impressions of Suzhou

My jet lag finally began to settle down and on our way to dinner I was able to stay awake and see what the of city of Suzhou was like. And that was fortunate, because Suzhou is really lovely. Unlike the very metropolitan Shanghai or Beijing, there seemed to be a nice blend and balance of old and new. It is probably like what Boston feels like to New Yorkers, a little more provincial and slightly quaint. I really liked it and decided if I ever do a picturebook with a story in contemporary China, I will probably use Suzhou as the backdrop. Which is why I took many, many photos.I did have to stop taking photos eventually, because it was dinnertime. Kevin told us that Suzhou was famous for a type of noodle dish that some considered "the best noodles in China" as well as some rice cakes desserts. We asked if the rice cakes were considered "the best rice cakes in China" as well; and he said,"No. But still very good."

I'm not sure if the noodles were the best in China but they were pretty good and we ate a lot of them. It seemed like every meal, Kevin would order what we would think was a gigantic amount of food...until we ate it all up. Personally, I blame Melody. She's barely 5 ft tall and maybe 85 pounds but she can pack it in. Every day after eating, when everyone else could barely move, she would talk about our next meal. I think she set the eating pace for the rest of us.


Anyway, we took so long with dinner that by the time we were done it was dark out, Suzhou was lit up like a Christmas tree, and it was time to go.

Goodbye, Suzhou!