Changzhou and Wuxi

At the end of August I was able to get away for a long weekend to Changzhou and Wuxi – my first real trip off the beaten tourist path. The Chinese government has invested lots of money in high speed rail – “dong che动车” – which is similar to the TGV in France or the bullet trains in Japan. Several lines have been completed and the one that we took was one of them.

Changzhou & Wuxi - I

The reason why we went to Changzhou was actually because of a poster in the elevator of my apartment building for a dinosaur theme park. After looking at the advertisement for several months we did some research and it was not expensive, on the high speed train line and easy to get to. Since it was still summer season the theme park was open until 11pm and it was a great experience. There was a water park and lots of rides – not quite Cedar Point, but still a lot of fun. Plus, because we went on a Thursday there weren’t that many people there! We could go down the slides in the water park without waiting and most rides had a wait of less than 30 minutes. Eating Chinese theme park food was a hoot too – fried noodles anyone?

We capped off the evening watching the big closing illuminated parade and were the last people to get on our bus before it pulled away.

The next day we took the high speed train another 20 minutes and went to Wuxi. Wuxi is known for a huge movie/television set where they have recreated ancient temples and cities as well as Tai Hu – a huge lake with an island in the middle. They are trying to position themselves like Hangzhou (where I visited with Marisha and Arnel the famous West Lake) as a tourist destination. The pollution in Wuxi is pretty bad – although I have heard it has improved, so it still has room for improvement. However, the people were very friendly and I can see how in the future tourism should increase there.

The first day we went to the three villages movie set. We explored through the fake forest (with plastic flowers on the trees), saw a very impressive horse show reenacting a battle that took place between warring factions and wandered through a replica of the forbidden city – all by ourselves. The horse battle must have had over 100 participants and even though the voice over was in Chinese I got a pretty good idea of what was going on. There was also a fake army training camp where you could test yourself against different obstacles. I did ok with a couple, but the net across the big hole finally got me and I ungracefully came down backwards. The more I learn about medical care in China, the fewer risks I realize that I should take!

The second day we took a bus to Tai Hu and then took a boat across the lake to the Turtle Head island in the center. It is a bit of a nature preserve, except there wasn’t really that much original to the island – most of the temples and sites have been reconstructed, but just the same it was nice to be out of the city and see green again. I sat for a long time on a rock listening to the waves and thinking about Lake Huron. After a full day on the island we crossed back and visited one last temple on the mainland before heading back to the hotel.

I enjoyed exploring these two new places. While they were still major cities in the US definition – each at least a million people, the vibe was different. Prices were lower and the standard of living is also lower. Plus, I saw maybe 3 foreigners the entire time – so these are areas that don’t have the comforts of Shanghai – I don’t think I could find a foreign supermarket or a place to buy large size clothes and that is reassuring (unless you need to live there). The photos here don't include the Tai Hu pictures - will post those under a separate post.

Cheers!