Modern Urban China

When I left Huangzhou yesterday I was hoping for a little more interaction with travellers. Ever since Guilin, there hasn't been very many around. Lots of Chinese tourists, but really just stick to themselves. Don't know if they really want us around at times. Got to the hostel in Shanghai without too much difficulty and ended up having a few beers with a German and Aussie. Imagine those 2 countries drinking beer! Who would have thought! Went down to the Bund after dark to see the spectacular Shanghai skyline. Has to rival New York (have never seen the New York Skyline). Lots of lights and lit up skyscrapers over water. I enjoyed that even though I prefer the natural wonders a little more. Had got train tickets to go to Suzhou

early in the morning. Heard it was a pretty canal type city, so on the road for another day trip. Got up a 5:50 to head out to the train station. My train is at 8:05 but it is a bit of a metro trip to get there. I had hoped to leave by 6:00 but I didn't get going until 6:20. Already behind schedule. The metro ride took about 40 minutes, so I arrived with about an hour or so to get to the train. Only one ticket counter was open and it had a huge lineup. I thought not a chance am I going to make my train. Got in line and hoped it would be quick. By the time I got my ticket, I had 20 minutes before my train was to leave. Luckily security was real fast today and I actually walked up to my gate just when they started to let people through. Thought I have already used my luck up for the day. Got to Suzhou in 28 minutes and then had to take an hour metro trip to the station that had Jinji Lake which is where I wanted to start. I was already getting tired because I was standing for all the metro rides. No seats! I actually got one towards the end of the first metro trip, but I gave it up to an older lady who looked like she needed it. Got to Jinji Lake and was very pleasantly surprised. It was relatively quiet and really was a nice place with its urban background. Thought maybe the Chinese stayed home today! Wrong!!! Next place I went was called Lundin Lu. Supposed to have a few canals and a big old shopping district.

Found the hordes. Wall to wall for the rest of the day. Lundin Lu was just a big area with lots of shops. There was a temple and a few canals (just polluted ditches really). I wandered around for a couple of hours. Thought I had enough time to find the old town and some older canals, so I went to Shanting Jie. Found what I was looking for. But so did thousands of others. Slow walk in huge crowds really is not my thing. I stuck it out because I wanted to see what was down those streets and canals. Not much did I find, but it was nice enough. At 3:00 I decided to head back to the train station to catch my 5:30 train. Took me a half hour to get to the station and this time about 10 minutes to my gate. So now a 2 hour wait for the train. Problem was I was really tired and sore from the day and the train station was over full with people. No place to sit! Did finally hover over a section and grabbed a seat. Almost fell asleep in that noisy place! Crazy how you can get used to the noise and just sleep through it. Caught my train

at 5:30 and headed back to Shanghai. Only 40 minute ride back. Grabbed a quick bite at the station and once again onto the metro for the 40 minute ride back. This time it was packed solid. Everyone is out on the streets tonight. Got a standing spot where I could lean on the wall. Young punk was showing off to his girlfriend and almost stomped my feet a couple of times. I gave him a look that said you better be careful, so he started to crowd me a little and try to show he was tough. I just ignored him and eventually they got off. Don't know what his issue was, but you don't want to start anything when you are vastly outnumbered. Was glad to finally get to the hostel and my room. A long day that wasn't as good as I had hoped. You never know until you try though. Was worth the effort.........