Weekend In Sozhou China

Sure am, this hotel makes staying in foreign county way too easy!

 

The Drunken Chef, Lowenbraus (?) and the Blue Marlin were all good places to go when I was there in '06 & '07. Stayed at the Renaissance then, too.

 

And, if you run across Rodney Fee, kick him in the balls.

 

Longdong expressway? AHAHAHAHAHHA

 

Was Zapata's by Jinji lake, if so that looks like a good place to go.
Spent most of the day walking around. Over to the lake, then to the old historic district, probably covered 10 -12 miles.

 

Went to the Blue Marlin tonight, great place. The guide who showed me around the Humble administrators garden, the museum and old Suzhou joined me with two of her collage room mates.

 

Done! Bought a Zippo Lighter.

 

Pics!

 

My wife was there for 3 weeks earlier in the year. She says the Bullet Train is a MUST DO!

 

Yup. Try the bullet train.

You're in China right now???? Son of b . . . .

 

Rode the bullet train into Suzhou this morning. Walked around the embassy area, then the French Concession area, then the pearl tower. Scary standing on what looks like glass and looking down ~ 300 meters. Here until the end of the week.

 

You mean you rode the train into Shanghai?
I was in Suzhou for almost 2 years.
The best western bars in Shanghai are Malone's, the Big Bamboo, the Baby Bamboo, and the Blue Marlin. Malones and the Bamboo sponsor a lot of western ex-pats men's leagues. Hockey, Softball, etc. So they get a ton of good feedback on the food, music, etc.

That lighter wasn't made in the US.

If you're going to buy the stupid junk, offer 1/4 to 1/10 of their first offer. For ref:
The fake rolex watchs about 10-15 USD, or like 90 RMB
Jeans and shoes, no more than 125 RMB.
CD/DVD 10 RMB max and expect 1 in 5 don't work at all, and the 4 that work will skip, the menus won't work and the picture will be darker than it should.
Best advice is don't buy it, or don't pay anymore than you'd feel comfortable with knowing you'll probably either throw it in the trash or customs will take it.

 

+1 on the 10%-25% of their first offer to you.

Eat the food, it is awesome.

Drink bottled water.

Careful of pick pockets.

Lots of hot asian girls.

Go get some massages. Service industry stuff is REALLY cheap. I got a 4 hour massage for 30 dollars.

 

Yes you are correct rode the train into Shanghai, very impressive city. I could see staying here for more then 3 weeks.

I hope the zippo is real, it was at a mall near the hotel that is zippo store. A bunch of other foreign made brand stores are there as well.

 

I could be wrong. I don't know zippo specifically, but when I arrived (some of it was since shut down) there were Nike stores, North Face stores, Oakley huts, even Honda Motorcycles at the other local dealers, etc that were all childese made fakes.

 

This and this^^.

The massages are not (necessarily) the seedy Asian massage parlors like we have on the wrong-side-of-the-tracks in the US. They are for real massages....and they rock. I got one in Guandong in about 1999 and I still remember that. Wow.

 

I loved Shanghai. The Bund is nice for a great view of the river, but there's a strip of clubs/bars that has a lot more going on. I dont remember the name, but it was very americanesque and a great time. I do remember that it had a Davidoff cuban cigar store there if that helps.

Edit: I think it was called Xintiandi...very cool outdoor/indoor bar atmosphere.

 

Back in Suzhou this week, siting at the blue marlin bar. Going to meet a friend in Beijing Friday night, for dinner. Then will have most of next week free, need to be in Guangzhou the following week. What should I do ? I have been to Xi’an, Lanzhou, Xining, duahuang, Shenzhen, Beijing.

 

Hong Kong. Or, head to Bangkok.

 

Go to the Dong factory and get me some spare parts for the Broncho.