A Day in Suzhou

Though foreigners generally have never heard about Suzhou, it happens to be a huge tourist destination for Chinese people!  We ran into some major crowds today!  Even with all of the people we had tons of fun.  After we hit the Humble Administrator's Garden, I bought a real pearl necklace for 20 kuai then we crossed the street over to Pinjiang Road to walk along and enjoy the sights.

It ended up being a super touristy street, which was fun it its own way.

There were tons of different shops that were so hip, we felt like we were in Portland again.  There were also some cool restaurants, we ended up buying apple pie at a Danish bakery!  All of the workers were European, it was so weird!

The street was up against a little canal.  It was fun to watch people go by on little boats, with their tour guide singing to them!

We came to Suzhou today without really having a plan, so when we reached the end of the street, we sat down with a map to decide what to do.  We decided that all we wanted was some good night market food, then to go back to our hostel.  We hired a guy on a bike to take us to the other side of town.  It was spendier than other transportation options, but it was so fun!  It felt so nice to be out in the open air.  We really enjoyed it.

We felt bad when we went up hills.  The guy pressed on, though, and ended up pulling us part of the way!

It took us SO LONG to find this "night market" that I read about on a blog.  In fact, I don't know if we actually ever found it.  We definitely found a night-life full street with crowds comparable to Disneyland.  All we wanted was to eat food but people like to stop in the middle of walkways so no one can even move!  Bailey got hangry and I got anxious and eventually we stopped in the most random restaurant for some overpriced dumplings and noodles.

After eating we felt a little bit better and booked it out of that crowded place.  Wherever we were, I don't recommend it.

Back to the hostel it was!  I'm starting to like hostels because of the private room discovery.  For just a few dollars more, Bailey and I were in a private room with our own bathroom!  The bed was way bigger than the one in our apartment, and everything was pretty clean.  For $21 a night, I'll take it!

This hostel was a happenin' place, it turns out.  Shey and Petro made it to the hostel late at night after their daytime adventures, and we met up with them on the main floor where they serve fancy drinks and have live music.  Even though we just barely ate, of course Bailey and I had to buy the overpriced waffles and fruit.  It was fun to just sit with our friends and try to have a conversation while right next to the loud musicians!  It was a great way to end the night!