APRIL 9, 2007
Our good friends, Rich and Magali Easley, live in Suzhou which is a little over an hour west of Shanghai. Rich is a former coworker of both Randy and I, and Randy, Vance, and Rich go WAY back (don't worry, guys .... I won't divulge any secrets). We thought that a visit to Suzhou would be a grand thing while Vance was visiting as he is also a longtime friend and coworker of ours.
David Gray accompanied us on our first visit to Suzhou. We met Rich and Magali at their apartment in what is known as Suzhou Industrial Park (or the SIP, as the locals call it). Suzhou itself is a very ancient city also known as Pearl City or also the Venice of Asia due to it being built on a lake and having many creeks and canals running through it. The six of us departed the apartment complex and went to the Drunken Chef, an English Pub, for lunch and a little billiards for the guys. I believe Rich has found a "home away from home" as he is on a first name basis with the owner. Good food, large portions, English menu .... AND a pool table. What's not to love?
We were met there by the plant manager for ADS, Lifeng Wang, and we all left for a little shopping. Shopping in Suzhou is a bit more of a relaxing event than in Shanghai. Suzhou has a population of (only) 6 million (as opposed to Shanghai's 20 million plus) and seems to be a bit less frenzied. There are lovely shops, and the vendors are not quite as "in your face" as in Shanghai. But dickering is welcome, and the deals are just as sweet. Randy purchased a Polo all-weather jacket (and surprised us all by finding his size ... larger sized men don't usually find much to fit in China).
Eventually, we strolled to an area that was basically a shopping mall built around an old Temple. The Temple is still in use as a place of worship. There were large pits burning incense, and tall wrought iron "trees" holding candles where a few folks were lingering and praying. We picked up a few items for the apartment ... a large paper fan, a smaller sandalwood fan, four embroidered framed pictures, and some scrolled wall hangings. We aren't allowed to put any holes in our apartment walls so we are restricted to lightweight items that we can hang with semi-permanent adhesive hangers. The white walls of our apartment will be a bit more cheerful with a little local flavor added to them.
Dinner was Lifeng's treat at a Chinese restaurant lakeside. The lake seems to be newly developed, and there is a beautiful walkway with lots of new restaurants on either side. The lighting along this walkway is traditional, over-the-top, wonderland style (think Disneyland at Christmas time) with beautiful bridges and landscaping appointing the area. At the restaurant, we all sat around a large round table (which is the traditional Chinese custom) and Lifeng ordered for the group. All the food was traditional Chinese, some cold vegetables, some hot meals prepared in various traditional Chinese style, a soup, and of course steamed rice. Dessert was fresh fruit.
Something worth mentioning is that as the food was served, a large platter of chicken was placed in front of me. In China, one simply uses the chopsticks and grabs a piece of whatever is desired from any platter on the table. There is a small plate for bones, shells, etc. but other than a small bowl for soup, there is no dinner plate per se. I grabbed a piece of chicken off the platter in front of me and put it in my mouth to take a bite. Immediately, I noticed that it was very hard, and mostly bone, so I spit it back onto my plate (again, perfectly OK in China, they are constantly spitting out bones, shells, and seeds even while conversing). Upon further inspection of the morsel, I realized I'd managed to grab the head of the chicken!! It looked like a regular piece of meat (no feathers or eyeballs or anything), but yep, there was no mistaking it ... it was the head, beak and all. I leaned over and whispered to Randy, "I think I've got the chicken head on my plate!" He looked. Yep, he agreed ... that was indeed the head. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to continue the meal with this chicken looking at me so Randy rescued me by scooping it up, putting on his plate, and placing another plate on top of that so nobody would notice it (hopefully). OK, deep breath ... let's see. Ah, yes ... rice looks like a safe bet!!
Our next visit to Suzhou the next weekend was a bit more relaxed. David departed for his native Scotland on Saturday morning, so Vance, Randy and I headed back to Suzhou for more fun with Rich and Magali. We started out at Drunken Chef again ... lunch and a few games of pool. The guys decided to give the pool a break and we took a tour of Lingering Gardens, one of the many gardens for public viewing in Suzhou. Suzhou is known not only for canals and pearls, but also for it's lovely gardens, and was highly recommended as a great place for a springtime stroll.
Lingering Gardens is the former residence of a local Chinese official from the Qing Dynasty. Obviously, this guy was one important dude because this residence is HUGE. Instead of a separate room for eating, sleeping, entertaining, doing business, etc., there was a separate BUILDING for each of these events, as well as quarters for all the staff it must have required to keep this place going. It was full of beautiful Chinese antiques, calligraphy, and statuary, as well as beautiful gardens and ponds full of big red and white carp. The really incredible thing about these gardens though was the bonsai. I don't know a LOT about bonsai, but I DO know that the larger the stem or trunk of a plant, the older it is. Some of these bonsai plants had to be over a hundred years old. And they had managed to bonsai innumerable varieties in every shape and size imaginable (and some I hadn't imagined). It was very interesting. We had a great time walking through the residence, the gardens and stone pathways, and taking lots of photographs.
After the gardens, we went to another local establishment near the lake for more drinks and pool playing. I enjoyed chatting and getting to know Magali better while the guys shared a nostalgic afternoon from days of all being on the same pool league when they were young guys at Kaumagraph. Rich had selected this particular place as it was very close to where a great water fountain and laser light show took place at the water's edge every weekend. Rich announced that it was time for the show, and wouldn't you know, it started pouring rain. Well, undaunted we pushed on. Rich knew of a place where we could watch under cover, and we saw much of an incredible show of water fountains, music, lasers and lights, fireworks, and shooting flames ... quite the spectacular event!
