhou has a network of canals, bridges and canal-side housing. It dates back to the 6th century when the canals were first built to control the low water table.

We visited the Institute of Embroidery which was truly amazing! The artwork looked like paintings, but when you got up real close, you could see it was actually thread. We were not allowed to take photos as they were original works of art. Truly amazing!!

My favorite was an embroidery of “Starry Night” by Van Gogh that was $53,531 USD.

Later, we checked into our hotel. The Aster hotel in Suzhou.
Nicer view:

But oh my! It smelled so bad. It was old & dirty – musty smell. It was a rough one!

We did not feel like joining the group for dinner, but since we had skipped out the night before, we felt obligated. We regretted that decision! The restaurant also was dirty, smelly and HOT! I had rice with soy sauce. Everything else was very strange – everyone agreed with me for once!

Upon returning to the hotel, I was completely starving so I went to gift shop for a snack. Original Pringles and Sweet Cherry Tomato Lays. The Pringles were terrible! Smaller than ours and very greasy. Lays were normal texture but after you ate one it was like there was a breath mint in your mouth. Very strange. So I ate a granola bar, drank a few beers and went to bed.