Dragon Pond Scenic Park

Dragon Pond Scenic Park is an excellent one day get away and it is located right here in Suzhou in the SND Area. It has fun and games for all ages. It is considered a AAAA ecological park. The entrance fee for the park is 60 RMB ($8.76 US). Lunch can be a nice picnic lunch somewhere in the park or a variety of local food can be purchased at very reasonable prices. We really did not know about this park until our Chinese teacher invited us for a field trip in some very nice spring weather.


One of the activities my son enjoyed was the bungee jumping. Everyone had a turn at the bungee jump, but my son had the most fun. It was his first time and he really enjoyed flying in the clouds. He did this activity twice!




Also, in the park was a very nice playground with many physical activities. I think the kids could just run around for hours in this playground and never get tired. I had fun challenging myself to a few physical activities.

In the middle of the area there are two ponds. The two ponds are divided by a waterfall. One side of the water fall has water hamster balls. This activity is quite difficult and my son had a very hard time standing up, let alone getting the ball to roll in the water. He spent many minutes falling down inside the ball! The other side of the pond has paddle boats that can be used for a leisure stroll around the pond.

One of the best activities to do in this park is climb. There are areas around the park that one can climb to get a magnificent view of the city and the park. It is a truly fun experience to climb up the hills and relax while enjoying all mother nature has to offer.

We all enjoyed this activity and when we reached the top of the hill, we took a group picture. I recommend anyone looking for a nice day out in the sun visit this park. Bus 333 goes directly to the park!

A Late Dinner

Last night was an interesting night. What made the night interesting was our late night stop for food. We would have "dinner" or "breakfast", which ever one you prefer, at 1:30 am at a local Chinese restaurant. This adventure would be a continuation of my localization process.

Our trip to dinner began with breaking one of the unwritten rules a foreigner should never do. We would take a "illegal" taxi to our dinner destination. This taxi does not have a meter and the fair should usually be negotiated before you get into the taxi. When I visited our assembly plant in Beijing, I have had to take many of these "illegal" taxis. The town where the facility is located is very small and it costs 10 RMB ($1.46 US) to get to any destination in town. Our local friends negotiated and payed or taxi fair.

We arrived at a local hot pot restaurant 新招鲜. Hot pot is kind of like create your own meal. You choose from many things on the menu and dump them in the pot wait until they are cooked and eat up. The menu was completely in Chinese and our friends ordered all the food we would eat for our late dinner.

We had chicken. When people in the states think about chicken we usually think about the chicken wings, chicken breasts, thighs and legs. Well, at this restaurant, the chicken was chopped up and included the feet, the head, the liver, and the heart. Well, it included the whole chicken. Not a single piece of this animal would go to waste. We also had three different types of green vegetables, potatoes, lotus root, and probably pork intestines. The most interesting part of this dinner was.......

Yes, it is the brain. I have no idea of what animal this brain comes from, but it definitely was too big to be a chicken. Well, all this food went into the pot and cooked to perfection to be eaten. Everything would become a nice mixture of flavor. Many of you are probably asking yourselves if I was able to eat the brain. I have to say everything was very tasty except for one green vegetable which tasted very bad. I have to say the little bit of brain I did eat was much better than the green vegetable.

Tasting the brain was a must do activity. First of all, one never knows if they would actually like the food unless they taste it. Secondly, as part of my localization process, I have to not only experience everyday activities, but also try more local food.

The brain looks much better cooked, but probably too hard for some to eat. As far as my thoughts on localization and getting into the cultural experience, I had to try it.

Many companies talk about localization, but fall way short in their aggressiveness to localize. Their concept of localization is using international companies to supply parts to them which they can buy locally in China or dealing with international companies to buy their products. This concept is like eating KFC in China and saying you have eaten local food. The real cost savings and money to made will come from buying parts from Chinese suppliers or selling parts to Chinese companies. It is extremely risky, but if you don't try it you will never know the true concept of localization.

