As I said, yesterday we went to Tongli (同里, in mandarin), a small town near Suzhou. On of the many Venices of China (why is it that there are plenty of "Venice of..." in nearly anywhere?). We were quite a big group, 25:

Indeed, Togli is full of canals where there is a Chinese version of the gondola. In order to raise the romanticism, the gondoliere instead of singing, every now and then, rinses his throat and spits a king-size spit. Later on, of course, the town cleaning service, has to work overtime to clean the canal from loating elements:


Suzhou area became really wealthy with silk trade and, in some houses, one can feel the well-off position of the owners:

Most of the houses are a small labyrinth. At the begining, one has the impression they consist only of a small patio and a single room. That's it. However, if one looks around (and, in tht aspect, my group, Gary, Robyn and Charlotte, were real good), one can find a back door, a small narrow lateral corridor, used by service people that leads to the back of the house, where the important part of the house really is. The first room was used to entertain not-so important visits and to keep a clear separation beteen the private and the public lifes.

Room by the entrance, apparently here is nothing else, but behind the wall in the middle, there is a door to the garden/SMALL>


My group: the ones who always could find the backdoor


The backyard


The true garden, the on the side


As ou see, everything is well hiden. Tongli is about water and has places that really invite to relax, to chill out and meditation (only if, as in any tourist place in China, it was not packed with visitors and people trying to sell nearly anything):

There are plenty more pictures in my picasaweb album.
The trip was really amazing. Eu Jin, a true genius for organizing it. We spent the whole day walking amongst canals, enjoying a not-so tourist area in China, just one hour and a half away from Shanghai. The first day-trip I do here. And it was really good.

To finish my day, Stefano (a friend from Barcelona) arrived on holiday in Shanghai and we went to walk down the Bund and to have a drink at Bar Rouge.