Chinese Venice
In this story, I would like to tell you, reader, about a few days that my husband and I spent in China. I had never been to Asia before, so this trip caused me certain emotions. Firstly, my husband appreciates Asian culture and has even talked more than once about moving to live in one of the countries of Asia, for example, in China. And secondly, this culture seemed to me somehow strange, far from us, incomprehensible. So I was afraid that I would be uncomfortable there. For me, this week-long trip to the conference (we went there to present a scientific paper at a conference on our topic) meant a lot.
The conference was held in Suzhou, one of the ancient Chinese cities located not far from Shanghai. The history of Suzhou is about 2500 years old. The historical center of Suzhou, around which the modern city has grown, stands on the Great Canal of China and for many centuries was the most important transport and commercial center of the Jiangnan region - the richest part of the country (quote from Wikipedia). Since the city was built on water, it is also called the Venice of China, despite the fact that it was built long before Venice itself. So Venice is more like the Italian Suzhou.
Modern Suzhou combines the distant past and the innovative, technological present. Walking around the city, you can be surprised at many such “connecting” moments, for example, how numerous Chinese, chatting on smartphones that are now fashionable, are waiting for a bus at a bus stop made in the shape of a beautiful pagoda. The historical center of Suzhou amazes visitors with its ancient stone bridges, ancient pagodas and artfully laid out gardens. The gardens of Suzhou are considered the most beautiful in all of China - and rightly so, I think. There is an old saying in China: "There is heaven in heaven, there is Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth. " "Heaven on earth" Suzhou began to be called precisely because of its beautiful gardens.
We visited only one of the gardens, set around one of the main attractions of Suzhou - Tiger Mountain. This is a huge territory, walking along which you can admire various trees and flowers, a rock garden, small lakes with pavilions where they used to drink tea or enjoy a beautiful view, and much more. Between the small lakes, you can walk along the old bridges, on most of which stone lions sit. These lions are not at all the same as in Russia, they are more like chow-chow dogs. The name of this breed is translated from Chinese as "dog - shaggy lion. "
Why is Tigris Mountain so named? According to legend, the tomb of one of the rulers of the kingdom of Wu (an appanage kingdom in ancient China) was built on this mountain, which was guarded by a rare white tiger for several days after his funeral. It is believed that all his treasures were hidden in the grave of this ruler. The tomb was erected for three years by 100.000 civilians, and it was built in the strictest secrecy, and the entrance to it has not yet been discovered. More than a thousand years ago, the famous Huqiu pagoda was erected on Tiger Mountain, which, after 500 years, was a little lopsided, and therefore it is often compared with the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
It is worth saying that, despite the numerous places where you can enjoy peace and tranquility, life in the city is in full swing from early morning. There are few foreign tourists in the city, but Chinese from all over their country come to admire Suzhou. Locals also love to walk around their city - for example, when we walked through one of the most famous old quarters of Suzhou, with numerous old shops with a variety of goods (fans, Chinese silk, embroidery, hairpins, traditional clothes, umbrellas), Chinese lanterns and small eateries demonstrating all the delights of local cuisine - it was not overcrowded. Couples in love, families with children and just friends - everyone went for a walk to relax and have fun.
Food in China is very diverse. All dishes are quite sweet. Usually, a meal is served with several sauces. In general, there are a lot of different sauces in China, they harmoniously complement the main taste of dishes. It is best to get acquainted with traditional cuisine in small home restaurants, but without Chinese-speaking acquaintances, this is difficult to do. The menu in such restaurants is served only in Chinese, even without pictures, and without knowledge of Chinese or without an assistant, you can only choose at random. We were lucky - with the help of a special site on the Internet, we met a girl and a guy from China, and they took turns showing us Suzhou, its sights and cuisine. The Chinese have a few interesting things about food. First, when they eat, they slurp. It is worth saying that this is not at all annoying, but, on the contrary, even touches. In China, munching while eating shows that you like the food. Secondly, when the Chinese eat in a company, they share food. If in our country, upon arrival at a restaurant, everyone orders a dish for themselves and eats it, then in China, as a rule, all ordered dishes are placed in the center of the table and everyone takes a little for himself. Thirdly, in China it is not customary to eat meat for breakfast - as a rule, they eat a few side dishes and drink their soy milk. Because of this tradition, we refused to have breakfast at the hotel and bought food in local shops or had breakfast in a cafe. Fourthly, in average restaurants in Suzhou you will not find a fork - only chopsticks and a large spoon for soup. My husband was fine with chopsticks, but I had to eat with a spoon or with my hands. Fifthly, the Chinese practically do not drink coffee, which I love so much. Only cold and sweet, like a latte, with lots of milk and sweeteners. It is very difficult to find good coffee, and during the whole trip I drank it only once in the famous American coffee chain Starbucks.
When you travel somewhere far from home, you certainly want to bring gifts to your friends and family. We did not think long about what to bring to our small homeland - of course, tea! Despite the stereotype accepted in Russia that everything is cheap in China, everything is actually far from it. Good tea is very expensive, especially if you buy it in tea shops in the city center. In order to buy tea, we went to a special tea market. This market has many small pavilions where you can buy all kinds of teas. No one invites you to his place, as is commonly believed; all the vendors are sitting quietly in their shops. In such a market, it is also difficult to do without knowledge of Chinese or an escort, since most of the sellers do not speak English. When you choose tea, you certainly try everything and talk with the seller, even if you know what kind of tea you need. We were surprised by the high cost of the local variety of tea "spring snail tea" - 1000 yuan per kilogram. Translated into our money, this amounts to about 6.000 rubles. Such a cost of tea, according to our Chinese friend, is quite adequate, average. By the way, we did not feel a special taste of this tea - ordinary green tea, in our opinion. Going to another vendor, we tried jasmine flower tea (about 250 yuan/1.500 rubles per pound): one flower is taken and poured with boiling water. In the process of brewing such tea, the flower blooms - an incredibly beautiful sight! We wanted to buy a milky oolong tea, a type of Chinese tea that is very popular here in Russia. What we were offered to try was far from what they offer in Russia. As I read later, for Europeans who appreciate subtleties less and prefer pronounced tastes and smells, a special kind of tea is produced called "Milk Oolong", which is artificially flavored. It costs, of course, much cheaper than average teas in China, since it is put on stream, and the quality of tea is not the highest - aromatization hides a lot. Instead of the desired milk oolong, we purchased ginseng tea (about 300 yuan/1800 rubles per half kilo). It has a very pleasant taste, delicate, sweetish, sweetened. In addition to a pleasant taste, ginseng is also very useful. Its properties improve digestion, promote relaxation of the nervous system and, accordingly, reduce tension. Ginseng is used when you need to improve immunity, it strengthens and tones the body. This drink is indicated for people with diseases such as arthritis, asthma, diabetes, and is effective against headaches and stomach ulcers. In general, just a treasure for healing the body!
On the way back, an adventure awaited us - we mixed up the airports and realized this two hours before departure! That was panic! Moreover, it is worth noting the equanimity of Chinese drivers - we run up to the bus, we say that our plane flies in an hour and a half (it takes about an hour to drive from one airport to another), and we are ready to go even standing, to which we are calmly answered: “You will have time! Get on the next bus, it will come in 20 minutes! And the truth is, they did. There is still time left. Since then, we have been checking tickets and the place of departure dozens of times.
This is such an interesting trip! I hope that I did not tire you too much with my story, and that it was interesting and useful for you to read about our adventures. I would like to say a big thank you to the Lazarevskoye travel agency (Tomsk) for helping us organize our trip!