PHEBE BAR

Last weekend for Valentine's Day, a friend and I decided to take our wives out dancing and drinking to celebrate this special day. We decided to go on Friday to avoid the large crowds on Saturday.

This bar is fairly new and it is located at the intersection of Zhu Hui Lu and Ren Min Lu (竹辉路 & 人民路). I have been there a few times and it is always packed with people. The bar has two floors and many tables to sit or stand, to drink, and to play Chinese drinking games. The bar does not have a live band, but it has very good DJs and small stages where various singers will stand on the stages and sing different types of songs.

The bar actually gets really full and I recommend calling ahead of time and booking a table. The minimum spending for a table is 600 RMB ($87.59). For this price, you can get a 12 year old scotch bottle, a fruit plate, and three or four snacks. We eventually broke down and had to purchase more green tea to mix with the scotch. Also, outside the bar is a local barbecue street food stand that sells all kind of treats like fish, vegetables, meats, mushrooms, tofu and many more snacks. I have never purchased bottles at any bars in the US, so I do not have a measure of comparison to know if this is really expensive or not.

The atmosphere inside is really fun. The place is hopping with people dancing, playing dice games, drinking, and having a good time! The music is good. We played a few drinking games, danced, went outside to enjoy the street food. We ended up drinking a few rounds with some people from the tables near by. I recommend it!

Another Haircut:师傅我想理发！

Well, hair grows really fast and it was time for a trim. Looking for an adventure, I had decided to localize the haircutting experience. Previously, I had always went to the "high" end haircut salons which cost over 40 RMB ($5.84 US). Most locals usually do not pay over 15 RMB ($2.19 US) for a haircut.

For the localizing experience, I would try the local barber shop at the Suzhou University (高教区). This place would be where the students would go for a cost effective haircut. For the 15 RMB one would get a wash, a cut, another wash, and a blow dry. Unlike the high end places, there would be no massage.

The barber shop seemed more like a production line area for haircuts. There were at least 12 different cutting stations and all were occupied with people getting their haircuts. There was also hair all over the floor. I suppose cleaning came during a dry spell with a lack of clients or when the day finishes if the shop remains full. During my time at the shop, I did not see the floor being cleaned. During mass production, there isn't much time to clean up.

I arrived at the shop and proceeded to tell one of the barbers that I wanted a haircut. First I was lead to the shampoo station. Unlike the high end haircut I previously talked about, the shampoo would be in the basin and not seated at the chair. I think this made the process much faster and the time from customer to customer shorter. There was a waiting line for cuts. After, the shampoo I was taken to the cutting station. The station consisted basically of a mirror with different combs on the little table to comb the hair. There was no disinfectant for the combs and all had hair on them. I would tell the barber that I just wanted a trim and I did not want it too short. that was as about as specific as I got. He got to work and finished up my hair quiet quickly and I must say did an excellent job. After the cut, he took me for a wash and then brought me back to blow dry my hair. The job was finished and the price was right. I would pay him for the cut and be on my way.

What makes the cost so different? Well, at the high end salons, we start with the girl that shows you the menu for the haircut. She is also the girl that runs the register when you pay. Then, their is a team of shampoo and massage specialist that start the process by washing your hair and giving you a nice back massage. The stylist or barber would follow and cut your hair to your specification. After the cut another shampoo specialist washes your hair and then the stylist will blow dry your hair. Then the shampoo specialist also cleans the hair from the shop floor.

There are two differences I noted between the two places that would drive the cost up. First at the high end salon, you are paying for a team to cut your hair. At the local barber shop, you pay a one man team for the whole process. Second, one pays for the cleanliness of the facility. I would think it would be hard for someone who is used to very clean barber shop to have their haircut at the low end facility. Combs and machines are shared between people who can be having their hair cut side by side or across the room. Also, I saw some trimmers being picked up off the floor with hair on them. Just a little quick blow to clean the hair off, and it was then on your head.

