While Kathleen was home nursing a hangover from last night's Dulwich Ball, I took Juliana and Maria downtown for some shopping and sightseeing. It was a great afternoon of exploring Suzhou, one that made me feel glad to be in China seeing things that you don't see every day.
Our first errand was to get the Dulwich Ball silent auction win (Marco's Year 1 class art project) put into a proper frame. Unfortunately our old reliable framing shop on Renmin Lu appears to have moved. Upon arrival at the shop, we found the building had been demolished and reduced to a pile of rubble ! I have been wishing I had stopped to take a picture of the rubble because it was startling. You will just have to imagine a good sized pile of rocks at the corner of a busy intersection and no frame shop anywhere in sight.
Next stop was a pottery shop to do some Christmas shopping. This was another strange experience, because as the shopkeeper showed us around the store, she kept stopping her commentary to issue a loud belch. She did this repeatedly. It was not subtle and Juliana asked me if I thought maybe the woman was sick.
The burping lady gave a recommendation for a nearby framing shop and we went there next and we helped by a nice man who smiled a lot and didn't burp once. The low cost of custom framing in Suzhou is remarkable. We had Marco's oil painting and one of Maria's crayon drawings custom framed for about $25.
Next was our sightseeing excursion to the Pan Men scenic area which includes a bit of the old city wall that used to surround Suzhou 2500 years ago. The Pan Men Gate is located in the southwest corner of downtown along the main canal and is surrounded by several old pagodas and some beautiful garden walks. I have posted a collection of pictures from the Pan Men gate on Snapfish. This was one of my favorite Suzhou garden experiences because the area was much larger than the others which allowed to stroll and wander for quite some time.
We finished off our Sunday excursions with a stop at the Holiland Bakery and a local flower shop where we picked up some items to bring home to Kathleen. I loved walking around the city and seeing the people, shops, and sights. I think, if we didn't have four kids with us, it would be a lot of fun to live in the city center rather than in the more sterile outskirts of SIP where our home is located. It was great to experience the convenience and diversity of the city streets.
Our first errand was to get the Dulwich Ball silent auction win (Marco's Year 1 class art project) put into a proper frame. Unfortunately our old reliable framing shop on Renmin Lu appears to have moved. Upon arrival at the shop, we found the building had been demolished and reduced to a pile of rubble ! I have been wishing I had stopped to take a picture of the rubble because it was startling. You will just have to imagine a good sized pile of rocks at the corner of a busy intersection and no frame shop anywhere in sight.
Next stop was a pottery shop to do some Christmas shopping. This was another strange experience, because as the shopkeeper showed us around the store, she kept stopping her commentary to issue a loud belch. She did this repeatedly. It was not subtle and Juliana asked me if I thought maybe the woman was sick.
The burping lady gave a recommendation for a nearby framing shop and we went there next and we helped by a nice man who smiled a lot and didn't burp once. The low cost of custom framing in Suzhou is remarkable. We had Marco's oil painting and one of Maria's crayon drawings custom framed for about $25.
Next was our sightseeing excursion to the Pan Men scenic area which includes a bit of the old city wall that used to surround Suzhou 2500 years ago. The Pan Men Gate is located in the southwest corner of downtown along the main canal and is surrounded by several old pagodas and some beautiful garden walks. I have posted a collection of pictures from the Pan Men gate on Snapfish. This was one of my favorite Suzhou garden experiences because the area was much larger than the others which allowed to stroll and wander for quite some time.
We finished off our Sunday excursions with a stop at the Holiland Bakery and a local flower shop where we picked up some items to bring home to Kathleen. I loved walking around the city and seeing the people, shops, and sights. I think, if we didn't have four kids with us, it would be a lot of fun to live in the city center rather than in the more sterile outskirts of SIP where our home is located. It was great to experience the convenience and diversity of the city streets.
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