I decided instead then to head to the closer city of Wuxi (无錫), since I had planned to be in the beautiful city of Suzhou (蘇州) the next day, and Suzhou is between Wuxi and Shanghai. The train took me to Wuxi in an about an hour, and I hopped on a bus to head out to Hehui Rd (何惠路), near the Xihui Park (錫惠公園). My borrowed Lonely Planet guidebook from 2002 had referred me to a place I could stay at near Qinggongye University. I wandered up and down the street for sometime, but the first things that caught my attention was the food. Really cheap food. These excellent glutinous rice shaomai only went for 0.5 RMB:
And a 斤 (approx equal to 1 lb)of bread costs about 4 RMB. I got half a 斤 of "egg with bread", and another half 斤 of "spicy bread," which was really flavorful:
Unfortunately though, I had a much harder time finding the cheap lodging facilities mentioned in Lonely Planet. I did find a university, but after talking to the security guard there, I discovered that the university I was looking for has since moved away! Another university had taken its place, and nobody knew what I was talking about. Things like this would rarely happen in the US, but in China, guidebooks get outdated fast.
I finally found another place for reasonable rates, at the plaza where the shaomai lady was doing business. For 100 RMB, I got myself a really shoddy, but liveable room (at least the floor was decent and there weren't any cockroaches):
A sign in the bathroom cautioned guests not to use too much hot water, as all the heat is generated by solar energy, and there's not always enough to go around.
By the time I was all set, I spent my remaining hour of sunlight trying to figure out how to get to Xihui Park. I wandered accidentally into a random hutong, and tried to get directions but the small roads were numerous as were their forks, and they seemed to snake on in odd directions. The people were pleasant, and now I feel I should have probably spent more time in the countryside rather than living in Shanghai. It's probably cheaper in the countryside anyways, even though I already have a place to live in Shanghai.
Anyhow, I ended up finding the park at dusk and it had just closed. Went to bed early, got up late (slept badly again), and spent the next day at Xihui Park:
...and walked in a dragon's mouth:
...before hiking up a hill and a 6-story pagoda:
where I was hoping to see scenic views of the nearby Tai Lake, only to be disappointed that the view was blocked by a slightly taller hill. However, I could see Wuxi, and the busy traffic on the Grand Canal, which cuts through it:
And so I hiked up that hill next, only to have the view be obstructed by trees. I had to take another trail along the top of the hill to a better location, only to have most of the view obstructed by the fog/smog:
By that time, I had wandered way past my allotted time in Wuxi, and so I asked a local at the top of the hill the fastest way down, and so he pointed me down a steep, rocky trail:
Apparently it only takes 10+ minutes for them to "run" down, but probably 30 minutes for newcomers like me. Seeing that as a challenge, I tried my best to "run" down the trail and nearly tumbled down the mountain in record time. Fortunately, I caught my balance each time, and so made it all the way to the bottom relatively unscathed:
Then I tried hopping on a train to Suzhou, but they were all booked. I got a cab instead. He took the highway, but halfway down, the highway ended up being closed and we had to turn around. Needless to say, I made it to Suzhou rather late (4:30pm). From an efficiency standpoint, Wuxi was a terrible experience - I had planned to be there because it was closer and a better use of my time, but not only did I accomplish very little in terms of touring, but it also wrecked my schedule for Suzhou. On the other hand, nothing is so priceless as the mere experience of wandering aimlessly in China without a clue where you are and how to get to where you want to be.
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