I really enjoyed the experience. Even though hygiene was not a top priority at the shop, its customers kept coming back for more haircuts. They were not at all concerned. It reminded me of an article that I read sometime ago in the US that had mentioned that we have been too preoccupied with cleanliness that we were not helping our bodies to build up our natural defenses. Hopefully, my body will get stronger from this experience. 哈哈！

元宵 Lantern Festival

Monday was the fifteenth day since the Chinese New Year began. It is the day where the first full moon of the year should be visible in the sky. Also, it marks the end of the holiday season. It is the last night to hear, see, and feel the Chinese New Year festive atmosphere.

In Suzhou, the New Year celebration closes with the Lantern Festival at the Pan Men Gate. The festival includes games, food, fireworks, and many other activities. On our way to the festival we would see many people preparing to send out their flying lanterns into the sky with all their New Year wishes. They would light up the lantern and let it float away into the sky. Many hundreds of lanterns would fill the night sky.

Also, fireworks would bring a constant buzz from all over the city. Everyone was celebrating the full moon. Fireworks were literally over my head and such an impressive site.

One of the things that makes the Lantern Festival such a special event are the thousands of people who go to the festival. There is literally a sea of people, as the Chinese would say, 人山人海! The most interesting thing of the night is crossing the bridge to the festival. It is one tiny bridge that fills up with so many people that one is helpless to move and completely at the mercy of what the crowd will do. My son describes the feeling of being in this crowd as being squeezed by an anaconda. This helpless feeling I think is pretty much what a foreigner would feel. I felt that the locals were pretty much accustomed to these type of crowds although many of the locals I know do not like to go to the festival because of all the people.

Once you reached the other side, there are many carnival games being played. These would include games with darts and balls to win a lucky prize. Also, there was local food including the special foods for the festival. The special food to eat this day are small little dumplings balls called 元宵. Below are some pictures of local foods served at the festival.

This festival can not be called the Lantern Festival without the presence of lanterns. All over the festival grounds one can see many different type of lanterns. They are all very beautiful and decorate the festival grounds. Historically, these lanterns should have a puzzle on them and the family would get together try to solve the puzzles and eat 元宵.

Suzhou Times Square: Worlds Largest LED Screen

Time Square in Suzhou has the largest LED screen in the world. The screen is over 500m long and spans from one end of Time Square crossing a street to the other end of Time Square. I have been looking forward to seeing this marvel in action. I have been to Time Square during the day and was not able to see the screen turned on and I have also been to Time Square at night and did not see the screen turned on.

Well, Friday night we decided to have dinner at Time Square. We arrived just before 7:30 pm and noticed quite a few people outside sitting down and looking up. It seems that they were all waiting for something to happen. And then it did. Over the loud speaker a voice announced that the show was about to begin. All of a sudden, the screen went blue. A few advertisements begin to appear on the screen. After the advertising finished, the show began. It started with fireworks on the screen and then it showed some beautiful flowers and clouds. It then had a small tribute to the new year with all the animals from the Chinese horoscope, dragons, and of course the ox. It was an incredible site to see! I feel lucky I actually took my camera with me this day. Below you can see a few beautiful pictures of the screen. The first one is from the east end of time square and the second photo is from the west end.

Suzhou Times Square at Night

I was still in search of the Largest LED screen in the world located at Times Square. The last trip it had eluded me. I was still determined to find it. I would make a night trip to Times Square to see if it would be visible.

So I decided to take the family out to dinner to a new restaurant in Suzhou, Burger King! This restaurant is located in Time Square and it is the only Burger King in Suzhou. It would also be the first time I eat at Burger King in China. The last time I can remember eating Burger King was in 2007 in Seoul, Korea. I can still savor the Whopper. It was probably the closest I had come to the real thing. Today, I ordered the BBQ Burger. I really didn't like the sauce. I think it was not the hickory BBQ sauce I like, it was a very different sauce. It did not taste like it does in the US. I should have stuck with the Whopper. Oh well, better luck next time.

Times Square at night has many lights and also many decorations for the new year. Below are some pictures of Times Square at night.

