Roar: Suzhou's Tiger Hill

No visit is complete without a trip
to the McDonald's in Old Town!

Last month, our family was so excited to welcome Jamie’s mother to Suzhou for 12 days.  We took her to some of our favorite spots: Old Town, the pearl market, Ancient Street, the No. 1 Silk Museum and the former French Concession in Shanghai.  

Temple in Old Town.

Mei Mei's: Where we had Jamie's aunt's silk pajamas made. 

One of the workers making Jamie's mother's pearl necklace.

So much to look at in the Pearl Market.

Waiting patiently (or not so patiently)
for our jewelry to be finished.

Standing in front of the live silk worms
at the No. 1 Silk Museum. 

Pulling the silk threads to make a silk duvet.

Tianzifang at night in Shanghai.

Jamie's mother's visit gave us the perfect excuse to make our first visit to Suzhou’s iconic Tiger Hill in the northwest part of the city.  The island area is a combination of a bamboo park, tomb, and temple, and is surrounded by canals.

Walking towards the entrance of Tiger Hill.

Though we went on a very hot day in August (but all days are hot in Suzhou in August!), I was pleasantly surprised about how much of the area was in the shade.  As we were walking up the many steps towards the temple, I was approached by a young woman who asked to  be our guide around the area. She suggested a price and I counter-offered, not really finding it necessary to have a guide.  She said no and I thanked her and she walked away, but then she came back with another offer and I restated the price I was comfortable with and she walked away.  The third time was the charm because she came back again and agreed to be our guide.  I can tell I’ve been here a while, this negotiating is becoming second nature (be that a warning to all car salesmen we deal with when we repatriate to the US!) and it helped that I couldn’t have cared less if she agreed or not, no emotions were tied to the deal!  As it turns out, I am very glad that she agreed to be our guide, we would have missed out on a lot of the history and details of Tiger Hill.

Tiger Hill is the burial place of He Lu, the King of Wu and founder of Suzhou.  Tiger Hill earned its name because the legend says his spirit was guarded by a white tiger that  appeared three days after his death and refused to leave.  The King was supposedly buried with 3,000 swords.  Our guide told us that the entrance to the tomb is actually underneath a moat and the water would have to be drained to enter the tomb.  She also said that upon the completion of the tomb all of the workers were given wine to celebrate, but that it had been purposely poisoned causing all the workers to die on the spot...just like with the Egyptian pyramids.  The spot where the workers perished is called Thousand People Rock.

Canals surround the Tiger Hill area. 

1,000 People Rock (the pillar) where
all of the workers died after completing the tomb.

Apparently if the water was drained,
we would see the entrance to the tomb.

Are there 3,000 swords down there? 

Looking out at the Suzhou skyline, our apartment
is to the left of the archway, which has
 been dubbed "Big Pants" by locals.

Looking up at the pagoda.

Above the tomb is the 1,000-year-old temple.  I asked if the temple had been built there because of the tomb and our guide said that it was coincidence that both were built on that spot.  The pagoda (temple) is leaning more than seven feet and sometimes is called the Second Leaning Tower, the first being  in Italy.  The exterior of the pagoda had been covered in wood, but the tower had caught on fire a few times, most recently during the government’s changes in the 1960’s and ‘70’s.

Running down the tree-lined path.

After walking up to the temple, we enjoyed seeing the bamboo on the way down to the canal.  We love canal rides, so after a quick ice cream break, we ended our day being taken by a man-powered boat around the canals circling Tiger Hill.

Any time is a good time for ice cream.

Powered by hand.

Leaving the Bubble

This past weekend we finally left the SIP (Suzhou Industrial Park) bubble.  Jamie’s company is sponsoring a new school building in a village about four hours north of SIP and asked for volunteers to attend the ground breaking ceremony.  I was excited about going, but I had no idea how special the weekend would be.

We left Friday night to stay at a hotel about an hour from the village.  Our driver drove us and it was the first long car trip we’d taken since leaving the States.  I was a little nervous about the trip.  Where would eat dinner?  What about bathroom breaks with a potty-training toddler?  What kind of hotel would it be?  What are we getting ourselves into?

