I do like walking and until I can source another mode of transport this is what I do. They have “Boris Bikes”here but I haven’t got myself a travel card yet that allows me to use them and to be honest the last time I used them I thought I had broken my knees. They are a wee bit small, I guess they’re designed for the Chinese form and not us lanky westerners. And by lanky I mean 176cm. That’s 5 feet 8 in in the old money. I would prefer to buy my own bike but I’m not sure how long I’m going to be here so I don’t want to spend $400 or $500 on a decent bike. So until I decide Shanks Pony it is.
There are other options but the only problem is that my Chinese is rubbish. Buses seem to go everywhere but it’s getting to know where they go. My guide Simon has been busy with work and I haven’t been able to get a lesson on how to work the local map system on my phone. As you know Google does not work here. I’m really not sure if it’s because the Chinese fell out with them or the fact that Google just seems to be way better in so many ways. Google maps and Google translate are great and i think more accurate than their Chinese counterparts. But until then I will need to learn more Chinese and also learn to read more of the characters.
So I went off on a different direction and my goal was Jinji Lake which I managed to find after the usual hiccup of going 180 degrees in the wrong direction. I’m not sure why this is happening? old age maybe, but I have my own theory which I have mentioned before but no harm in imparting this piece of wisdom once more. It goes like this, I was born in the northern hemisphere and so my internal compass is developed from birth. But I have lived almost half my life in the southern hemisphere and so my internal compass had adapted to life there. China is in the northern hemisphere but my internal compass is fighting against my location and getting confused and it always seems to be 180deg out. The same thing happened when I was in London but as long as I didn’t look at the map and just listened to instructions I was OK. Here because I have to look at the map my brain is getting it wrong, either that or it’s the onset of K.R.A.F.T.disease.
I made it to Jinji Lake.
Jinji Lake has been a part of Suzhou for a long long time but in recent years had been developed into a place of leisure and of course a place to live. When you walk around the lake you will spot many weird and wonderful statues or sculptures, in fact all over Suzhou you will find hidden gems.
There was even a Tally van
It is of course another oasis in this very large city. To be honest there are many places to go here Suzhou has a lot of choice and is quite a nice city. I haven’t been here quite two weeks yet and it’s been good to find a few places where I can escape the chaos of my neighbourhood. Maybe I’ll stay a bit longer. ….