After a surprisingly good night in the train we arrived in Suzhou around 10:15. This time we managed to find a taxi within 30 minutes, so the day started pretty good. Funny thing was that everybody remarked that our guide did not seem to be a morning-person, even when she really sleeps a lot!

After a well-deserved shower Christopher and I put our guides together (Lonely Planet + Rough Guide) in order to make a planning and to see as much as possible during our short stay.

We first took a small walk to see a temple with two small pagoda's, while we (un)intentionally saw another Buddhist temple on our way there.

On our way to a taxi I found out that a soft ice-cream is very soft at 38 degrees C, as it started melting after one second! After having limited the damage we took a cab to the Precious Belt Bridge, the longest bridge in Suzhou named after the belt containing diamonds that the owner sold in order to build the bridge.

Upon our arrival the entry gate was closed! After finding the responsible guard, our cool taxi driver managed to bribe him with a cigarette, so we had the time (until the cigarette was finished) to take pictures: Mission accomplished!

Next stop: Coiled gate, pagoda and another famous bridge. As was the case for the Big goose Pagoda, the gate is actually a complete park that also contains a 7-story pagoda that can be climbed. This park was really cool, and the view over the city, accompanied by the fresh breeze from the top of the pagoda made the visit more than worthwhile.

Before we had to go back to our hotel for the evening activity there was still time for one more activity. To prevent the disastrous waist of time by waiting for a cab, we took a "riskjah" (I'm not sure how that should be written). We were feeling very sorry for the poor guy that rode the bike in the blistering heat, so we gave him a big tip after transporting us 500 meters. After this we took a taxi to the Humble Administrator's garden, the biggest and supposedly one of the most famous gardens in Suzhou.

It must be said that these gardens were really very impressive!

After another quick shower we had to leave for our evening activity, which was the evening show at the "Master of the Nets" garden. The show consists actually of different performances, such as dancing, singing and making music in the different pavilions of this complex that consists of a number of small gardens. Also this was really cool!

The rest of the evening/ night featured a massage and some drinks in the local pubs as a good preparation for Shanghai, where we will go tomorrow!