As with most things, I shouldn’t have worried about it.  I packed lots of snacks and drinks and a friend shared they’re travel potty chair with us.  We did stop once each way and the roadside restrooms were no worse or better than Central Illinois.  Thank goodness for Jamie’s phone that can “speak” Chinese and shout out “toilet” when we needed it.

We arrived at the hotel around 9:30 and the hotel was really nice and our girls were a little disappointed that we didn’t get to stay longer.  On drive up and again in the morning I tried to prepare LBean for what might happen the next day.  People were going to be very excited to see her because she was a blondie and they were going to want to take her picture and touch her hair.  I also tried to prep her for the formal Chinese lunch that would follow the groundbreaking.  We talked about leaving food we didn’t like on our plates and just saying “thank you” and that if she had any questions about anything to please, please whisper it in my ear!

After a short night’s sleep and a buffet breakfast we drove to the meeting point for the caravan.  We did have a slight detour; GPS difficulties are the same in any country.  I really enjoyed looking out the window and catching glimpses of the Chinese countryside.  In some respects it looked very much like central Illinois with fields of corn dotting the countryside and where soybeans would have been, there were rice paddies instead.  Some of the homes and outbuildings reminded me of buildings I’d seen in the German or Scottish countryside.  Not so much in architectural details, but I imagine many of the buildings were built around the same era and had a similar “feeling” to them.  Many of the homes had a courtyard in front of the home with a large gate at the entrance and many of the central courtyards had family gardens in them.  Where gardens might be “quaint” or a fun “hobby” in the States, you know...getting back to organic food, here it is a means of survival.

 

A police escort had been arranged for all of the company workers, management, media and local dignitaries.  Our van got in the caravan line and we made our way to the future school building site.  On our way there, we drove through the center of town and because it was a Saturday morning, there was a lot of activity.  With all of the stalls selling shoes, clothing, food, comforters, and the entertainment, the first thought that popped in my head was, “I’ve found the Chinese Spoon River Drive.”  We passed by many buildings were there were logs and thin wood sheets drying in the sun, so I’m assuming this is a major industry for them.

Not sure what the "decorative" golden
cannons are for, but they were interesting.

Some local entertainment.

It's a bit out of focus, but I
love this picture.

It's hard to see, those are rows and rows
of thin sheets of wood drying upright in the sun.

We drove down the dirt lane past some of the village homes and arrived at the school building site.  It was a bit overwhelming when we arrived.  Jamie was given a red carnation and a ribbon to wear on his jacket.  The school children started chanting and we walked to the “stage” and waited for the ceremony to start.  It seems like the entire village was there, it was incredible.  I was a bit stunned at first because I was trying to take pictures and hold on to EBean and keep both girls happy and take in the events of the day.  It wasn’t like we could blend into the background, where ever we went, we were followed by curious folks.  Jamie’s bosses wife was a great example to me and she just went up and started talking to the babies, complementing the girls on their pretty hair bows and smiling to everyone.  It snapped me out of my stupor and I followed her lead.

Local home on the road to the school.

Looking through the rice paddy to a local home.

After the official speeches had been given, the girls and I (along with some of Jamie’s co-workers) gave some of the students new backpacks and hats.  After that I had to excuse myself and the girls off to the side.  EBean was getting tired and hot and we needed to get out of the middle of things.  As we stepped to the side, we drew a crowd of about a dozen people that wanted to touch the girls, play with their hair, take their pictures, one teenage girl was fascinated with the feathers in my hair and a few of the local women tried to talk to me.  I don’t know a lot of Chinese yet, but I did understand that one woman asked if their baba (father) was up on stage, one wanted to know their ages (she then passed the info on to all the other women), and I knew when they were telling me that my girls were beautiful (and then I could say thank you).

The special guests getting ready to start the groundbreaking.

The students of the school.

Jamie listening to the speeches.

Is she not the cutest?  She followed LBean & EBean where ever
they were.  She was also curious about the feathers in my hair
and so desperately wanted to practice her English.

I loved being there!  I could have stayed all day and in fact, I was disappointed when I found out that lunch wasn’t going to be served there at the school.  I really would have liked to have spent more time with the school children and their families.

