CHINAN E W S L E T T E R

SIGGY AND HEATHER | CHINA 2017 | FRIDAY, 18 AUGUST 2017

Zhouzhuang At first I thought it was Heather’s

coloured umbrella but then I quickly

realised it was her beauty and radiance

that resulted in numerous locals asking to

be photographed with her. That was part

of our day at Zhouzhuang - another

picturesque water town. We were driven

to this little gem by our host’s driver. He

waited for us while we took ourselves

around this village that was much like

Tongli but much quieter in terms of tourist

numbers. Once again the lovely narrow

streets were bordered by canals busy with

little boats ferrying people around the

area. Willow-like trees hung over the

water. As long as we stayed away from the

main canal area we had quite a private

view of this place that people obviously

actually live in. There was of course, a

reasonable number of resellers and

eateries but the architecture looked

authentic - the walls were in need of

plaster and in some places mould ran

down the white washed exteriors.

However the shuttered buildings looked

cool and inviting. Many little bridges

crossed the canals and numerous exhibits/

gardens opened off the main drags. Such a

wonderful way to spend a morning - if only

it was not so steamy and hot.

YUM YUM? Yuk!! Watched as mother bought on stick and ate with relish. Bought another one for young daughter who turned her nose up at it. I did too (she saw me and grinned).

S T I L L N O IDEA

We looked at this more than once, then looked aga in . The Chinese sign t o l d u s nothing.WYF i s t h i s ? A potty, a baby seat - what?

WHAT IS THIS? No idea!! A couple of candles still burning on the end. Me thinks its a place where candles are burned and wishes are made. Will never know because no-one came near. It will remain a mystery.

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Old world charm …….

By the way….. Our tour guide yesterday told us that his grandparents (in their

80s) regard Suzhou (with 8 to 9 million people) as being the

“countryside”. You see, Shanghai has 25 million people - just a

little less than the whole population of Australia! That’s a lot of

humanity!! The compound we are in is lush and green and circled

by canals, Over the last 2 days we have driven through the far

western outskirts of Shanghai and seen many groups of of multi

level buildings. They often are identical and without any

redeeming feature such as a little bit of greenery. Much of the

land is marshy and filled with fish farms.

Tonight completed our 5 day Chinese experience with a visit to

the Shanghai Circus. Its the Chinese version of Cirque de Soleil.

To say we were impressed is an understatement.

Unbelievable!!!

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PHOTOS

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