Mr Hughes' Blog - Day 9

Day nine:

Everyone is a lot more relaxed now and a little tiredness is starting to show in everyone. After breakfast and with everyone in good spirits we caught the 128 bus in to Suzhou city. Although still very cheap at 3 Yuan for a 20 – 25 minute bus ride (including congestion in the city centre) this bus became very full after we had all got on, and the ride was not a comfortable one. We got off in the city centre and headed for the Gardens of the Humble Administrator. This is one of the World Heritage Sites like Stonehenge, and is an intricate maze of designed gardens. It was a honey trap for tourists, full of Chinese with their compact digital cameras snapping away at everything they could see. It was a beautiful location, but their were far too many people for us to cope with given the rigours of the previous 7 days, and the heat and humidity.

Dr Hughes quickly found us a quieter, air-conditioned and far more pleasant place in the Suzhou museum. We settled into their tea shop and enjoyed a variety of fruit juices, coffees and green tea; the last served in the most amazingly delicate glass teapot. Dr Hughes and I both had dried plums which had an intense flavour hit, but which took quite a lot of enamel off your teeth as you prised the fruit from the stone. Then we went into the shop where there was a wide selection of good quality Chinese gifts to buy and where I spent quite a lot of money. I can’t tell you what I spent it on as my family read this blog.

We then went to a temple which rose up about 6 levels. The views were great although visibility was poor due to the very high humidity and the pollution. This was followed by a trip to the nearby Silk Museum where we spent more money.

Finally after a hot and dusty wait for a number 128 bus we journeyed home. In the congestion it took a lot longer and it was even more packed. We had our evening meal in the hotel and went to bed thinking about an early breakfast before we visited Shanghai the following day.