Today we did nothing! Karron wasn't feeling so well so after breakfast we sat on the bed and watched about 3 films! The Goonies, (2nd time) American Outlaws (quite good) and another that I can't even remember the name of! Later on we went to a Japanese restaurant near the train station for dinner - it was really nice. Was sad to lose a day like this but Karron really didn't feel up to going out. Ah well, it has been a very busy trip so I guess some R&R time i...

We met our Shanghai guide Lily at 9.30 this morning. The Jade Buddha Temple First stop was The Jade Buddha Temple. Whilst very similar to the other buddhist temples we have visited over the last couple of weeks, it seemed more compact with lots squeezed in to a relatively small area. We were lucky enough to see a group of Buddhist monks praying with a family who most have recently lost an important relative. Apparently it is very expensive to have the monks tak...

We left Suzhou today on the 11.07 high speed train to shanghai and amazingly got there at about 11.48! This time we reached speeds of 302 km/h which is over 187 mp/h! The Chinese really do have the 'let the train take the strain' strap line (as used by British Rail) nailed. Once outside the train station, we could see our Hotel - The Holiday Inn Downtown (The Great Wall Wing). It stands very tall looking down on the large square in front of the train station. Lo...

This morning we met our guide 'Deng' and went on our first rickshaw ride through the backstreets of the city. A Rickshaw to Market There were a lot of very small shops housing individual businesses such as jade craftsmen and fan makers but also I noticed some had more regular businesses like paint sellers and very tiny eating houses and barbers. The traffic done these side streets was still quite hair raising at times because whilst there was no where near as ...

Arrival in Suzhou We arrived in Suzhou on the train today at about midday. Although I slept most of the way, when I did look up I could see from the led display at the front of the carriage we where in that we were traveling at mega speeds. Karron said she saw it go up to 293 kph which is 182 mph! The Bamboo Grove Hotel The hotel lobby and lakes outside are gorgeous. The room is less gorgeous. How weird this country is. The outside landscaping and the lobby of...