Arose and packed our daypacks for the next few days as we are leaving our cases here in Shanghai until we return on Sunday for our last night! Had breakfast and then boarded the bus for the trip to Suzhou. After about 30 minutes we stopped at a silk processing factory which was really fascinating. We got a really good introduction to silk production and were taken through a room where large machines were actually stripping the individual threads from the cocoons and spinning them onto reels. The machines looked awfully old and primitive but obviously did the job! After that we were treated to the usual shopping gauntlet and I succumbed as did dad, though this time it was me who spent the most! Say no more. We then continued on our journey and arrived in Suzhou after around another 2.5 hours. We went straight to a lunch venue which was very ordinary, and then visited a garden called the Night Garden. Suzhou is renowned for its gardens although I am not really sure that this one contributes greatly to that reputation. It is quite nice and exemplifies the style of Chinese gardens form the 1600s but lacked colour: perhaps because we are here in the winter. After that we drove to a little dock inside the ancient city walls and caught a little ferry for a tour of the canals. Suzhou is sometimes called the Venice of the East and it is easy to see why when you tour the canals! This was a really lovely experience and it was fascinating to see the everyday life that was occurring alongside the boat as we went along. I missed a shot of a little pair of shoes leaning against a step outside a simple door at the top of some stairs, alongside of which was hanging some washing. After this tour we were dropped at a little dock and walked for about 5 minutes to our hotel, which was yet again next to a building site! I may not have mentioned before that many of our hotels have been next to building sites and, while dad and I haven't had any issues (out of luck I think) others have! The hotel proved to be very nice and had free internet. After doing a bit of blogging we ventured out to find an ATM and get some supplies. We walked through a large mall like area and were a novelty to everyone that we encountered! Found an ATM and a convenience store and then returned to the room in time to have a beer and then go down to dinner. The food was ok but we are getting fairly fussy now and it was not fantastic. After dinner we went for a walk to the night markets which was absolutely wonderful and the scenery was just terrific. Dad bought a couple of things as usual and I bought a strange musical instrument (wind) which I am struggling to learn to play!

After a lovely long walk we went up to our room and after a lot more photo uploads and some further blogging, I went to bed (just after the power went off)!