Drive My Car

Here's one fact that tells you something about how the Chinese government feels about the USA: It costs three times more for an American to obtain a Chinese visa than a national from just about any other country.

With valuable visas gleaming, we made our second trip to China on Friday, June 17. Our friends Maggie and Chris from Hong Kong now live in Suzhou, China, about two hours from Shanghai. Suzhou is billed as the "Venice of the East" because of its many canals. Since we won't be getting back to Italy as we thought we might in our tenth anniversary year, China was the logical runner up! Maggie is pregnant and due October 7 (a great birth date) so we chose to visit before baby hi-jinks ensue.

It's a 5.5 hour flight from Singapore to Shanghai and we arrived in the afternoon, greeted by Mrs. Wu. Maggie and Chris have a car and driver, without which navigating the streets of Suzhou and Shanghai would be unfathomable. Maggie had sent me a pre-arrival email saying that the driver would meet us at the airport holding a sign. She said, "Her name is Mrs. Wu and she'll take good care of you." And there was Mrs. Wu, ready to whisk us away to the city in the comfort of a minivan. It was a long slow drive into the city through the rain, but being met and driven made everything so much easier. You know, they speak Chinese everywhere over there?!

M&C met us at the hotel in Shanghai. After dropping off the luggage, we headed out together to Yuyuan (Yu Garden), a sprawling historical site of gardens, ponds, "rockeries," pavilions, halls, courtyards and of course shops and food stalls (including 2 Dairy Queens). It was raining so we didn't get to fully appreciate the gardens. We did get to drink soup through a straw from giant dumplings though. Mrs. Wu went home for the day so to return to the hotel we had to negotiate for a cab in the rain, not an easy feat. But the cab driver we nabbed gave us his card which came in handy later when we had an even harder time getting a cab outside the hotel en route to dinner. Of course, his price went up in those few hours but it was worth it.

Chris chose Yunan cuisine at Lost Heaven. We had a reservation but we still had to wait at the bar upstairs. It was a pretty cool atmosphere, though the service was, let's say, unpolished. We were waiting long enough that we decided to order some spring rolls. A waiter said he was checking on our table availability, but when Chris finally went down and asked on his own, the table had been waiting for us. Our spring rolls still hadn't arrived so we wanted to pay for the drinks and proceed downstairs, but as we tried to pay, the waiter stalled so that the spring rolls then appeared. We asked if they could be brought downstairs and he agreed, and handed Maggie the dish. You had to walk through an open courtyard to reach the stairs. It was an upscale place; it shouldn't have been so hard to understand that we didn't care to carry the spring rolls ourselves to our table downstairs while walking through the pouring rain. But it's China, hence it was difficult. Once the waiter begrudgingly agreed to escort our spring rolls and we shook off the weirdness of the wait, we had some excellent food and a very enjoyable dinner.

After dinner, we walked a few blocks on The Bund and across a bridge to Vue, a panoramic bar in the Hyatt boasting fantastic views of the city. Shanghai is notoriously hazy and polluted and with the added rain and fog, we had to take our hosts' word that there were skyscrapers out there. It was a tease to see only the lower third of Shanghai's modern skyline, but it was impressive still.

Saturday morning Mrs. Wu drove us to Taikang Lu in the French Concession, not far from the hotel. It's an artsy enclave that recently developed from a residential area that dates to the 1930's. Trendy cafes, coffee shops, art galleries and craft stores nestle amongst local residents' homes and their everyday items like washing and kitchenware and electric cables. It was a great area worth exploring. We ate a good breakfast at Kommune, a coffee shop on a cobblestone alley. The rain started pouring again as we finished the last few smoothie gulps and we had to escape with umbrellas into nearby shops. We wandered a bit but I would have surely returned to this area if we had been in Shanghai longer and if the weather was more hospitable. Unfortunately we missed some good photo opportunities because it was just too much to wrangle a camera with an umbrella.

On our way out of Shanghai we went to the Jade Buddha Temple. More rain. Then we made our way to Suzhou with Mrs. Wu. In need of an afternoon snack, we went to a little gem called Yaba where we filled our grateful bellies with the region's specialty dumplings. These were slightly different from the many other varieties we've had. They're called shengjian: soup-filled and pan fried, some sesame seeds and chives sprinkled on top; they are delicious. Maggie said that there's normally a queue out the door but we were there late in the afternoon so it wasn't as crowded. Paul had a minor fumble and accidentally knocked a few dumplings on the floor. One of the staff unexpectedly and very generously came and replaced the whole plate of eight. Paul later tried to pay for them but without any English, the kind man indicated that a smile was payment enough.

