Lazy morning, dumplings for brunch.

Headed to the station nice and early because I was not sure where to go but as it turns out it’s less than 20 mins from my hotel room.

Through the priority check to enter the station and then same again to board the train. This foreigner malarkey is great. Because you only need to show your passport after buying the ticket online and it has to be manually processed so it’s to the front of the queue almost every time.

I was one of six that strolled in late and onto the train first, I’m liking this very much.

So I arrived at the museum for the second time and went to see the happy folk in the ticket office. I was told to go to line one and I was in. In front of me at the counter was a young foreigner who discovered that he too should have bought a ticket online as they were sold out once more for today. I was going to give him some information that I had gleaned but he was gone.

So so busy, but you have to expect this. Pushing and shoving. Tour groups everywhere, everyone of them talking over the other. Huddling around the displays trying to get the best angle and as usual very few look at the object in the glass case. It’s click click and move on, but that’s what the Chinese do, they would rather look at life through the phone.

In the process of getting the money shot you have to hold your ground and push others back. They try to get in your viewfinder and age is no limit. The look on those little faces when you don’t move and sometimes you might just happen to stand on their toes, oh it is priceless. One of the few pleasures one gets at these places, oh of course the exhibits are not bad too. The little princess’s and prince’s don’t seem to understand what is happening when you don’t let them win.

At the other end of the scale are the old buggers like me and they are just as bad, but they too got the same treatment. It’s never too late to learn me thinks. No quarter I say 😋

This museum holds an absolute amazing collection from a culture that is so so different to anything, well here in China at least. There is a resemblance to South American civilisations like the Aztec and Myans, not the Chinese. They could well be alien. As with many ancient civilisations we don’t really know how they made many of the objects left behind, we can only surmise and I often feel that the so called experts are barking up the wrong tree. Some of the jade on display is simple to look at but the quality of the machining again is exquisite. Even today jade is one of the most difficult stones to work and when you see it in its raw form you can only stand with your mouth open and be in awe of what lies before you.

And let me just say again here, almost every Chinese person here today fighting to get that all important picture of one of the most intriguing cultures in history spends less time than it takes to blink before studying the picture and then posting it onto social media. Reality for them is not real and seems very unimportant.

I’ve wanted to come here for years and I’m so glad that I got in here today. Being the weekend I knew it would be busy but as I said I had a bit of fun on the way.

If you come to Chengdu I would give the Panda’s a rubber ear and come to Sanxingdui….. You will not be disappointed.

And don’t forget to buy your train tickets in advance, buy both ways and get your museum tickets too, they can be bought up to five days in advance.

The incredible Bronze Tree.

Thank goodness for Shadowrocket VPN, the only vpn that works almost every time. There are over 700 proxies and they are updated every day. I’m using the free version but when I get home and I can check all the in’s and outs I might just have to give up my paid version of Surfshark because in China it has been useless.

Of mice and men or in my case a rat, plans sometimes just fall in a heap, as did my plans today.

I did not research this enough. I forgot what Lydia had told me about managing my ticket, what she meant was to buy it in advance and I didn’t.

I got the number 80 bus to the north bus station where I would catch the bus to Sanxingdui, but when I got there I was told there were no more tickets. Not a good sign, am omen maybe?

As I checked the map for an alternative location I was told that they could fit me in, Great!

The driving was shit as usual and took nearly two hours to cover 50kms. I tried to buy an early train ticket but missed out but I did buy a return for the 15:00 train. I’m currently sitting in the train station and I’ll be here for about an hour before the train arrives and it will still be quicker than this morning.

When we finally arrived we all headed to the museum and to my horror there were no tickets left. 😜👻😲😭

I’ve spent nearly three hours to get here only to find that there are no tickets. FUCK!! In fact the only reason I came to Chengdu was to go to Sanxingdui.

It’s 10km to the train station and I begin to walk. I reach the town centre after an hour of walking and have lunch. I had intended to walk to the station but after lunch I called a Didi and headed here early.

