Wuxi
Wuxi's Grand Canal in 1984
Wuxi is a 3,000-year-old city in East China’s Jiangsu Province. It makes a good day trip from Shanghai, since the trip only takes an hour by express train. Like everywhere else in China, the city is modernizing rapidly concentrating on industry but still remaining a popular tourism destination. The city has more than 200 tourist attractions, including the beautiful Lake Taihu.
We overnighted in Wuxi (pronounced woo-shee) on my first trip to China back in 1984. Upon arrival, we took a ride on the Grand Canal, part of a waterway that once connected Beijing and Shanghai. We stayed at a commune that was setting itself up as a living history museum of China’s past. Our group of American journalists was only the second group to stay there. For dinner that night, we broke into three groups to eat dinner with a Chinese family in their home. That was a highlight of the trip for me. The family didn’t speak English, we didn’t speak Chinese, but a good time was had by all. Toward the end of the evening, family members sang us Chinese folk songs. We reciprocated by singing Christmas carols.
The next day we were scheduled to take a boat ride on Lake Taihu, but it was raining so we just looked at the lake from the bus. As I remember there was only limited development around the lake.
In 2008, our Chinese friends took us to Wuxi. It was a beautiful spring day, and I finally got my ride on the lake. As we cruised across the lake, I noted skyscrapers lining the banks in the distance. Ah, progress. Our destination was an island in the lake that contained small temples, stone bridges and lots of blossoms. On our return we lunched at a lakeside restaurant and then went to a shop that specialized in selling Yixing teapots and accessories. My mouth fell open when I learned my friends paid the equivalent of $1,100US for an investment grade Yixing pottery tea set and that the shop had thrown in a $150US tea seat to seal the deal. Our friends gave us this lovely tea set but I’m too afraid to use it lest I break a delicate cup.
We overnighted in Wuxi at a Motel 68; this chain is China’s version of Motel 6. It was clean and conveniently located and we would use this chain again should the need arise. The next morning we continued on to Yixing, toured the ceramics museum and lots of tea shops before taking a bus back to Shanghai.
We overnighted in Wuxi (pronounced woo-shee) on my first trip to China back in 1984. Upon arrival, we took a ride on the Grand Canal, part of a waterway that once connected Beijing and Shanghai. We stayed at a commune that was setting itself up as a living history museum of China’s past. Our group of American journalists was only the second group to stay there. For dinner that night, we broke into three groups to eat dinner with a Chinese family in their home. That was a highlight of the trip for me. The family didn’t speak English, we didn’t speak Chinese, but a good time was had by all. Toward the end of the evening, family members sang us Chinese folk songs. We reciprocated by singing Christmas carols.
The next day we were scheduled to take a boat ride on Lake Taihu, but it was raining so we just looked at the lake from the bus. As I remember there was only limited development around the lake.
In 2008, our Chinese friends took us to Wuxi. It was a beautiful spring day, and I finally got my ride on the lake. As we cruised across the lake, I noted skyscrapers lining the banks in the distance. Ah, progress. Our destination was an island in the lake that contained small temples, stone bridges and lots of blossoms. On our return we lunched at a lakeside restaurant and then went to a shop that specialized in selling Yixing teapots and accessories. My mouth fell open when I learned my friends paid the equivalent of $1,100US for an investment grade Yixing pottery tea set and that the shop had thrown in a $150US tea seat to seal the deal. Our friends gave us this lovely tea set but I’m too afraid to use it lest I break a delicate cup.
We overnighted in Wuxi at a Motel 68; this chain is China’s version of Motel 6. It was clean and conveniently located and we would use this chain again should the need arise. The next morning we continued on to Yixing, toured the ceramics museum and lots of tea shops before taking a bus back to Shanghai.
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Copyright 2012 by Cheryl Probst. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2012 by Cheryl Probst. All rights reserved.