March 6, Shanghi

 We took another trip into the country today to the city of Suzhou. Suzhou with a population of only 4 million is considered a small city by Chinese standards. It is 2500 years old and was originally a walled city. It was established  about 500 BC during the time of Confucius.  We see one of the gates and wall. Outside the walls was a large moat which is part of the grand canal. The walls were originally built 2000 years ago and were refurbished about 800 years ago. The city is a popular spot for the Chinese to visit, famous for it’s gardens, the canal, silk and the beautiful women. The women from this area are considered to be the most beautiful in China.

The canal was built 1700 years ago by the emperor. He built it so he could visit the gardens and to find more concubines. Apparently the 900 he already had wasn’t enough for him! The canal is over 1500 kilometers long and runs from Beijing to Suzhou. These days it is dry in the north due to droughts.

It is a cool rainy day and our guide assures us that the gardens are much nicer in the rain and that is when artists will come there to paint as the colours are more subtle and romantic. Marco Polo made his home in Suzhou for 18 years. During this period he established the silk route and exported silk, ceramics and tea to Europe. Black tea is fermented. 

When Suzhou was first established, China was an area of many small warring countries. In 200 BC the emperor from the north unified the whole of China. This is the same emperor who had the terra cotta warriors erected in his tomb.

We visit the Master of Nets garden. The garden was laid out about 1000 years ago during the Southern Song Dynasty. The Chinese ideal for a garden – must have 4 elements: water, rocks, trees and pavilions. One of the original trees is still standing, a nine hundred year old ginkgo biloba. The garden combined living quarters integrated within the landscape garden. We never did find out who built it, our guide said he was a “big cheese” – I didn’t realize that was a Chinese term! In addition to the beautiful garden there is a studio for an artist and was once occupied by China’s most famous artist. There are mosaic decorations in the garden floor of cranes, for longevity and bats for good luck. We see a study with old books and a bed. The bed was used for reading and for smoking, it sounds like the smoking was opium. There is an elaborately decorated reception hall with an old heater in the middle of the room. The furniture is either mahogany or teak. The buildings are mainly constructed of mahogany. 

Next is a Chinese lunch with bamboo shoots, spinach and sesame, cow stomach with noodles (spicy), pork with dates in a mysterious sauce, sweet and sour fish, cabbage with bacon, green beans, shrimp, sweet and sour soup, beer, green tea and watermelon.

We had a cruise along the canal, we start on the main canal and then travel along one of the tributaries, there are several smaller canals we pass. The canal is still a living area, the real China, our guide says. We see people out doing their wash in the canal, in the rain. There are a couple of areas we pass through where restaurants and hotels are starting to be established. In some areas we cam see that the shores are being cleaned up and revitalized. It is developing into a tourist area. 

 Our last stop before heading back to the ship is at an embroidery workshop. Unfortunately we are not allowed to take pictures. The embroidery work is unbelievable. There are some portraits in the entrance way of Buddha, Chairman Mao, Princess Diana and a copy of the Mona Lisa. They are all done by master embroidery experts and are amazing in the detail and colouring. It took two years to complete each one. Painstaking work. We saw a few workers, there are four methods they use. One sided embroidery, which is what we are used to seeing, 2 sided, where both sides look exactly the same (there are no knots showing on either side), it is done using two needles. Two sided where the same picture is depicted on each side but the colours are different and two sided where there are two completely different pictures and coloring on each side. The pictures are often done in layers to give a three dimensional result. The colours are vibrant and glowing. The portraits changed coloring and appearance as you looked at them from different angles. We purchased one small example of a two sided picture.

We return to Shanghai, it is Sunday so we are told there is little traffic, I am certainly glad we are not doing this trip on a day when the traffic is bad. It is like Toronto on a week day. There are a number of motorcycles, scooters, bicycles and motorized bicycles. Most areas they have their own lane and often that lane is separated by a curb. In some places the bikes share a wide sidewalk with  pedestrians.

Here, as in Taiwan and Japan, we have to go through a face-to-face verification of our passports and visas along with a remote thermal check. At our first port in Japan we are also fingerprinted. The only time I had any problem was when we first arrived in Bangkok, apparently I look nothing like my passport picture when my face is covered with a bandage, I was asked to produce an identification card. Luckily I had thrown in my driver’s license at the last minute. I rarely take it traveling. He laughed and said the 2 pictures are different and neither looked like me. Eventually a supervisor let me in – was almost a very short trip!