I think the girls were relaxed once they got on the bus to leave for the lunch.  They handled the attention well (meaning, no one cried), but it was very overwhelming for them.  I had a chance to talk with one of the school officials and the interpreter on the bus ride.  I even managed to impress the interpreter with my meager Chinese.  She asked about our children and I said yes, “lian ga hai tza” (two children).  The shocked expression on her faced I think meant that I had used the correct tones.  It was priceless!  My language teacher would be so proud and I’m glad that Jamie caught the look on her face too!

We had lunch in a banquet facility and the meal was complete with lots of local Chinese dishes and ceremonial toasts.  I shouldn’t have worried about my girls, they did fantastic.  LBean used her chopsticks and both girls tried several of the dishes put in front of them.  We just tried not to focus too much on what was actually in the dishes!  They received compliments from a few people at the table about their willingness to try things.  The government official asked if I knew how to use chopsticks and I whipped out one of my new Chinese words, “mama huhu”  (so-so) and that got a good chuckle out of him.  Things must have gone okay because we were asked back for the grand opening, which will probably be in December.  I don’t know if we’ll be able to make it specifically for that, but we will go back again.  Thinking about the school gets the wheels in my mind turning and I want to our family to help in any way we can.

Where in the world?

Does anyone of my generation remember the computer game "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"  I loved that game!  A good friend suggested that I post some information on the city we are moved to and include a map of the city.  So where in the world is Suzhou, China anyway?

Suzhou (pronounced "Sue joe" or "Sue cho") is west of Shanghai, on the eastern coast of China.  Beijing is to the far north and Hong Kong is to the far south and west.  It takes about 1 1/2 hours by car to travel from the airport in Shanghai to Suzhou.

Look to the left of where it says "East China Sea" and you'll find Shanghai.
Continue looking left of Shanghai and you'll she a huge lake, that is close to Suzhou.

Here is a close-up of the area between Shanghai and Suzhou.
Suzhou is on the eastern side of the large lake.
If you look on the northern part of the lake you'll see Wuxi (pronounced "woo-she") where Jamie will be working.

We are living in the part of town called SIP, which is short for Suzhou Industrial Park.  SIP is a joint venture between Singapore and China and is located directly on Jinjihu Lake.  Suzhou has an extremely large expat (expatriates are those living outside of their home countries) community.  There are several people from Korea, Germany and other countries in town.  Jamie's company has approximately 30 families in Suzhou with other employees in other parts of China.

This is a close up of the SIP area.  On the upper-left corner of Jinjihu Lake is the Crowne Plaza Hotel where we stayed during our home-finding tour and now during our first few weeks living in Suzhou.  Around the corner to the northeast from the Crowne is our apartment complex, Horizon.  The area to the west, surrounded on four sides by water, is the old town.  In between old town and SIP are the shopping complexes and wet markets that we'll be using on a weekly basis.

Suzhou has anywhere from 6-9 million people.  It's hard to have an official count because the population is always shifting and changing as companies bring in new employees and transfer others.  Because of the large ex-pat community and the influx of western companies, it is possible to find Wal-Mart, Auntie Anne's pretzels (LBean is thrilled), KFC, Cold Stone Creamery, Subway, Papa John's pizza, Mexican & German restaurants, and Starbucks.  This doesn't mean that Suzhou feels like central Illinois, but there are some comforts of home.

The currency for China is the RMB (also known as the yuan) and the current rate of exchange is 1 yuan equals .1545 US dollars.  China is mostly a cash-based society and it is very typical to pre-pay for things such as your cell phone.  For example, an iPhone is about $800, but then the monthly fee is very, very low.

We've been told that the weather is very similar to South Carolina.  Milder winters with some snow and very hot and humid in the summer.  June is the rainy month and when we told people in Suzhou that we were moving in July they gave us a slight smile.  Most ex-pats leave Suzhou in July and August because it is so hot and humid.  I guess we need to experience it at least once!

I told someone here is Suzhou that being here in July and August is like going to the state fair every day...it's hot, humid, crowded and you have to stand in lots of lines, but you might get to have some fun adventures along the way and eat good food too.