Su Zhou

Our second day docked at the port of Shanghai was spent in the ancient city of Su Zhou, a town that makes an unforgettable presentation of traditional Chinese culture. After a two-hour drive we arrived at the old canals of Su Zhou where we boarded a boat for a ride through the old waterways. Homes and markets line the canals. All of the everyday activities of laundry, bathing, cooking and cleaning were in view. After the canal ride we visited the embroidery institute where we saw master craft women creating incredibly intricate and beautiful works of art. Our favorite piece was a six-panel, five-foot tall screen that took two women three years to complete. It depicted egrets amid bamboo. For a mere $269,000, we could have brought it home with us. After a Chinese lunch at a hotel, we headed to a classical Chinese park called The Humble Administrator’s Garden about 50 miles west of Shanghai. I gave up trying to capture photos that were not crowded with a multitude of tourists. The ride back to the ship was three hours long because of Friday rush hour traffic. We ran to our rooms, changed clothes and headed out to celebrate Gil’s birthday at Manfredi’s on the ship, while our designated driver Captain Knutsen set sail for Hong Kong. This morning we were surrounded by Chinese “fishing boats.“ I counted over 70 from our balcony. It is amazing how many of these “fishing boats “ have so much electronic equipment. This afternoon Chuck and I took a Chinese cooking class and a long napBaca selengkapnya