My new digs are at Zhongnan Jie which is very different from where I have been living. There are wide tree lined roads with a geometric layout, you can see that this side of the city has been planned and not just developed from scratch rather than redeveloping and area. I’m also right next to a raised road which is one of the main ring roads in Suzhou.

This is not good, the noise and more importantly the pollution that comes from this road both in the form of noise and fumes is quite bad. I walked to the other side of the road yesterday to go to a park and you can taste the air and it’s foul. I’m sure most people that live here will have breathing problems or some kind of lung disease. Another bad thing about this location is it’s not only one road that you have to contend with, there is one underneath too.

The tower block that I am in is only 18 floors, but I am almost surrounded by these monster 33 storey buildings. Great view but don’t fancy living all the way up here, especially after what happened in the UK at Grenfell. I’m on the 4th floor so I have a great view of the raised road and can watch the traffic go by when I’m having a shower, but if I can’t see it I can always hear it.

This gated community I am in is very large, I’m not too sure how many buildings are in it, but there must be thousands of people live here. There is a lot of security and you need to have a pass to enter and leave the complex. There are plenty of shops and convenience stores around of course the all important restaurants and yesterday I found a Muslim restaurant so I am happy that I can buy some tasty food. I was also surprised to find out that it was a little cheaper than my last place but I don’t think it is as tasty.

The house is comfortable and quite large so it feels good to have space. My hosts told me that when they bought this place 3 years ago it was 9,000 rmb per m2 and now it’s over 25,000 per m2.

My room has a double bed and the bed is rock hard, but I sleep like a log. Thankfully the house is double glazed but the noise still seeps through. At night it’s quite quiet but once the day starts that’s it, but then again I am living beside a very busy ring road.

The metro station is about a 20 minute walk which is OK when there is no rain. There are free city bikes at the west gate which I can take to the station which cuts the time a bit.

So I’m here or another 5 weeks and then it’s on to a more nomadic life for a few months hopefully. It feels a bit strange to be saying good bye to China but I do want to get away from the teaching and Suzhou for a while. I do know that I do not want to live in this side of town and especially next to a busy main road.