Well, I was running out of luck looking for the biggest LED screen in the world, but I now know where it is located at.

In this picture, you can see a long canopy over some of the stores. I have been told this rainbow colored canopy is the largest LED Screen in the world. Each side of the canopy is rainbow colored while the middle section is the LED Screen. It was not turned on tonight. I will have to continue my search to view the screen in action. When will it be turned on?

A Ride to Nowhere

Wednesday Aik Peng and I decided we would go riding. We had a small breakfast at McDonald's and decided we would try riding to Kunshan. Armed with a google printed map we were off on our adventure. We had chose some streets to head in the general direction. Since we were on mountain bikes, we decided to go off-road and see if we could find some shortcut. this idea was short lived due to the fact that the we hit the lake and there was no way to cross it by bike.

Some of the local fishermen actually live right on the lake. They're home can move to different parts of the lake if necessary. We also noticed that all the restaurants on the lake were also boats. These restaurants can also move to different areas depending on the demand of the lake food.

Our shortcut took us very close to the train tracks and we were able to see many trains passing. I was very surprised at how quiet these trains are as they pass. Nothing like what I think about when I think about trains.

After returning to the main road and getting back on track, not on the train tracks. We made our way to G312. This road is a country road and there are motorbikes, cars, and bicycles making their way between the cities. There were not to many electric bikes. Electric bikes can only travel 50 km on one charge. We made our way to the YangChengHu resort area. There were alot of brand new high end homes in this area. The homes were very beautiful and cost about 5500 RMB($803 US)/ Square Meter.

We made it to the restaurant area and we were ready for lunch. Because it is Chinese New Year, there were no restaurants open. We saw just some dried meat hanging outside of some of the restaurants. This sight is not typically something we would see in the US.

We did find a little local store and had a few snacks before making our way around the lake. We tried to take another off-road shortcut that also led right to the lake. The country side was very nice and pleasant.
We saw quite a few farms growing different vegetables. All in all, the ride was long but peaceful. It would be an 80 km ride around the lake. It was nice to get out and enjoy some fresh air and wander around the countryside. We also were able to discuss the usual male topics of business, politics, finance, sports, among other things. I really like riding, I get to see parts of China that most people who visit will never see. Below is the map of our ride courtesy of Aik Peng. The black dot represents home.

过年好！恭喜发财！

Today is the first day of the Year of the Ox. To celebrate and bring in the New Year, last night we ate homemade dumplings made by my wife and then we went out and set off fireworks.

The dumplings have a special significance in Chinese tradition. The dumplings boiled in water signify a long lost good wish for the family. Also, some families will hide a coin in the dumpling and the family member that ends up eating this dumpling (hopefully not the coin), will have good luck throughout the whole year.

The fireworks also have special significance in the Chinese tradition. It is said that the exploding news from the firecrackers will scare and drive away evil spirits and stop them from coming into the New Year. As I write this entry, new spirits are still being driven away! When we think of fireworks in the US, we do not get very big fireworks. Those are reserved for the city. Here in China, you can purchase very big fireworks to enjoy the festive event. We purchased many small fireworks for this event and even these are much bigger than the fireworks allowed in the US.

Fireworks will be heard for the next fifteen days of the spring festival ending with the lantern festival. Maybe I will buy some larger fireworks for future days. The fireworks display around town was very beautiful with many lights and the sound of fireworks all around.

Basically from what I could tell, the main rule was to be at least 50m from the houses. This rule was not observed all the time. As you can see above some nice fireworks were done between the buildings. I think the rule calls for more common sense. Some people have it and other don't.

Happy New Year to all and may the Year of the Ox bring your family health, prosperity, and happiness! 新年快乐！

赤壁下 Red Cliff 2

Yesterday we went to the Suzhou Science and Cultural Arts Center to see the second part of John Woo's Red Cliff. Since I regularly buy Chinese movies I had seen the first one on DVD at home. We had no idea it was the first part of a series until the end of the movie. We have waited with anticipation to see the second part. Last week, my son took the first movie to school where his Chinese class had a chance to enjoy the the first movie.

