Famous Noodles

Today it was really hot, blue sky, clear view and already 30 degrees in the morning.

After a hearty breakfast, we went to the 'Birds and Flowers Market'. There you can find not only birds and flowers but also all kinds of other pets. The area for the animals is not for animal rights activists and also not for European noses. It stinks heavily and there are pets for Chinese people. These include mice, rats, turtles, lots of fish of all kinds, cats, dogs, many birds, and crickets. There was even a stand with coral snakes, 6 of the poisonous creatures in a small Tupperware container.

The flower part of the market is rather unspectacular. Even in China, most of the flowers come from Holland. It naturally smells much better than with the animals. The Chinese are totally enthusiastic about special stones. For this, they are willing to spend 30,000 euros. It is considered a safe investment.

Europeans are rarely seen in China anyway. The people at the market definitely hadn't seen many Europeans yet. Without a guide, it is not easy to find the market either.

The next destination was also unknown. The son of Chiang Kai-shek was born in Suzhou. His birthplace later became a government guesthouse and is now a hotel. If you know the hotel manager, you can visit the historic rooms and the bunker under the building.

After this short visit, it was time for lunch. This should be at the most famous noodle restaurant in the city. From the outside, it looked like the typical small garage-like shops that are everywhere here. You go up a staircase to the restaurant, which extends across a canal and four small houses.

As is customary in China, the head waitress yelled at us and there was a discussion about where we could sit. The restaurant was already full. The menu consisted of small green papers to tick off, of course only in Chinese. Without a translator, you are completely lost here. The food that came was really great, like everywhere so far. There was even a fork for Europeans, which doesn't help much with soup though.

After lunch, we walked to the 'Master of Nets Garden'. This is one of the gardens that are UNESCO World Heritage sites. It is very small and idyllic. Since it was privately owned until the 1950s, it remained unchanged for around 900 years. It was built by a former court official who had acquired a fortune through corruption. After he retired, he wanted to go fishing every day without leaving his house. He then built himself a beautiful garden where he could pursue his hobby. The garden was initially called Fisherman's Garden. But that was too direct and not very poetic, so it was renamed 'Master of Nets Garden'.

The garden is very peaceful and quiet. There is an art gallery where you can buy hand-painted ink paintings and a tea house where you can enjoy the peace away from the city's hustle and bustle.

Afterwards, we rested a bit in the hotel. On the 27th floor, there is free food and cocktails in the evening. That's quite nice.

After sunset, we took a quick walk around Jinji Lake. As always, there were cheesy lights and lots of couples posing for photos. A nice end to the day.