Suzhou and Zhouzhuang water town

For my last day in the Shanghai area, I had booked an organised tour of Suzhou and a nearby water town. I was reminded of why I don't usually go for the guided tours and why I prefer self guided tours. While it was nice to have an English speaking guide that would answer my questions and offer insights during the visits, it was definitively annoying to have to follow the group. I always like to look around the corner to see what is going on and if there is another corner in sight, I also like to look what's going on around that corner! Having a strict itinerary to follow and a set path was definitively tough for me. The guide made it clear that if I left the group, I was on my own and that there would be no meeting points or any such thing. While I did see some of the main attractions in the towns I visited, I feel that I would have like to distribute the time differently. There's a temple of mystery in Suzhou that sounds like a hoot to visit but my guide didn't even know where it was and wouldn't make changes to allow me to visit it.

The day started with a bus ride to Suzhou. There was lots of traffic on the highways around Shanghai
The area around Shanghai is definitively booming! There's also a lot of constructions, both roadworks
and buildings
Our first attraction once we got to Suzhou was the Garden for Lingering In which is beautiful. This garden took 3 generations to build to its current state and features some very beautiful views for, well, relaxing and lingering around :)
There is also some entertainment in the form of live performances of traditional music
Beautiful paths for leisurely walks
A nice water plan
And some beautifully landscaped grounds
The rock formations are very interesting. Hard to believe that it is all naturally carved out by the water
The guide pointed this one out as being very precious and unique. One of three pieces of its length with the much sought after holes and elongated form. The other two are in Hangzhou and Shanghai.
Everything is beautifully architected in the traditional Chinese style and carvings are everywhere
I liked the inspiring signs here and there around the garden

Next up was the only remains of the city wall and gate. We spent roughly 5 minutes there which was no way enough for me to satisfy my curiosity.

I still managed a few pictures :)
Next up was this attraction where we spent way too much time: the Silk factory. Upon arrival, we were shuttled to an eating area where a below average meal (that we couldn't even choose, it was a set menu!) was served. We then visited the museum and I learned way more than I ever cared to about how silk is made.

From the larvae to the worms to the cocoon.
All the way to extracting the silk from the cocoons and making it into carpets or other garments.
There was even a demonstration of stretching to make silk comforters.
We were then led like sheeps to the hungry wolves with 25 minutes of shopping time in the souvenir shop. I couldn't leave the compound since it was accesible only from the tour bus as far as I could figure out. Good thing I had a book to read :)

The next leg of the trip was going to the water town.
This was definitively my favorite part of the day and where I felt the most rushed. I could have spent an entire day wandering the beautiful streets around the village
And admiring the beautiful waterways that criss cross the town
I took a million pictures here but nothing really gives justice to the peaceful and out of time feel of the village where boats are floating at a relaxed pace between the buildings.
And that is the very next thing our guide led us to!
Our friendly rower even sang us some traditional songs after a bit of encouragement in the form of a small tip. I was thankful he was a better rower than singer otherwise we may have ended up swimming the rest of the journey ;)
The boat ride did offer us a different view of this beautiful and peaceful haven
After the peaceful boat ride, we were rushed to the exit gate where we were given a whole 5 minutes to explore the market (no commissions here for the guide I guess so there's no point in spending too much time!)
I found this delicious looking treat that no one could describe the content, not even the guide!
Turns out it's kinda of a cross between corn chips and donuts. Sweet yet a bit salty. I love it.

Even with the 2 hours we spent in traffic, I was back in town for dinner which I had with Alex in a pleasant Tony G chain in the French Concession.