The heat of summer in China had exhausted us both so we did not have as much energy as we would have liked in Suzhou, but while we were there we went to a couple of nice places. One tourist thing we didn’t end up doing was a canal boat trip. I wanted to but baulked when the proprietor wanted us to pay three times the price written on his noticeboard.
Bei Si Ta is a nine-storey pagoda that is a prominent landmark in the town. We climbed it as far as was allowed and viewed the standard view of a grubby modern industrial city. However it had character and although the niches that once held images of Buddhas were empty it was genuinely old and not spoiled by over restoration. I must qualify that, however, as it does need more protection and sensitive restoration work. The paintwork is so scratched by graffiti that it will be no trouble to remove what remains. There is a solitary Buddha statue on the ground floor.
In the courtyard is a wonderful fat Buddha, albeit a modern one, so full of character one can’t help laughing at it. My daughter had her portrait done by a young artist nearby. He didn’t do a bad job, though not quite as accurate as he might have been, drawing a Chinese person.
After Bei Si Ta we went to the Garden of the Master of the Nets, which I determined to visit when I learned there is a copy of one of its areas in the Metropolitan museum of Art in New York. It was worth visiting Suzhou for. I had an immediate sense of peace as I entered and the artistry of its design calmed my soul as only the highest art can. It is beautiful, there is no more to say except that I applaud its acceptance on the World Heritage list.
On the morning of my girl’s departure we went to the train station. It was a very hot day and the station was crowded. For the first time in China no-one came forward to offer any help in finding the right place to buy a ticket. After a while we found the ticket hall and when I saw the throngs waiting there I decided to check the Lonely Planet Guide again. There was an address for a travel service so we took a taxi there and I bought two tickets for an afternoon train.
Then we found a restaurant to escape from the heat but neither of us felt like eating. We only bought two cans of soft drink but here is an example of the excellence of service in eating places in China. The waitresses saw how hot and weary we were (I was dripping with sweat when we arrived) and plied us with plates of watermelon free of charge. There may be no place in the world that can match the welcome and service in Chinese restaurants.
Our train to Shanghai was modern and fast and at the station there we found a friendly and honest lady taxi driver who charged us the right fare. I chatted to her in simple Chinese about Shining girl going back to Australia and me going back to Wuhan and she made a phone enquiry about the time of a flight that night. It was too early, only a short time after SG’s flight left and from Hong Qiao airport, so I thanked her and said I wouldn’t take it but would see my daughter off. When we stopped at the airport this kind driver sent me off to get a trolley before getting our bags out and told me where to get a cheap bus back into Shanghai later.
When we arrived and joined the check-in queue an Australian woman travelling with two young children told us the plane would be two hours late. We soon found that it was only a one hour delay but the staff were in no hurry to process people through quickly. We waited a couple of hours before getting to the counter. The Australian woman’s husband was a businessman working in Shanghai. She was good company and a young Australian man joined in the conversation. He had come for a three week tour. We shared some of our different experiences of China.
The queue started to move faster as departure time approached and Shining girl and I had time to go for a last snack together. We were quite sad as we waited. She had exercised her right to vent and tell me to come home, earlier in the day, but the anger was over and she just urged me to come for a visit as soon as I could. Then it was time for her to go to the Exit Lounge and I watched her walk through the gates and out of sight.
I found the right bus and went to Shanghai station. There were crowds everywhere as usual but I was relieved to spot a ticket window labelled ‘Foreign Visitors’ and was soon asking for a ticket to Wuhan ‘mashang’ (immediately). To my chagrin there was no train until 2.00p.m. next day. I had hoped Wuhan was a big enough place to have a frequent train service from Shanghai. It seems 9 million is not enough!
By then had a physical reaction, perhaps to Shining girl going home. I felt exhausted and was almost staggering. I still had the number of East China University in my phone and rang them. There was no problem with a bed and I tried to get a taxi. The first two I approached refused to take me there as they didn’t know where it was. This was after I got them to speak to the receptionist on the mobile phone. I walked wearily up the road to a main street and hailed another cab. This time I got in and told the driver to head for Hong Qiao airport while I looked up my Guide. I was working on the plan that if he had me in his cab already and had gone some distance he would not want to waste the time by asking me to get out again. He was unable to work out where I wanted to go from the details in my book so I rang the receptionist again and this time the driver understood the directions and soon had me there.
I walked through the grounds on a hot Shanghai evening and arrived sweating at my destination. There was no trouble and I went to the room, unloaded my stuff and went down and bought a snack at the shop on the ground floor. I ate it and collapsed into bed.
Next day I consulted the wonderful woman who is my mentor and supporter in any difficulties I have in China (and was then my work supervisor) about getting back to Wuhan and went to the airport and bought a ticket for the first afternoon flight and went home to Wonderland. Seriously, that is the translation of the name of the estate I was staying in at the time.