The previous post is Suzhou (May 13).
The next post is Nanjing (May 15).

Suzhou (May 14) · May 16, 10:02 PM

I want to see the Garden of the Master of Nets as soon as it opens — minus the tour groups and loud crowds — but I desperately need sleep. Everyone agrees that this very small garden is also the best in Suzhou. I slept in to the last possible moment (about 07:45); A few quiet other and I had the grounds to ourselves for about thirty minutes.

Yesterday I transcribed from the internet someone’s must-see and must-not-see list. In Jiangsu province Suzhou’s silk embroidery and a nearby watertown were on the list. Because of my poor and chaotic planning, I’ve already missed a couple key spots (e.g. Huangshan), so I decided to stay one more night for a day trip to the Zhouzhuang water town. It took my two hours to make my way to the long-distance bus station just north of the city moat to buy a ticket. My cold came on strong during the sixty minute trip, but I met the girl sitting in the aisle seat to my left; she had good English. Together we took a pedicab from Zhouzhuang’s bus stop to the old-town ticket gate, and we explored the narrow Qing-dynasty homes, streets, and canals together for several hours. She left for Nanjing at three, and I remained to poke around — the crowds rapidly thinned. I think the Chinese tourist’s day ends at four in the afternoon. I poked around as best I could, but Zhouzhuang doesn’t have too many paths not lined with loud vendors of freshwater pearls, silk, knick-knacks, art, street food. There’s also many expensive seafood restaurants. A chorus of “hello”, “please come in”, “just looking?”, “we have tea, coffee, beer”, and “looky looky” followed me. The crowds were thick during most of my time there, but I’m tall enough that I can see over them, so I could still enjoy the old buildings and waterways.

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