Week 3
It’s already the third week in China and we’ve gotten pretty used to our hostel life, but outside of school there’s still so many places to explore. This week, we spent non-lesson days uncovering the Bamboo Forest as well as traveling to SuZhou.
True to its name, the bamboo forest was filled with bamboo trees everywhere. We couldn’t help but admire the beauty of our scenic environment as we looked around the site.
5 minutes into entering the forest, we came across this pavilion named 洗心亭, which claims to provide you with a peace of mind as you rest in it.
On Saturday we took the train to SuZhou. It was a refreshing experience, taking domestic rides across cities in China as we wouldn’t have the chance to do so in Singapore.
The first place we visited was 留园, also known as the Lingering Garden. It is a renowned classical Chinese garden that possesses cultural and architectural values.
We also had our first experience in getting scammed in China! We asked for a boat trip under an hour’s duration, but due to miscommunication between the middle-man and the boat owner, we couldn’t take the trip as it would take too long and make us miss our train back to Hangzhou. When we asked for a refund, the middle-man refused to give us back our money as he said it was a done deal already, even though we didn’t even board the boat. In the end we only got back half the payment (20yuan of 40yuan). Even though it was unpleasant, it was still a good experience! And we’re glad it didn’t cost us too much time or money.
Overall it was a fun trip, especially cause of the company
Looking forward to traveling to other parts of China!
