Suzhou - Part II

While in Beijing on the Immerqi Orientation week I had the fortune of meeting some lovely people, delightful characters and peeps I genuinely hope to keep in touch with for a long time to come. One of those was Mark. Friendly, witty and an all round good bloke, we just got along from word go even though we didn’t spend much time together.

When I finally decided to head to Suzhou for Golden Week I got in touch with him and we set about organizing to meet up. I advised that according to our itinerary we’d be heading to Tongli Water Town on the morrow if wanted to come. Apparently Mark’s housemate had gone there that day and said it was a nightmare, crowds thick as a murder of crows, to the extent that after travelling 40 minutes to get to the town, she decided not to even go in, but turn tailed and headed back!

After what can only be described as the train ride from hades, followed up by elbow to elbow ‘touristing’ around what was supposed to be a peaceful park, not to mention being berated by the boatman when requesting a ticket… another day of crowds seemed like a little too much to bear.

Mark suggested Pan Men, after some time reviewing the itinerary, I identified another activity that would nicely slot in to Pan Men and we would finish off the day with catching up with Mark and ideally a sneaky cold one. I’d not been out since I left Albany, and even then it wasn’t often going ‘out’ as such. Therese and Robyn were much the same, and given the shortage of Westerners in Tangshan, there lacks any true ‘pubs’, ‘bars’ or ‘clubs’ as we know them… unless you enjoy Karaoke, in which case you are very much in luck! There isn’t any sitting back with a wee wine and have a leisurely chat, oh what we’d give for that!

We caterpillered our way out the hotel, passing the manager and ever present woman-whom-we-know-not-what-she-does as they sat eating and smoking simultaneously. I conferred with the lovely Wendy (I think given the time I spend with Google Maps she at the very least deserves a name), Wendy kindly advised of which bus stop and bus number we needed to take. 

Unfortunately I am not overly familiar with East, West, North or South… so the three of us wandered for a good ten minutes before Wendy started to get mad at me and DEMANDED we turn, retrace our steps and then would be able to jump on the appropriate bus.

Wendy and I were destined to have many of these little squabbles throughout the trip, but an honest relationship is not without its arguments.

So… bumping along, squished between bobbing heads we were on our way to Pannam Scenic area…

Panmen City Gate was built between 770BC and 476BC nd is the only well preserved water and land city gate remaining in the world. At the time it was a feat of architecture, including a sluce gate that was able to control the water, as well as assist in deflecting an approaching enemy. This construction as paramount in ensuring the safety of the city and its people… I felt quite humbled to be able to experience it first hand.

After paying our very reasonable entrance fee the three of us were blown away by the sence of tranquility we felt as we stepped through the threshold. A pagoda reared up before us, to the left was a life-sized sculpture of a running bull, to the left a ancient looking marble looking stone with Chinese characters engraved. We smiled in delight at one another as we paced the stone path around the pagoda and into the gardens themselves.

As I’d not researched the place myself (yes… its true, I diverted from my itinerary! Shocking state of affairs… I could feel my spreadsheet scrunching up in distress – spontaneity I tell you! China has changed me) I was thrilled to find a lake open up before me, and across the lade a beautiful Siheyuan, a large almost palatial, traditional Chinese home, set on a flat pyramid of stone steps and set infront of a landscape of weeping willows and stone bridges.

I spied a giant sculpture of a turtle and made a bee line! Evil eying the children playing around the turtle I waited for them to vacate so I could spend time with one of my favourite creatures before standing to observe a LIVE BIRD! A BIRD! A PIECE OF NATURE!

Robyn and I grabbed our camera’s and started snapping if only to prove to ourselves we’d seen a spot of nature in China. Meanwhile Therese had headed to one of the ponds off shooting from the lake to enjoy the carp and gold fish flashing through the water.

We wandered on at a leisurely pace, myself stopping in my tracks when I found a man-made water feature. I closed my eyes and listened to the water running across the rocks, flicking off edges and splashing into the pond below. I sighed a sigh of a country girl… a coutry girl, mind you, that grew up in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia and spent her weekends looking up waterfalls in the Grand Britanicca Encyclopedia (yes… this is pre-internet adys, be afraid).

The manicured gardens are so considered, where this tree is, where that stone is, lone-standing walls with circular doors to draw the eye. The symmetry and collation of subtle colours. It seems to enhance the whispering wind through the leaves, how the light plays and shadows dance. Even with other tourists milling around you cant help but feel at peace.

