Suzhou - Day 5

Apr 28, 2014

Day 5

After breakfast, we got on the tour bus and this is where the big fiasco started. After checking out of the room, the hotel staff have to check the room to see if there is anything missing. Our whole group was sitting on the bus waiting to leave when the tour guide got and announced "If I call your room number, please get off the bus" because the hotel staff have to talk to you. He listed at least 4 room numbers. Apparently the hotel staff accused them of taking something from the rooms- such as a pen, a paper holder, etc. I mean, we took the toothbrush and soap, some coffee, and water cause it's ALWAYS FREE at hotels- unless indicated; I mean, who wouldn't. I was afraid they would call our number- how embarrassing would that be. Every member of our group profusely argued that they did not take anything- maybe they did but did not want to admit it. One of the accused was the company boss in our group, he kept on saying why would he even want to take a card holder- I understand where he's coming from, he's a company boss, he owns a company, he already spent thousands of dollars on this trip buying stuff for his wife, why would he even want to steal a card holder that cost a couple of dollars. The hotel staff stated that they would do a bag search- I don't know if they did or not, but it's just ridiculously if you're after pens, paper, envelopes (yes, they claimed that someone stole paper)- something that should be expected to be taken).

Once the whole fiasco was over we went to admire Lake Tai at the Liyuan Garden- I believe this is the same place we went to from the previous day, perhaps on the opposite side. I remember most of the surroundings, and we saw the same bridge also.

 How very familiar...

 Aw. How cute, they are holding hands. #oldpeople

 This is the lover shelter, or so they call it. If you take a picture with the person you like here, your love will be fulfilled or you will stay together forever.

  It's the Ferris wheel again and a cool looking ship- I think it's a restaurant inside.

After this, we went to the pearl breading shop. First they bring you to a mini lecture room and show you a video on how pearls are breaded and made into jewelry, oh yea, and they serve you tea too. After the video, a salesperson will open up a calm that they breaded and show you the pearls inside. Inside one calm there's around 4-6 mini pearls. 

You can see some pink pearls on the left.

Later, they bring you upstairs to the shopping area. My mother, even though i protested bought 2 necklaces, a earring, and some pearl powder. Pearl powder was 250RMB and we shared the cost with another group member. The sale girls was like the jewelry are all on sale, it's so cheap, buy it. It's not that expensive, but for fake pearls, yea, it's expensive. It was 2 for 300RMB, for jewelry that you can find on ebay for $0.99CND. As a side note, on tripadvisor one user indicated that they tried to sell the necklaces to him/her for 150RMB for 2!! We were in that shop for what feels like eternity, because the wealthy tourists were surrounded by the manger and higher up sales people and the tour-guide. Now at this point, the tour guide became a expert on pearls. WOW! Many expertise. I mean, the tour-guide was sitting right beside our group members and even brought them into a secret room. I kid you not. ONLY the wealthy members of our group were inside. The wall opened after the manager pressed the password and then it swiftly closed again. I walked by that wall so many times, and I didn't even notice. JEEPERS. I caught a glimpse from afar of the secret room; the room had jewelry displayed like a museum, and there were sofas and tea offered to the members. Also testimonies were given from our group members. lawl. 

We selected the pearl necklaces from here.

My mother kept on forcing me to pick a necklace, and honestly, I don't like pearls- just not my style. The sales lady kept on following me and asking me "do you like this, how bout this." They just don't get it - I like none. In the end, my sister chose 2 for herself. Almost every member of our group walked out of the store with a bag in their hands. An humorous incident happened here, one of the older lady in our group (she came on this trip with her friend) was looking at pearl necklaces and trying them on. She told the sales lady the price was too expensive and started to walk away and the sales lady "literally" chased after her. Hilarious! She grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the counter to negotiate the price. I guess our member wants it to be 1/4 of the price lol. The sales lady was very stern on the price and said no and when our member was on the elevator down to the lobby, the sales lady chased her down and brought her back up again. HAHAHA. I didn't stay for the whole thing but in the end she bought it- with the price that she wanted.

Now it was time for us to head over to Suzhou!

First stop in Suzhou was the Yixing Clay Teapot Museum. The tour-guide reminded us not to wonder off, and he also said that we need to listen even if we don`t understand because the "boss" will be showing us around- which is obviously directed at me and my sister. This "museum" was quite informative, it has both Chinese and English information next to pictures. The museum showed different kinds of teapots, how it's made, type of materials, etc. The "boss" only spoke Mandarin, so I didn't understand any of his "blabbering." Later he brought us to a room with a long table and told us to sit and he prepared some tea for us too. While we drank tea, he showed us different teapots. After showing us the 3 sets of teapots we can look around the room. The room was displayed with many different teapots- all different color, materials, designs and with the price-tag underneath- nevertheless, it was very pretty. Two group members wanted to buy the tea set, the first one was the company boss and his wife, the second was and wealthy elderly couple (you can tell that they are wealthy by their posture, aura, speech and manners). The "company boss" and his wife said they will buy all three sets for souvenirs - and it was right here that the teapot "boss" said he will bring out the most expensive teapot and show them. I believe it was $5000CND for that set. It was very pretty, but in a tourist area like this- way overpriced. Yes, they brought it- as the wife said that her brother is a teapot fanatic and it would be a superb gift. And yes the old couple also brought one. 

On the itinerary, we were supposed to go for a Shan Tang ancient City tour, but did not. We skipped this and went to our next destination and met with a new female tour guide at the Lingering Garden. 

 Lingering Garden entrance

 Bamboo threes at the back.

  How the wealthy people lived in the olden times.

When our new tour-guide was showing us around, I've noticed a local? Asian girl around my age was following us. I bet she thought it was a free tour. LAWL. Twenty minutes into the tour, the tour-guide asked the girl if she was with us- the girl replied, "no" and the tour-guide told her that she needs to leave because we paid for this - awkwardly embarrassing.

Our final attraction for the day was a cruise along Suzhou ancient grand canal.

We got on one of these small boat.

Some scenic views during the canal ride.

You also pass by some residential houses- a glimpse into their lives as they usually have the door open so you can see into the kitchen or living area.

And then there's this lady who sings while you're on the cruise - a Suzhou song.

Apparently Suzhou was famous for their beautiful women, but as the tour-guide jokes, "there's none now"- they all moved.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant near the ocean. Just before the dinner, almost all the women decided to go to the washroom; what entailed was long line of women waiting for 1 stall because the toilet for the other stall did not work. My mother informed the employee of the issue and the employee just shrugged it off and indicated that it was not her job. Also there are signs saying not to flush toilet paper in the toilet cause you may clog it up and the flush in China is generally very weak.

The night view from outside the restaurant.

The tour-guide was blabbering about life while we enjoyed the scenery.

Grand Metropark Hotel Suzhou

The room was HUGE!! The biggest one during the tour! Too bad, we only had one night here.

I quite dislike how the washroom are always those frosted glass (not technically see-through)- you can see the silhouette of the person inside- see what they are doing; it's just so uncomfortable even with a family of women.