After getting off the number 62 bus, just in case you are thinking of coming here yourself for a wee stroll, then from Suzhou it’s the number 62 bus that one needs. It will drop you in the heart of the town and of course you will run the gauntlet of desperate drivers looking for business and they only want 500 rmb, which is extortion by the way, to take you around. If I was you put on a good pair of shoes or jump on the local bus.

This is the sign telling us that we have 24 flights of steps ahead. They zig zag up the hill and just before you get to them you are walking through the many kumquat trees on your journey up the hill.

This is what pisses me off about China, most people drop their rubbish anywhere and every where and they have little respect about keeping the natural beauty just that. As I’ve said before they don’t hesitate when they drop their rubbish and this is the result, an unsightly mess in the middle of the wilderness. Two things I would love to see a change in here is this behaviour and the other is blasting car horns.If these two activities could be stopped then the country would be so much the better for it.

On Dongshan there is an old village which you can go into for a small fee but I don’t know how much it is because I sneaked in the back door. You can walk over the mountain and it’s about 6km or so and the path takes you up the 24 flights of steps to the main road which goes across the mountain. After walking along there for about a 1 km then you head off to the right and go up and over the rest of the hill and it will finally lead you through the tea plantations and into the rear of the village. When I arrived there was hardly any people about which is the way I like it.

After I arrived I had my lunch which I bought after getting off the bus. There is a supermarket and a small bakers where you can pick up supplies. I sat under a small pergoda and ate my Baozi and relaxed for about 40 mins and enjoyed the fresh air. My shirt is absolutely soaked through but today I brought a clean shirt with me to change into before I head home.

After lunch I left the village and walked a short distance along the road and along the side of the lake where I came across a fancy hotel on the left and then on the right near the lake there were many lotus flowers, which you will see all over the Suzhou region at this time of year.