Constantly we stopped each other in order to take a happy nap of the beauty we saw before us. Even given the level of pollution and grey skies, you could help but eee and awww and enjoy the feeling of the muscles in your shoulders slowly untangling and the sense f relaxation coming over you.

Closer to the Siheyuan was a rectangle space, pavement ground and six wooden frames, the roof fishing wire littered with chimes and ribbons and wind catches… when the breeze blew, or a tall tourist decided to jump up and shake the fishing wire, a stream of bells and dings and tings floated through the air.

Climbing up a hill we could hear the rushing of water and went to investigate, as we came back to ground level and cleared a corner we could see a cave hidden by a make-shift waterfall… and it seemed the place to be! There were some wet stones that led across a pond and into the cave… should we? Shall we? Should we consider occupational health and safety? Nope… its China.

Subtly elbowing and hip-shouldering our way past the waiting children we one by one we shakily put one foot on one stone, brought the other across, our arms flailing as if on a tightrope. I hopped on to the next stone, it was slippery, my shoe skidded, I held on to my camera for dear life – if we were both going down, atleast my camera could survive! We Indiana Jones’d our way further across the pond and finally found ourselves in the dark damp echoey confines of the cave and enjoyed observing the outside from the inside, and the splash of water on stone.

It felt as if you’d taken a step into the past, that you were once again within the embrace of nature… that is until you get to the market section and all of a sudden someone is drawing you in with a plastic egg looking item with a string hanging out and when you pull the string you hear the sound of a strangled cat… in what world would you decide that’s a good gift for a child?  I did, however, enjoy watching the army toy that actually shimmied across the ground, gun in hand, then SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT! Then there were the wee plastic horses that pranced around and around and around a pole, and finally the archery range which, had I been alone, I’d have had a go at!

We found access to the top of the wall and traipsed up. There we could read (in English!) some interesting facts… I looked over into the quadrangle shadowed by the Gate Tower… the small entrance was a ‘fake’ entrance. The enemy would enter the quadrangle via the canal thinking they were about to sack the city, when infact, once all the enemy were in the square, the gate to the small entrance would close and the Suzhou soldiers would shoot the trapped enemy with arrows and other weaponry.

As my students continue to say, “China history… very very very long”, and I wish I could put in a nutshell, but it is impossible!”. What I can say is that you can sense the centuries of events, of moments, of family, of Emperors, of battles, and of romance… there is history at your fingertips.

As we wandered back out of the garden space we decided to ascend the pagoda that towered at the entrance of the scenic area. It is the oldest Pagoda in Suzhou and is 53.57 metres, standing seven flights high. It was originally built in 247AD by Sun Quan (a kindg who apparently established the Wu Kingdom) to show respect for his mother.

You can see that the years have not been kind to the Pagoda, infact it has fallen several times during different wars, however over the last decade or so there has been a concerted effort to rebuild and maintain this historic artefact.

Another wee fee and the three of us popped in to the Pagoda, at first greeted by a giant bronze Buddha that looked less than happy… admittedly he was facing away from the lovely garden, so I’d have been somewhat perturbed myself.

Now… time to wander up the… no, they’re not stairs? And if they are stairs… were they built for mysterious Chinese pigmee people? Oh… it will be find to go up, sure there will be different stairs to come down… that’s only logical… yes?

We stepped up and stopped off at each level, took in the view, smelt the overwhelming scent of dust, considered whether this would be allowed in England, Australia or Sweden… answer… No… However it is quite nice being outside the ‘nanny state’ and knowing that the government has faith that none off us will fall from the third floor of the pagoda, well, on purpose any way.

The higher we rose the tighter the stair to stair ratio, fortunately we noticed the “DON’T HIT YOUR HEAD” notice, so, particularly me, bent while stepping and holding in my elbows and heading left, while crooking my foot, while bulling in my backside for the health and happiness of the person behind me… safely arrived at the fifth floor and the highest floor we were allowed to go to.

And I thought heading up the Cathedral of Santa Maria de Fiore in Florence was a nightmare in OHS!

Oooo but going down? That was a whole ‘nother issue. I considered going down forward… backward… my two somewhat shorter companions took the lead and I stepped precariously, in complete darkness, holding on to each of the ancient wooden rails for dear life until my thighs wibbled and wobbled in fear and my feet advised they’d not ever trust me again!

