What I learned while on Holiday: Suzhou

After the beautiful scenery of Guilin, we headed to Suzhou, which is known as the "Venice of the East." Our first stop was Suzhou-Singapore Industrial Park, where Jeff and I had the first real cup of coffee in a long while. Most of the coffee that we got in China was instant stuff that didn't pack the same punch as American coffee. The coffee shop also had wonderful rooftop seating where we could enjoy our mochas in peace. Jeff, Mom, Mary (who was part of our tour group) and I enjoyed a few minutes of quiet as we fantasized about moving to this area.

Rather, Mom fantasized and said we should send our future children here to learn Chinese. I told her that if we were doing that, we'd be coming with the kids.


We also spent some time exploring the stores in Suzhou, which were a welcome change from the stores that had clerks invading our personal space and crawling up our nose to give us "good" customer service. In Suzhou, the clerks left us alone to browse. We actually bought stuff there because we had enough time and peace of mind to think for a little bit. That's good customer service.



After dinner, Jeff and I -- along with several people on our tour -- got it into our heads that we should go get a drink in Suzhou. Maybe it was because some fellow members said they found a good bar populated by English-speaking folks or maybe we got a little cocky, but we soon found ourselves wandering the streets with our guide, Mico, to find a bar.

We found a bar. It was quiet -- no one was in there except for a young girl. I like quiet bars. It gives me time to think, nurse a drink and just relax. But when we all piled in, well, it suddenly got filled with Chinese girls. Mico kept saying we should go, while I just looked through their CD collection for something interesting to find. After the bar suddenly had about six Chinese girls in it, we decided to split -- not to mention the music was kinda sucky.

After we left, someone (I forgot who) explained the situation to me. Apparently when foreigners go into bars like that and talk to the girls, the girls will charge the people to talk to them. One person on a past tour spent 1,200 Yuen ($150 US) without realizing it. We did find a bar that was pretty good, and the drinks were cheaper. I learned something important: Go to bars where the locals are. When in China, having guards at the bar isn't a bad thing. They're on duty and serve as security.

Unfortunately, one guy on our tour wasn't so lucky. He wandered out to get a massage and on the way back, stopped in a bar. He got surrounded by guys who wouldn't let him leave until he gave them $20. Having a native speaker is a definite good thing.