The movie is based on a historical battle around 200AD during the Han Dynasty. The prime minister at the time used the emperor as a puppet to create a war and try to wipe out the kingdoms of the South. His intentions were to make himself emperor of a unified China. It is a real battle of wits and wisdom as Southern warlords battle in a war where they are completely outnumbered. This war is one of the most popular historical wars in Chinese history.

The movie is subtitled in English and the translation is pretty good. This movie is a must see. It has alot of action, a very good story line, and cultural value. Below is information about the Suzhou Science and Cultural Arts Center.

If anyone knows any other new released Chinese movies with English subtitles at the theatre, please let me know.

Suzhou Times Square

Yesterday we decided to go to Times Square. This time was the second time we would be visiting Time Square. The first time was before the grand opening and many stores were not ready for shoppers. This time things have changed. There were quite a few of stores open for shopping and also a few more getting ready for opening.

I would call Times Square a high end shopping area in Suzhou. It has many name brands. You can find anything from electrical appliances and gadgets to clothes. It is very modern and has alot of the foreign eating places. I do not recall seeing any local food or local restaurants yet. There was a Papa John's Restaurant, Pizza Hut, KFC, different coffee houses, and a Burger King. I think this is the first Burger King in Suzhou.

As far as shopping, you can get all the high end name brands that we all know and a few high end European name brands the we don't all know.

From the two pictures, it seems like the area was completely empty. It was a cold 0C, 32F outside so many people were inside using the gateways between the different shopping building. Inside the shopping center was a different story. Outside, you could see the special decorations for Chinese New Year, which by the way begins on Monday.

The first picture shows various oxen frolicking around a sign that reads Happy New Year. The second picture shows a pair of yellow fish and a pair of red fish. The word fish (yu, 鱼) has the same sound as riches or abundance. Therefore fish signify never being without.

I was looking for the worlds largest LED screen. It is suppose to be in this plaza, however I could not find this TV screen. What I did find was a women playing a harp. I found this interesting.

I would have to say the most enjoyable place for my son was called Family Kingdom. This place has many video games and other games like a typical Chuck E. Cheese Pizza place. This place does have a restaurant, but I can not remember what food it served. Also, it has mechanical rides for some of the smaller children.

As far as location. It is right across the street from the Shilla Hotel and Modern Plaza. When I find the largest LED Screen, I will be sure to let everyone know.

Back Street Bar

Friday night I had the opportunity to explore a different bar in Suzhou. This bar is called Back Street Bar. I really don't recall where it is in Suzhou, because I wasn't paying attention to the route as we were going to the bar. The bar had a nice warm feeling to it. On the wall were pictures of different alternative artist like U2 and Pink Floyd. It brought back some old college memories of the music I use to listen to. It would have been nice to see some REM and Rush pictures hanging on the walls. It really is a nice cozy place. Very simple and warm. There was a live band playing some good Chinese rock music. In the US this place would be called a hole in the wall.

To my surprise upstairs was much bigger than the downstairs. It was just as cozy with a few sofas, nice seating, and a bar with bar stools. We had the bar special to drink, five Budweiser's for 100 RMB ($14.60 US).

When we arrived we ordered some street food. There were three choices so we got a little bit of lamb, pork, and beef. We would enter the bar and the outside vendor would bring the food to our table. This service was pretty cool, because we could eat and drink at the same time. All three meats were deliciously spicy. We had a total 100 sticks and between three of us we devoured all the food brought to our table.

After eating, we played the same dice game played during our New Year Celebration. A new rule was added to the game which made it a bit more difficult. You could only look under your cup one time. You had to remember all possible combinations you could have made to be able to keep up with all the changing numbers.

It was a nice place to sit and drink, enjoy the music, eat some local street bar b cue, and play some dice games. Also, I thought it was pretty cool that I was the only westerner in the bar.