Xi Tang to Suzhou was only an hour journey by bus and by far the cheapest of my journeys at only 20RMB. Suzhou is another ancient water town made famous by its gardens and tea houses. There are hundreds of small gardens all across the city, I visited only 2. There are loads of ponds and canal ways all through the city with more fantastic bridges. Suzhou felt a lot like a bigger and more touristy Xi Tang, lots of it looks very similar.
I spent a full three days in Suzhou and drank loads of tea. Most Chinese people I have told about my trip have asked me about the hundreds of different types of tea.
Suzhou was another truly chilled out place where I did little but wander about and people watch.
I was not so taken with Suzhou as it looked and felt like so many other ancient towns and cities I have been to. Everything was a little "been here, seen it" even down to the things you can buy in shops. I have seen most of these things in Kunming. I am convinced had I have visited here before places like Lijiang and Dali I would have enjoyed it much more. Still a really nice place to go and relax for a few days and one of the best places for people watching. My next stop is Qingdao, which has remained one of the few places that I have always wanted to visit.
Buying train tickets in China, especially around holiday time, is a pain in the neck. On the average week we can buy tickets 10 days in advance and its rarely problem. In Golden week (October 1st to 7th) tickets are a nightmare to get and sell out very quickly. I was unlucky when buying my Suzhou to Qingdao ticket and had to buy a first class ticket. Definite luxury but much more expensive. The bullet train that runs between Beijing and Shanghai is fantastic. It runs at an average of 300km/h and is really smooth ride, very good for snoozing. Annoyingly there are two train stations in Suzhou (something I found out after trying to pick up my tickets at the wrong one) and ended up having to blast across town in a taxi. oops!
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