Tag: Suzhou

China Trip – Suzhou And On To Shanghai, 21 November 1993

Master Of The Nets

21st. Suzhou -> Shanghai. Went to Master Of the Nets Garden – very beautiful.

-> Embroidery Factory -> Water Gate and on to street market (Portobello style)…

I think we were advised/asked not to take photographs in that street market – it would be unheard of for Janie to resist taking pictures in a market otherwise.

Lunch -> sandalwood factory (fan making) with amazing solder artist…

…climbed pagoda…

We both felt the need to provide photographic evidence of the pagoda and the fact that we had climbed it.

-> railway station, train to Shanghai -> straight to dinner -> hotel -> Peace Hotel for Jazz Evening.

The Jazz evening was good fun. I’m not sure whether the loud-looking redhead is Katherine, but I did give an award to a couple named Matthew and Katherine:

The Richard Branson Award for extrovert behaviour.

All the photos we took on that day – by which I mean all 46 photos – can be seen in raw form in the Flickr album below:

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China Trip – Wuxi And On To Suzhou, 20 November 1993

20th Wuxi -> Suzhou. Lake view – fascinating breakfast…

I don’t really remember the breakfast. My guess is that I tried a Chinese style breakfast – wontons, congees and noodles – for the first time in China.

The Hubin Hotel in Wuxi is still highly regarded 25 years later, although I awarded it:

A Colgate Award for disintegrating toothbrushes

Janie and I have long since given up using hotel toothbrushes – we take our own whizzy ones.

Wuxi is an industrial City and our touring – to see factory life – felt very much like a commercial opportunity to try to sell us stuff.

…To pearl factory (shop), porcelain factory (& shop) and silk factory (& shop).

Lunch in Wuxi. Barge trip on Grand Canal -> Suzhou. Dinner followed by early night.

We had a guide on that barge trip from Wuxi to Suzhou, who I honoured with:

The Brian Clough Award for liking the sound of your own voice

Mind you, that sounding off might have been safer than the coach we took in Wuxi – I honoured the driver of Sally’s coach:

The Nigel Mansell Award for driving

All the photos we took on that day – by which I mean all 27 photos – can be seen in raw form in the Flickr album below:

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