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...