Monday 9th July: Day trip to Tongli J
Ever been to a water town in China? Tongli is definitely a
must-see. A delight of meandering alleys and streets, and surprisingly much
quieter than any other touristic destinations. We found ourselves in deserted
streets with no shops and no people to speak of. Very unusual. It struck us how
peaceful and calm the town was.
Lunch of fish and vegetables by the river followed by a boat
ride. Quite lovely! We had taken the bus
from Suzhou (about an hour) and bought our entrance tickets to the old town
there. With that, you can visit local homes and museums- except one which is
the Sex Museum, but that didn’t matter. Our walk took us to two homes that were
absolutely magnificent. The first one was the Zhu home and we had never visited
before such a large house with a pond in one of the courtyards. We could even
go upstairs in several of the buildings. An incredible house. The second one
was the Bingnan home and again, a very large house made of several buildings
that surround a pond. Leo fed the fish crumbs of crisps that he had kept in his
pocket just in case.
Upon return we had decided to go for a boat ride in Suzhou
but felt it wasn’t worth it in the end. The tickets have gone up tremendously
due to the booming domestic tourism. So, we walked in the direction of our
hotel until we found a place to have dinner. And this is where China in the
evening comes to life: street bbqs and sellers of all sorts. A few inviting
tables and bbq stands were what we wanted. Love eating outside! What was even
greater was the fact that the bbq had loads of vegetables on skewers and that
was a rare sight. Usually it is meat and meat and meat but not this time,
though they had meat of course. A vegetarian bbq!
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