In a week from today, we will begin our trip back to Canada for the summer! First, we’ll be stopping by Las Vegas to see some friends get married (more on that next week!) and we also have plans to drive around the area a bit to see The Grand Canyon in all its glory. We were originally planning to take a 10 day road trip back to Manitoba, but those plans fell through when we learned that the car rental alone would cost us $1500. So, instead, we’re going to take a camping trip at our favourite park (Rushing River in Ontario) while we’re back.
I am excited to cook over the fire, and wake up to the sound of loons, but mostly I look forward to the smell of fresh air and being surrounded by trees. I miss the smell of trees a lot. I actually played a gig a few weeks back at a large park just outside of Shanghai. It was the most grass I’d seen in about a year. Since then, I’ve been dying to get back into the Canadian wilderness.
That’s not to say I don’t love Suzhou though! Lately, it’s been quite rainy, but for about a month before the rain hit, we had gorgeous clear skies and (mostly) clean air. I took advantage of that time to snap some shots of the city we currently call home. I thought people might like to see Suzhou the way I see it.
Suzhou has plenty of beautiful parks and gardens. I know I’ve posted some of these pictures of them before, but they’re just so pretty, I have to show you again!
Suzhou also has some interesting architecture outside of their gardens. For some reason I don’t understand, China is obsessed with creating replicas of famous buildings from around the world. Beijing has a replica of Sydney Opera House, and Shanghai has its very own copy of the Eiffel Tower, and Suzhou apparently, didn’t want to feel left out. So they made a replica of London Bridge (sort of).
There are definitely some inaccuracies, but over all, it looks pretty cool. The bridge is mostly used for wedding pictures, and the surrounding area has plenty of places for photo-ops.
Although Suzhou is pretty during the day, I find this water-town most beautiful at night. Dave and I have spent many evenings walking around, taking pictures of the high-rises that are popping up all around SIP (we live in Suzhou Industrial Park). I love the way the buildings here are all lit up.
The canals are also gorgeous at night. The reflections from the buildings give them a dream-like feel.
Of course, Xinghai Square is such a buzz of lights and traffic, it makes for some very interesting night photos as well.
The city recently replaced the lights along the street outside of our apartment complex, which was a nice change. The old ones, though pretty, were getting pretty rusty, but the new ones are nice and bright white.
Central park is also very pretty at night. We often walk through there on our way to (or from) one of our favourite restaurants: Lu Yu. They specialize in a type of roast fish that’s unlike any fish you’ve ever eaten in your life.
Kao Yu has actually become a bit of a weekly tradition we have with some friends. We walk down there (it’s about a half hour walk each way), and meet up to discuss our weeks and enjoy some good food and draft beer. The walk there takes us through Suzhou’s Central Park, and I’ve brought my camera along a few times now.
But as much as we like Kao Yu, there is one restaurant in Suzhou we love even more. A few months back, we told our bilingual friend, Kevin, that if he could find us a restaurant that makes Guizhou food (the province where we lived prior to moving to Suzhou), that we would take him there for dinner. We’ve gone there pretty much every week since he found it. We’ve brought countless friends and even people visiting from America and Argentina…every person we’ve brought has been floored by how good the food is!
In addition to the food and the company being so great at ???, the view is also pretty spectacular. We usually sit outside, across from the little island near Suzhou University.
Of course, I’m not the only one that’s caught on that Suzhou is an incredibly photographic city. My friend, Kevin, also enjoys taking photos of this gorgeous place we all call home. I asked him if I could include some of his shots, and he kindly said I could. Here they are:
That’s all for this post! I’ll be back soon with an update on life here. We’ve been so incredibly busy lately! There are plenty of stories to come!
See you soon!