We continued with the Suzhou experience at Pingjiang Lu, a charming pedestrian street alongside a canal in "Old Town." We strolled in the rain and then settled in at a cozy tea house. After a relaxing break we went to another part of the old town, Shan Tang Jie, another scenic pedestrian street along the water. We walked around until dark and then we took a boat ride on the canal. Winding down the day, we ate dinner at one of M&C's favorite spots, Bashu. We tried some rabbit legs and some frog and some other "normal" dishes like spicy chicken and cucumbers. I could go for another rabbit leg!

We finally landed at M&C's door in Suzhou Industrial Park. They have a spacious apartment in a high-rise with a view of Jinji Lake. I got to see Baxter and Lily again, the cats I used to check up on when their parents were traveling, back in the days of being J Residence neighbors in HK.  I'll flatter myself and say they remembered me.

On Sunday morning, Maggie made us a hearty breakfast and we took it easy. And... no rain today!!! Under a gray but dry sky we visited The Humble Administrator's Garden, the largest in Suzhou. Guides tout their services at the entrance and Chris agreed to an English-speaking guide named Andrew. He turned out to be knowledgeable and affable, if a little hard to understand. The garden, with a long history originating with the Tang Dynasty, was very pretty, and of course it was crowded (it's China) but not uncomfortably so.

We ate a quick lunch at Yang Yang where we had another Suzhou specialty, sweet and sour fish. Apparently this place is recommended by Lonely Planet. I didn't know they made it out to Suzhou! After lunch we all indulged in massages at Dragonfly Spa. Inexpensive massages has to be one of my favorite things about living in Asia (minus Singapore; nothing's cheap here). Our laid back day ended with some steaks grilled on the BBQ at home.

Chris went off to work Monday morning and Maggie went to her Chines language class while we borrowed Mrs. Wu to go to Zhouzhuang Water Village, a well-preserved 900-year-old town surrounded by rivers and lakes. We didn't hire a guide on this outing, but we happily ambled on our own through the winding water lanes and over the arched stone bridges. We took another boat ride through the canals while glimpsing everyday life lived along the water. The town was more authentically preserved than Pingjiang Lu yet also more touristy.

We were driven back to meet Maggie at home and then we headed out together to Tiger Hill. Here we saw Huqiu Tower or the Tiger Hill Pagoda... also know as The Leaning Tower of China. It does indeed share the peculiar quality of the more famous tower in Pisa, though it predates it.

We met Chris for dinner at Li Gong Di, a modern leisure spot on the other side of Jinji Lake. We ate at a German restaurant after walking along the lake for awhile. Back at home, the days and nights of eating and sightseeing caught up to us and we all hit the pillows pretty early.

In the morning we said farewell to Chris before he left for work and then to Maggie. Mrs. Wu drove us back to Shanghai where we decided we would spend our last few hours before heading to the airport. It was gray but not yet raining when we got there so we walked along The Bund. We hoped to go up to the Shanghai World Financial Center for a bird's eye view of the city but with the cloud cover, it would have been the view of an unfortunately near-sighted bird. We couldn't even make out the distinctive building's outline along the landscape.

We had lunch at M on The Bund, a relation to M at The Fringe, which was a wonderful restaurant in HK. It was decent but not as good as HK's M. We could see from the window that the clouds, rather than lifting, descended lower as we ate. The rain started as well. So we began and ended our Shanghai visit with rain. The rain became heavier as we made our way to the car for our last escorted drive to the airport. Somehow, we arrived early yet our flight was delayed, eventually by three hours, so it was a long journey home.

Shanghai seemed like a really interesting city to spend time in. Too bad it rained so much that we didn't get around as easily as we might have. Suzhou had some unexpected attractions. It's obviously a rapidly developing, modern, industrial city representative of China's phenomenal growth and increase in wealth. The endless high rise housing complexes aren't exactly a beautiful sight, but there is beauty within. We saw the largest of the gardens but there are many throughout the city. You know you're in China, yet there is a mix of people as well as a mix of old and new and a decidedly suburban atmosphere. Maybe it's the WalMart.

Maggie and Chris adapt well and they have a good life in Suzhou. We were happy to see this part of China, and the world, that would not have been on our radar if friends hadn't moved there. Though upon concluding our second trip to China, I remain grateful that we've lived in Hong Kong and Singapore - Asia Lite - compared to mainland China. I think I'm simply too timid to live among so many millions of people who shout a lot and who negotiate the price of everything (and who eat a lot of things I can't identify nor want to).

A driver certainly helps! Having Mrs. Wu transport us nearly everywhere was a huge advantage. In our four days there, we saw two serious car wrecks. Thanks, Mrs. Wu, for delivering us safely and thanks to Maggie and Chris for lending us her service.

Most importantly we got to spend time with our friends. Always warm, generous and enthusiastic, they were even more gracious hosts than we could have hoped for.