Suzhou and Sticky Rice

So traffic in China is pretty intense. Kind of like LA at rush hour, only here it's rush hour 24/7.  And you know those things we have at home called traffic lights and pedestrian walk/don't walk signs?  Well, they have them here, too, but the difference is that in the States, we regard the lights as the law, plain and simple. Red means stop and green means go. Not so much here in China. Here drivers view traffic lights and pedestrian signs more as suggestions and you see people barreling through intersections on red lights and while people are in the crosswalks so you'd better watch out while you're crossing the street.  Never, ever assume that you have the right of way as a pedestrian.  You don't, period.  Our tour guides told us to make sure to all stick together like sticky rice when we cross the street.  I guess drivers here are less likely to try to thin the herd if the herd is large.  So that's our new catch phrase for when we need to stick together or cross the street.  The Chinese must wonder what on earth those foreigners are doing when they're crossing the street and yelling "Sticky rice!"  Crazy Americans, party of four!

On Thursday we traveled to a water city called Suzhou.  It's known as the Venice of the east because of the canals there.  It was such a charming town.  Funny that in China, this city of two million people is only considered a town.  I guess that compared to Shanghai, a city of 22 million people, it's pretty small potatoes.  It's an old city, built around 600 b.c., which by American standards is absolutely mind-boggling!  We took a cruise on the canals and then were taken to an amazing 11-course Chinese lunch.  The food was absolutely amazing! 

After lunch, we toured the Master of Nets garden, part of which is replicated at the Met in NYC.  It was such a beautiful, tranquil place, and we really enjoyed seeing it. 

Then it was on to the highlight of the day, a rickshaw ride through the streets of Suzhou.  The rickshaws were what we would call pedicabs in the States.  I don't think anyone manually pulls these things anymore - at least I hope not.  It was so much fun!  Just picture the scene - 15 rickshaws racing down the streets of Suzhou, filled with foreigners and zig-zagging through traffic and down narrow alleyways.  People were waiving at us and taking our pictures as we zoomed by.  Jill and I rode together and we just decided to waive and say "Ni hao" (hello) to everyone we passed.  We were greeted with smiles and laughter, which made us laugh too. Everyone in our group had an absolute blast.  It's definitely an experience we will never forget!