There are only afternoon tickets left for tomorrow and no train tickets and I am not going to sit in a bus for three hours each way to come back and see this very special place that I have been longing to see because I just couldn’t handle the bus .

So let that be a lesson to you all…… Do your research in advance so you don’t end up like me…. All dressed up and no where to go 🙄

Onto the next part of the journey, heading to the west of China to visit a few places on the to do list.

A very quiet morning in the house. I took quite some time trying to pack up all my gear whilst trying to keep the weight down so that I don’t have any trouble getting on the plane. My next flight in a weeks time might be the challenge due to the baggage allowance being less. Sissi still had one of my cases packed and bulging which she will send to my hotel in Guangzhou. I should be OK for the Australian flight, it’s just the other domestic one that could be a problem.

I really didn’t realise just how much stuff I had here in Suzhou.

Sissi drove me to the train station and managed to hold it together better than me for a change. I am sure it won’t be 4 years before we see each other again, I hope not.

As we were leaving she was taking pictures of the apartment and I asked her what she was doing and she answered that she was preparing an advert for my room to get a new flat mate 😁 No hanging about with this young lady.

The staff at the station were very helpful, I got through first because they need to scan the passport manually and then one of the older guys escorted me down to the platform and taking one of my bags with him. I’m keeping the beard, it works wonders here 😜

She was going to an interview after she dropped me off and she’s told me since that they have invited her to go into the office tomorrow to get a better idea of what is on offer. Great news 👍

The train takes less than half an hour to get to Shanghai and then it’s a twenty minute walk to the terminal, no rush because the flight has been delayed by an hour.

I opted for a hamburger for lunch and a black coffee and then topped up with the bread that I bought from 85C last night.

It’s sad to say goodbye to friends but I’m really looking forward to the next two weeks, I’ll keep you posted.

I’m not a fan of domestic flights here, nobody pays the slightest bit of attention to the crew. Phones are never put into flight mode. At any one time you can search for WiFi and you’ll find someone’s IPhone transmitting happily to the ether, there is no connection of course but it’s just that the Chinese never seem to do what they are told. And phones begin to chime as we get closer to landing and then half the plane is chatting to someone.

A common thing here is for folk to cut in front of you and today I nearly took off several pairs of ankles as I pushed me trolley through the terminal giving no quarter. Luckily for them they reconsidered and allowed me to continue on my merry way.

I really don’t want confrontation but if they are stupid enough to think I’m going to stop when I technically have right of way they have another thing coming.

The rain was pissing down before we left and then it was turbulence for a while until we smoothed off after about an hour. Looking forward to getting to my hotel and putting my feet up and having some good WiFi.

I went for a stroll this morning, I followed the bus route of the 117 because when I got tired I could take it to my destination. My second last day in Suzhou, with Sissi and I’m sure the next 24 hours are not going to be the best.

After about 40 mins I was feeling very hungry but as I was going for lunch I didn’t want to eat, however coffee was always on the menu. A small cafe at the end of row of shops opposite McDonald’s, very quaint and to my surprise they were selling Bundeberg Lemon and Lime…I haven’t even seen these in Australia.

I got a Flat White, just in case the black coffee was too bitter. The coffee here I find is usually on the bitter side. My coffee was smooth and very delicious, it’s a pity I find it on my last day here.

Young Bobo came to the house today and made lunch. Very reminiscent of Lanzhou Lamian兰州拉面

Large flat noodles made by hand and then boiled for a few minutes before adding the amazing home made sauce and spices that make this food so delicious. It’s quite the art to make this food. Sissi and Wenzi made the dumplings while I sat back and supervised the whole operation 🤔

A one of a kind I guess, this temple is for a king, this temple is different because it’s red and not the traditional yellow mustard colour.

This Buddhist Temple is I believe for Taoist practioners. It is very familiar to the untrained eye and that’s me of course, however it is different and apart from the decoration and main colour red I am unable to explain… Sorry!

