The Longest Day...

I am tired.  Update later.  Here are some photos...

OK, I'm back.  Apparently, I am much better at getting back and updating this than I have been in the past.  This day was extremely packed with activities, both the ones on the tour and further adventures after the tour ended...so let's get started.

In the town of Suzhou, there are many Chinese gardens.  In China, a garden isn't just a landscaped area, it's a complex that includes living quarters.  We visited the Master of the Nets garden from the Song dynasty.  Both the person who originally created it, Shi Zhengzhi, and the person who restored and redesigned it almost 650 years later, Song Zongyuan, were not fishermen but worked in government.  They were inspired by the simple life of a fisherman.

This teeny-tiny bridge is Quietude Bridge and can be crossed in just a couple of steps.  It is a favorite photo posing area. 

Don't know what this is, but it was a cool looking corridor that I thought I'd take a shot of.

From the description on the map we were given, I believe this is The Washing Cap-Ribbon Pavillion Over the Water.

This is the Branch Beyond Bamboo Porch and was used for tea ceremonies.

I think this was the Cloud Stairway room as I could not find a good description of any room that sounded like it except for the fact that it contains a collection of ceramics...

We then went to an actual silk factory, which was different than the silk making demonstration I went to last week on the other tour...kind of. Above are the mulberry leaves that feed the silk worms.   This was actually at the factory, but it a little area set aside for tours.  So it was a little more extensive, but not actually watching silk production.  Still, a good overview. 

This is a machine where the silk cocoons are unraveled and spun into thread.  I believe it's 8 actual strands are spun together into silk thread. 

Now double cocoons (two worms in one cocoon) cannot be unraveled as the strands are wrapped together, so they are stretched into the filling for comforters.  Note the two ladies on the right.  I really hit it off with them and made new friends from Australia.  Karen and Jo are lifelong friends who were the comic relief for our group.  Jo's husband was here on business so they were zooming around trying to do as much fun stuff as they could.  Today was Shanghai, tomorrow the Bullet Train to Beijing to take a tour of the Great Wall. 

I actually bought some stuff at the silk factory.  It was probably priced a bit more than I could have gotten elsewhere, but only if I bargained.  This was a government run factory, so the prices are set and there is no bargaining, which I found appealing.  It's just too damn stressful for me. 

After the silk factory we had a crazy delicious lunch in Suzhou:

I debated about posting this photo, but I had to.  This was desert.  A soupy concoction made of red beans with little sticky rice balls.  It was just a little sweet and the sticky rice was a fun, chewy texture.  I enjoyed it and had seconds.  

 After lunch, took a little walk around the canal area there.  The area had been recently restored and renovated to make it more accessible to tourists and locals. 

Originally, the city of Suzhou was surrounded by a wall, most of which has been demolished.  However, the original gate, Pan Gate, still exists.  It had both a land and water gate (the water gate is clearly seen here) and dates back to about 514 BCE. 

The canal has a tall bridge that crosses it, which makes for scenic photos. 

After our walk, we piled into our van and alighted at Zhouzhuang Water Village.  There are many water villages in China, and quite a few around Shanghai.  This is the most famous (and most commercialized).  The large, noisy tour groups did nothing to distract however. 

Many bridges of differing heights cross the canal and low, paddle powered boats ferry tourists around.  This is known as the Venice of China. 

You'll see many of these blue roofed boats everywhere in the water and they go on rain or shine.  I forgot to mention it earlier, we had no rain but it was very chilly and gray.  Again, nothing detracted from this awesome experience.

I got here a little late for all of the spring blossoms.  However, I did spot one flowering tree in full bloom. 

We took a boat ride down the canal in one of the boats.  I was with our guide, Jo, and Karen.  Jo had a traumatic experience on a canoe in New Guinea and was a bit of a nervous sailor.  I finally allowed a photo on our rocking boat. 

We're in the residential area of the town  here.  We tipped the lady paddling our boat so that she would sing for us.  She had a lovely voice and set the scene for the whole experience. 

Here she is.  She was laughing at us the whole time.  Mostly because Jo refused to stand on the boat and was crawling around on all fours...LOL. 

We alighted and walked down a little street that had shops of local crafts.  Here is a cotton spinning and weaving shop.  Most of the cloth is in traditional indigo hues. 

This, I believe is the tea room where the famous painter Wu Guanzhong used to hang out

In another, nearby tea room, folk musicians were performing. 

This was a rice wine producing facility in the town.  

Last image before we leave are the entry/exit gate and the pagoda on the edge of town, which I believe is Quan Pagoda. 

We then had a long ride home, which was a good time to rest.  After a bit of discussion, Jo, Karen, and I opted to be dropped off near The Bund as it was getting dark and it would be a good opportunity to get some night photos of the lights. 

I tried both my regular camera...

And my cell phone to see which took the better picture.  Both are pretty good, I think.  The Pearl Tower stays purple, and a message revolves around the top of the Shanghai Tower.  There are more lights and more advertising here than at Times Square, I think!

After a few minutes enjoying the view and the atmosphere, we decided to venture off to find food. 

We ended up on West Nanjing Road, an equally scenic area at night.  We found a restaurant that looked busy and the menu looked ok, so we took a shot. 

It was not so great.  The veggies and rice were fine, and the beef that Jo ordered was pronounced very tasty.  My chicken stew was a mistake (mostly bones and skin) while Karen's Shanghai Duck was horribly overcooked with very little duck and lots of skin and bones.  

After making sure we had each other's contact information, I headed to the Metro and made my way back to the apartment.  I promptly uploaded a bunch of photos here, then collapsed.