Next up? Master of the Nets. Although quite small its one of the most renowned attractions in Suzhou. Built in 1127 – 1279 it was a residence for a government official. It apparently was originally known as the Hall of Ten Thousand Books because the original owner loved his books… in mid 1600 the new owner who bought and restored the property fell out with the government and was so mad that he announced he would rather be a fisherman than a bureaucrat and so changed the name to “Fishermans Garden”.

It is divided into different sections, apparently this was quite common for well-off persons in ancient China. We wandered in awe, taking in the music room, the speaking room, the inner garden and Pavilion for the Advent of the Moon and Wind – I mean, can you get a better name than that? That’s ridiculous… I’m going to call my house that!

In the evenings you can purchase tickets to see performances in each of the different rooms, from singing to playing instruments, to traditional tea pouring… we didn’t have a chance to see this, but it was enough to wander in this historical place during the day.

We spent time looking back on the main quarters from a stone bridge, the fish considering their time calmly, easing their way through the still water. We enjoyed taking in the red-wood hand crafter furniture and could imagine the masters discussing politics and art and everything in between in their traditional attire all those years ago.

I think we all appreciated this more than the Magistrates Garden that we’d visited the day before. In such a small space we received a slice of history, an experienced authentic moments of ancient China which is what, I think, we were all after.

After taking this cultural moment in we decided it was time to take in a moment of Western pubbery! 

Fortunately I’d been able to locate an English Style Pub only step away from where we were… all three of us were looking forward to sitting back with a beer, a vino or a cocktail…

Closed…

Closed?

It’s Golden Week… it’s the craziest week of the year… everyone is coming to Suzhou or Shanghai… why is the pub closed?

Never mind… this appears to be a pub / drinking street (such things are common in China, a dedicated street for bars / clubs / random microphone singing which I still disagree with as a concept) so there is certainly another bar 

o…p…e…n….

This one isn’t open? What about that one across the street?

Nope… not this one either… a bit further up?

WHAT? What?

Text: “Mark! Emergency! There are no pubs open… no bars open! Do not come here… it may be the onset of a Zombie… or worse yet an Evangelical… apocalypse”

“They’re probably closed for Golden Week”

“Ummm… so the busiest week of the year? They’ve closed… that is..”

“That’s CHINA! Get on a bus and get off a Macca’s… we can go from there!”

A few curt words, a general discussion on how economics generally works and confusion as to the owners of the bars closing down on such a busy week, we headed toward the…

BUS! BUS! STOP! The bus stopped… the driver looked at us… the driver pointed down the road at the bus stop… the BUS CARRIED ON!!! WITHOUT US!

We ran… then walked… then shuffled.

Suzhou… why doust thou hate thee???

Eventually the 205 bus arrived, we, with heave steps, boarded the bus and slumped into the spare seats. I kept an eye out and within ten minutes the giant Golden Arches flashed before me…

‘OFF… off…. Off!” we all grabbed our backpacks and bounded off the bus, “urgh!” I said, “I think we’ve gone to far… for goodness….”

Then, wandering confidently up the street was MARK! Hooray! Mark! I gave him a giant hug, maybe a bit too giant for someone I’d known for less than a week, but heavens it was wonderful to see a familiar face and a familiar face that I so enjoyed the personality of!

After brief introductions Mark asked… “So… shopping? Food?”

“ALCOHOL!”

Mark laughed and led us across a busy street into an even busier street, but, thankfully, one without ars and bikes… just people milling through. This was a shopping street, somewhat different again, to Tangshan… closer to if you lived in a small town and headed to the city to shop in Myer or Harrods. The lights bounced against the dark night, music changed from shop to shop, people milled around happily and Mark took us down a dark corner to our…

To our delight… a Western style hotel. Western music, outside sitting and good heavens, wasn’t it just ladies night? Free cocktails for the girls til 11pm!

The rest of the night was filled with dumplings and noodles, dancing and cocktails. I may or may not have spent some time in a Picachuu outfit… and may or may not have found my calling!

Robyn and I hit the dance floor like the floor has never been danced before, we made those ‘new best friends’ that you never see again and the next morning… my cheeks were sore having spent too much time smiling the night before.

I look forward to catching up with Mark again and I cannot be more thankful for the trip back to Fiona circa 2005!

Getting back to the hotel I was glad to find that I’d been solicited to by way of inappropriate calling cards, and suddenly I realized why they’re called… calling cards… I did not call them.