Once the show was over, we enjoyed a few rounds of Liar's Poker punctuated by shots of tequila for the losers of each round before calling it a wonderful day and heading back to Shanghai. It was one of the those days when we were very grateful for our driver, Shao, who takes very good care of us.
David Gray accompanied us on our first visit to Suzhou. We met Rich and Magali at their apartment in what is known as Suzhou Industrial Park (or the SIP, as the locals call it). Suzhou itself is a very ancient city also known as Pearl City or also the Venice of Asia due to it being built on a lake and having many creeks and canals running through it. The six of us departed the apartment complex and went to the Drunken Chef, an English Pub, for lunch and a little billiards for the guys. I believe Rich has found a "home away from home" as he is on a first name basis with the owner. Good food, large portions, English menu .... AND a pool table. What's not to love?
We were met there by the plant manager for ADS, Lifeng Wang, and we all left for a little shopping. Shopping in Suzhou is a bit more of a relaxing event than in Shanghai. Suzhou has a population of (only) 6 million (as opposed to Shanghai's 20 million plus) and seems to be a bit less frenzied. There are lovely shops, and the vendors are not quite as "in your face" as in Shanghai. But dickering is welcome, and the deals are just as sweet. Randy purchased a Polo all-weather jacket (and surprised us all by finding his size ... larger sized men don't usually find much to fit in China).
Eventually, we strolled to an area that was basically a shopping mall built around an old Temple. The Temple is still in use as a place of worship. There were large pits burning incense, and tall wrought iron "trees" holding candles where a few folks were lingering and praying. We picked up a few items for the apartment ... a large paper fan, a smaller sandalwood fan, four embroidered framed pictures, and some scrolled wall hangings. We aren't allowed to put any holes in our apartment walls so we are restricted to lightweight items that we can hang with semi-permanent adhesive hangers. The white walls of our apartment will be a bit more cheerful with a little local flavor added to them.
Dinner was Lifeng's treat at a Chinese restaurant lakeside. The lake seems to be newly developed, and there is a beautiful walkway with lots of new restaurants on either side. The lighting along this walkway is traditional, over-the-top, wonderland style (think Disneyland at Christmas time) with beautiful bridges and landscaping appointing the area. At the restaurant, we all sat around a large round table (which is the traditional Chinese custom) and Lifeng ordered for the group. All the food was traditional Chinese, some cold vegetables, some hot meals prepared in various traditional Chinese style, a soup, and of course steamed rice. Dessert was fresh fruit.
Something worth mentioning is that as the food was served, a large platter of chicken was placed in front of me. In China, one simply uses the chopsticks and grabs a piece of whatever is desired from any platter on the table. There is a small plate for bones, shells, etc. but other than a small bowl for soup, there is no dinner plate per se. I grabbed a piece of chicken off the platter in front of me and put it in my mouth to take a bite. Immediately, I noticed that it was very hard, and mostly bone, so I spit it back onto my plate (again, perfectly OK in China, they are constantly spitting out bones, shells, and seeds even while conversing). Upon further inspection of the morsel, I realized I'd managed to grab the head of the chicken!! It looked like a regular piece of meat (no feathers or eyeballs or anything), but yep, there was no mistaking it ... it was the head, beak and all. I leaned over and whispered to Randy, "I think I've got the chicken head on my plate!" He looked. Yep, he agreed ... that was indeed the head. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to continue the meal with this chicken looking at me so Randy rescued me by scooping it up, putting on his plate, and placing another plate on top of that so nobody would notice it (hopefully). OK, deep breath ... let's see. Ah, yes ... rice looks like a safe bet!!
Our next visit to Suzhou the next weekend was a bit more relaxed. David departed for his native Scotland on Saturday morning, so Vance, Randy and I headed back to Suzhou for more fun with Rich and Magali. We started out at Drunken Chef again ... lunch and a few games of pool. The guys decided to give the pool a break and we took a tour of Lingering Gardens, one of the many gardens for public viewing in Suzhou. Suzhou is known not only for canals and pearls, but also for it's lovely gardens, and was highly recommended as a great place for a springtime stroll.
Lingering Gardens is the former residence of a local Chinese official from the Qing Dynasty. Obviously, this guy was one important dude because this residence is HUGE. Instead of a separate room for eating, sleeping, entertaining, doing business, etc., there was a separate BUILDING for each of these events, as well as quarters for all the staff it must have required to keep this place going. It was full of beautiful Chinese antiques, calligraphy, and statuary, as well as beautiful gardens and ponds full of big red and white carp. The really incredible thing about these gardens though was the bonsai. I don't know a LOT about bonsai, but I DO know that the larger the stem or trunk of a plant, the older it is. Some of these bonsai plants had to be over a hundred years old. And they had managed to bonsai innumerable varieties in every shape and size imaginable (and some I hadn't imagined). It was very interesting. We had a great time walking through the residence, the gardens and stone pathways, and taking lots of photographs.
After the gardens, we went to another local establishment near the lake for more drinks and pool playing. I enjoyed chatting and getting to know Magali better while the guys shared a nostalgic afternoon from days of all being on the same pool league when they were young guys at Kaumagraph. Rich had selected this particular place as it was very close to where a great water fountain and laser light show took place at the water's edge every weekend. Rich announced that it was time for the show, and wouldn't you know, it started pouring rain. Well, undaunted we pushed on. Rich knew of a place where we could watch under cover, and we saw much of an incredible show of water fountains, music, lasers and lights, fireworks, and shooting flames ... quite the spectacular event!
Once the show was over, we enjoyed a few rounds of Liar's Poker punctuated by shots of tequila for the losers of each round before calling it a wonderful day and heading back to Shanghai. It was one of the those days when we were very grateful for our driver, Shao, who takes very good care of us.
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12:43 AM
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