On Monday, we woke up early again to get back on the bus and go to a temple. It was really busy with people doing their New Years traditions, so we didn't stay for very long, but it was cool to see what everyone was doing.
Little guy hanging out on a statue outside the temple.
Lighting candles as part of their traditions
A different take on the regular lions. Parts of their heads are a different color from people rubbing them so much and wearing the coating off.
After this quick stop in the temple, we went on a cruise of the canal, an optional part of the trip, but one that almost everyone participated in. It lasted for over an hour and took us along the banks of some houses. It was humbling to see the way that people lived in this area and realizing that these were some of the more fortunate people in China because they actually had a house to live in. We ended up in an old famous house that had its own garden and a lot of statues.
Views from the canal tour.
Joe hanging out with some statues in the old house.
Me in the enclosed garden.
After the canal tour, we went to another family style lunch and then hopped back on the bus towards Hangzhou, a city southwest of Shanghai, about 3 hours away from Suzhou. Everyone got a nap in on the bus (except me of as usual) and were refreshed for the next adventure - a tour of some caves inside a mountain on the outskirts of Hangzhou. I think this excursion was a favorite among the people on the trip, including us. The whole tour had a clear path and the caves were lit with neon lights, so although it wasn't a very authentic caving experience, it was really cool to walk around in there and climb around. We took a lot of stairs up inside the mountain and then all hopped on a train to get back out, an exit which we all enjoyed but wished it could have been more like a roller coaster. The whole time, the tour guide was telling us that the rocks looked like certain animals and not a single one of us could see it. In the end, they would ask "Do you see the dragon?" and we would all just nod excitedly so we could move on.
Path down to get into the cave. This was the kind of path that we followed for most of the excursion.
Cave walls lit up in pretty neon colors.
Guys preparing for an anti-climatic roller coaster ride to get out of the cave.
A park at the exit of the cave, enjoyed by many twenty something year old college students.
Us in front of a mini-water fall at the cave exit.
As with the night before in Suzhou, we then headed to our hotel (another very nice hotel with comfy beds) and had some time to rest before dinner. We ate all together again and then Joe and I set off to wander around the town. We were in search of a night market, but instead found West Lake, the famous attraction of Hangzhou so we decided to hang out there instead. There was a fountain show set to music that we watched and then we looked around the area which was filled with expensive stores like Prada and other names I can never pronounce. It started raining and we were tired so we headed back for an early night and ended up watching what has quickly become our favorite Chinese TV show- a dating show similar to the bachelor but everything happens within one hour.
Fountain show at West Lake.
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