But in saying that I believe it’s because it was built specifically for the Emperor and he decided to make a few aesthetic changes, and the results are amazing.

A lovely quiet place on the outskirts of Suzhou city near Yangcheng Lake which is well worth the visit to see another aspect of life.

One more week to go before I leave Suzhou, well five days really. I’m definitely ready to move on. I don’t feel my life is my own at the moment.

Today we’re going to Lili water town for the night. Sissi had organised a trip with four other friends and I’m tagging along. I’ll be the thorn in amongst the roses as the others are all girls, so I’m expecting me ears to be bleeding by the end of the day.

There is however a fascinating museum down there and it’s called the 6 Arts Museum which is a very good place to go to immerse yourself in a very eclectic mix of furniture and architecture.

Next Morning.

We arrived in one piece despite the rotten weather. It’s cold and wet but the old water town just takes on a different character in the rain. When we arrived we wandered around taking many pictures of course, selfies and artistic wonders.

Dinner was not good for me at all and I was very glad that I paid a visit to the bakery on the way here. Chicken feet, cow intestines, spicy chicken with bones are not really my favourite foods, but I did say to the others that they should order what they wanted and not to worry about me and I guess they did 😀

I did have rice and a few veges and then I had my bread when I went back to my room where I was able to connect to YouTube finally and so I watched a few of my channels before going to bed listening to the dulcet tones of Tony Blackburn. It’s the simple pleasures that make all the difference.

The Hotel

It was very nice and comfortable and the WiFi was really good, it’s not the kind of place you expect to find in a small place like this.

One problem of this lovely architecture is that due to the rain being so heavy last night it sounded as if I was sleeping next to a waterfall. The rain coming through the open roof and falling into the pond below went from a soothing to disaster movie soundtrack.

The only place that had taken details of my passport, mind you it has always done this. There was A Chinese Embroidery collection along with traditional paintings, some of which were interesting but for the most part the embroidery was far more spectacular.

After here I headed to Yipu garden before heading back home. The garden is only small and because of today being a holiday it was fairly busy with many dressed up in traditional clothing to have their pictures taken. It seems like a common fad just about everywhere you go these days.

Another mountain nearby Suzhou. Sissi’s boss wanted to show us this place and then onto Dongshan where she has her home. The mountain was very busy because there is a three day holiday for the Qingming Festival or it’s sometimes known as Tomb Sweeping Day. The paths on this mountain have all been constructed and sometimes steps have been carved out of the rocks to create a series of steps. I guess this means you can go in any weather but I much prefer to walk on a natural path.

The climb was easy compared to Lingyanshan, the only saving grace I guess was that the rocks had some interesting shapes and many had very old traditional characters engraved on them, although I have no idea what was being said but the designs were very interesting.

It was a very short stay here and then we headed to Dongshan once more, I used to like going here but I feel that I’ve seen way too much of it this time through other folks eyes and my more simple approach is far more appealing I feel. I’m very grateful of course for being chauffeured and dined and it can be quite the experience but I’m feeling a little bit worn out.

The Boss’s house is very nice, an old traditional home with large gardens filled with all the usual characteristics with the main feature being the large pond filled with many large gold fish and the like. A great place to escape the chaos of the outside world and as we sat there drinking tea and having a snack with the sun on my back I was very much at peace.

I would have liked to have gone home after that respite but I didn’t realise that this was going to be a full day experience. We moved next door to a restaurant/bar which is another business that the Boss owns. We sat at a very large dining table and were served with many local dishes, apart from seafood thankfully. Sissi had mentioned that I was not a lover of food of an aquatic nature and they had been kind enough to leave that off the menu, however what we received was very delicious.

By 7pm I was almost falling asleep and I had had enough. The Boss took us home and it took about an hour, mind you there were some interesting and sometimes scary decisions being made. 15 minutes after arriving home I had washed my face and cleaned ma wallies and I was off to find the land of nod, which I found fairly quickly.