Suzhou

On Sunday myself and a colleague decided to brave the Chinese rail system and take a day trip to Suzhou about a 40 minute train ride. The train stations in China are massive and packed much like every where else. There are various waiting rooms for trains and line ups in the waiting rooms to go to the platform.
We got on the train and got off in Suzhou no problem. Once leaving the train station hall, a group of people come around me, since I stand out a bit, asking things in Chinese/English mostly involving taxis. We end up going to a stand that promises a day trip around the city to 2 gardens, a boat ride and ending in the historic downtown, and it is all in English. We sign up and get in an old van. The garden was pretty and had a good look out, then we went to the canals, the city is call the Venice of the East, due to all the canals through the city. It was a nice ride and there was a guide that told us all about the area, the history, the architecture, the people and the local economy.... well at least that is what I am guessing, because it was all in Chinese!
I normally would not be annoyed but that was the major selling point for us. So by this time we are wondering if we are still on the correct tour since we were switching buses so often. We went to a temple for some music, and then everyone got up and left, then went to a silk museum where someone spoke very softly to us in English, while another tour guide yelled into an micro phone. It was all too funny. I think it was a crash course in Suzhou as well as Chinese.
We made another stop and had to sit through what I think was an info-mercial on pearl powder, which is some form of lotion since she put it on all of us.
We managed to find a place to eat, though the meat choices were far from what we were used to (Chicken feet, Pigs feet, Claw, shark fin, fish heads... the list goes on). I went vegetarian for the evening. Overall it was a great day, a lot of laughs. I will post pictures of my favorite signs soon.