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Ancient Town of Wuxi and Taihu Lake ...

I mentioned in my previous post that I love Wuxi. Well, this is probably the place has natural beauty in a lake which is large enough to fill four Singapore as well as well-maintained and refurbished ancient houses that became a fabulous night spot for drinks and coffees. And, the amazing thing is there are canals everywhere by the side of the houses where it was used as a mode of transports during the ancient times. The authorities really maintained these canals so well that it's clean and looks so beautiful at night.
There are still coffee joints around including Starbucks but it's much more expensive than what we had here. Check out the buildings here!

A pedestrian bridge over a canal and overlooking the street

Another ancient house being used as a restaurant

Family portrait taken by my son...

The colourful underneath of an arch walking bridge.

One of the canals in between the shophouses

This is an ancient stage 

It was kinda quiet and empty near the stage and somehow I got that eerie feeling here. In fact, I don't felt good here and walk away...LOL

I have experienced nature's beauty the day before while cruising around the lake. We were brought to another viewing point of the Taihu Lake the next morning and it was really nice to experience the cold breeze near the lakeside. I also witness local folks fishing there and they seems choosy with the fishes, where they threw a kinda 'mature' fish back to the water. We asked him why he did so and he mentioned this is not what he wanted.  He said he only consumed a type of fish and I can't recalled the fish name. Here's some pics I took of the lake.

The huge Taihu Lake which looks like a sea to me

It seems like a water catchment area here 

A view of a highway bridge crossing by the lake

A pleasant garden around the lake
 Opposite the lake, we patronised a tea pot house for 'shopping' where I got myself  two clay mugs and a flask. I actually got the other clay mug for my dad, who was a tea lover. As for me, the mug ended up as a multi-purpose cup, where I used it mostly for my 3-1 kopi ...muahahaha... Anyway, I try to make it a point not to blog about these shopping trips but somehow I find the surroundings there very calming and beautiful. It actually looks Japanese to me! According to the tour guide, those city folks who were stressful came here to stay at these houses for a while to calm their nerves.

The tea house in Wuxi


A serene residence for those who seek calmness and peace

I can't read this but it was located at the entrance

Captivating plants around  there

Another shot to show how serene and peaceful that place is ... 

A nice looking berry plant growing there 
This wraps up our Wuxi trip and we moved on to the last city in our itinerary, that is Shanghai.

34 comments:

  1. Indeed some of the photos do have the "Japan" feel. The ancient buildings and streets look like the background setting of some TV shows.

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    1. Yes , I felt that too and I simply love the design of the buildings !!

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  2. You should ask some passerby to take a family portrait with your son

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    1. Well , he actually prefers to be the photographer than being photograph. Lol

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  3. That's a nice family photo. Love the colours. Too bad your son was not in it.

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    1. Thanks ! Aiya.. He dislikes taking photos but prefer to take other pics!

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  4. i didn't know about this Tai Hu or Lake Tai, but let me correct you here first ah.. not to show off but we learn from each other lah, hehe.. "hu" already means lake, so you don't have to say Taihu Lake because "hu" and lake are redundant, so just say Tai Hu or Lake Tai will do.. just like Changjiang and not River Changjiang, or Huanghe and not River Huanghe.. :)

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    1. You are right man but when i wiki , it's still lake Taihu. Probably it's meant for folks who doesn't know mandarin ... Hahahha...

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  5. i actually like cities with water, i mean those that are by the sea or lake, or has a river or canals running through.. the water actually gives a balance to the land and actually adds to the beauty and tranquil of the city, just my own thought.. of course we have two rivers in KL, but then errr, okay you know lah, hahahaha~~ :D

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    1. With 'clean' rivers there , it actually beautified the place and also adds some serenity to the city. I was so amazed that they kept the place so clean , different from my perception of China before I came.

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  6. love how the authorities plan the city with shops along both sides of the canal, and the shops are all in ancient architecture also.. impressed if they are really refurbished houses of hundreds years ago, this is what the Bolehland never will do huh?? all old houses are demolished for the new ones, there is no preserve of heritage lah dei~~

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    1. Even Singapore is doing that but refurbished those pre-war shophouses. And these in China were really centuries old and like you said, it's impressive !
      Sigh ... I heard lots of heritage buildings being demolished for developments back home..

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  7. beautiful tea house, so this is one of the places compulsory in your itinerary huh?? did you sample some good chinese tea made using those special teapots?? the garden is very beautiful leh, i like those berries, the color is so vibrant and really gives a kick to the winter huh?? :)

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    1. They always served lung Ching tea everywhere regardless of what they sell ... Muahahhaha...
      Yes , I tried it with their clay teapots. Kinda special ... The tea pots can be controlled when pouring the tea although it is slanted. Just press on the top.

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  8. You have fallen in love with China. Finally!

    The whole place looked so nice at night with the bridges, canals and shops. You looked happy too!

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    1. Yes , I like China. I will check out places as time goes by , but maybe not this year.

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  9. Eerie huh? hee..hee... Some places are like that, can make you feel very uncomfortable and you just have to walk away.

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    1. Dunno leh, I just don't feel good seeing it's empty with the surroundings so I decided to move on.

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  10. Traditional buildings with modern cafes. Wowww

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    1. I like the way they reused these ancient buildings. In fact this place is called ancient city.

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  11. Any plan to visit other part of China this year?

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  12. Breath-taking scenery, you must have spent some great quality time with your family members there

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    1. Yes , indeed ! Very good quality time with family.

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  13. Nicole looks so cute in that family picture taken by HernHern. You must do this more often. They look so happy. Nothing beats travelling to a foreign place with your loved ones :)

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    1. Have to wait for school holidays and save enough. I paid for four persons leh! ;(

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  14. Your daughter got dimples? So cute.

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  15. love the reflection on the 2nd photo. what berries are those. Interesting. i wonder can eat punya or not

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    1. I also dunno , looks delicious but don't dare to pluck and eat !

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  16. Wow! This really looks like Venice. It's like the Venice of the East, in China.

    Amazing that the water can fill the equivalent of 4 Singapores! That's a lot!

    Interesting place, never been here before, will definitely keep in view.

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    1. Yes indeed but though Suzhou is the real Venice of the east ! However it seems there are canals everywhere in China !

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