Day 14 – Monday 16 April - Lovely Suzhou

We are enjoying the company of our lovely guide, Kelly, and we are exchanging language skills. We have found that by asking the way to the restroom we can now order Chicken Chow Mein.

Historically the cultural capital of China, Suzhou is a traditional city famous for fine gardens. We start our exploration with a visit to the exquisite Lingering Garden followed by a walk up Tiger Hill to see the 7 storey, 1000 year old leaning tower.

Suzhou is also famous for silks, so after seeing the specialist silk factory and machinery, we had another go at bartering in the shop but all they would say, in plain English was, "No discount". We explained to them this was not how it was supposed to work but the Monty Python scene which followed clearly was lost on the 1,000 year old culture. So we left empty handed.

After lunch we toured the Pan Men scenic area which was a fabulous way to spend the sunny afternoon.

In the evening we persuaded Kelly to join us for dinner and she took us to the old part of Suzhou and the Grand Canal for an hour's stroll along the quaint, lit streets by the canal bank before we ate at Yang Yang's. The meal is worth a mention. Sweet and Sour pork - tangy and crisp, beef braised in soy sauce, tiny chow mein noodles with bok cho, kung pao chicken with a hint of fire and mandarin fish - a whole fish, cleverly cut and deep fried in batter so that pieces opened out like a pine cone and could be picked off the bone. The whole lot, food plus 6 beers - 14 quid. In London, you'd be paying at least £75.

To bed for sleepy heads as tomorrow we drive to Shanghai.