Tuesday, October 5, 2010

#336 Wuxi Tourist Trap

Day two of our week off, we did some sightseeing in Wuxi. This is town that I now work in, though I have never actually been to the city. Our office is in an industrial park near the freeway and I have never ventured outside the office.

There is one famous sight in Wuxi - the giant golden Budda in the hills overlooking Taihu Lake. This was our first stop of the day, and we stayed only briefly because the entry fee to the park was over $30 per person. Since it is a national holiday (and China has a billion people), there were hoardes of people queueing up to buy these incredibly overpriced tickets. We decided to settle for a picture from the parking lot rather than part with the cash for six tickets.

Next we sought out a city park called Xihui Yuan which offers a simple hike to a view of Taihu and downtown Wuxi. This made for a nice family activity, though there was also a pretty high ticket price to get into this city park. With the gate fee and a one way ticket down the cable car, it cost our family $40 for this simple activity. So my advice to China travelers, Wuxi is an overpriced tourist trap !

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