Mum and Danny had lunch and went straight to sleep. I'm still awake cos I'm tough (and clearly don't need anymore beauty) ;). We got back late last night from our trip to Suzhou and Hanzhou (they're both neighbouring cities to Shanghai). It was lots of fun but very exhausting too. A lot was packed into 2 days. Unfortunately we couldn't book with an english speaking touring agency for these two places, so we booked with a government touring agency instead. It included train tickets, accommodation and tours around the two cities. Hmmm, probably wasn't the best plan. It turned out to be a bit of a rip in some respects. The train ride was pretty terrible (by most ppl's standard). Danny has caught the train to Hanzhou before and he said it was VERY comfortable yet very affordable. He said that the agency must have gotten us VERY cheap train tickets. I wish I can go on some website to bad mouth that agency (and not get in trouble - I don't think they value freedom of speech here) since they would have made a decent profit even if they had gotten us proper tickets!
That's the main thing about the trip that I needed to get off my chest. Now that that's over... Suzhou and Hanzhou are both beautiful in their own ways. Suzhou is known to many as the Venice of China. It's a city with many rivers and waterways within it. We saw many Pagodas, went boat riding to capture some of the main attractions of the ciy. We went to another silk factory (much bigger than the one in Beijing). I bought many silk merchandise and learnt that silk doesn't burn (unlike other fabric). We went to many other touristy places before heading off to Hangzhou. We also went to a place that made and sold clay tea pots. One of them was very impressive. when you put a tea cup in a certain spot, the pot automatically pours and then stops when you remove it. No electricity or batteries needed. I didn't buy anything, partly because my budget wouldn't allow me (they were all very expensive), but also cos there was no real need. Danny already brought clay tea pots to NZ when he visited in September.
The highlight of Hangzhou would have to be the tea tasting. Tea appreciation in China is like wine appreciation in NZ (and other parts of the world). It is so much better than any asian tea that you can get in NZ! There were many different flower teas also. You place one into a glass, add hot water and watch as the flower expands. It looks beautiful and is drinkable (but expensive!) I loved it. I bought some tea to take back home with me. Mum said that China's dodgy and there is a chance that what I bought isn't what I tasted. She said that her and her friends experienced this when they toured around China last year. I haven't tried any of my teas but I really hope mum's wrong this time.
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