As one of the only cheap hostels in Suzhou and popular given its prime location amongst the shops and bars, we spent the morning waiting to see if we could have a room for tonight, and hopefully a few more! After eventually hearing the good news that our room was secured, we set out to the small canal town of Tongli. Tongli, situated only half an hour from Suzhou, has been around since the 9th Century and maintains a lot of its original character - when we arrived we marvelled at its stone buildings and bridges, and paved cobblestone pathways. 
After a stuffy bus ride, we were soon revived by the atmosphere of the town and were ready and rearing to explore the many gardens and other attractions in this small town. Before we got to such attractions, however, we were sidetracked once again by the markets, where Liv picked herself up some super cool Puma shoes for a mere NZ$9. We chuckled along the markets at the crazy prices quoted to us for the sellers' goods - for example Liv's shoes started at the quoted price of 360 yuan, but were eventually bargained down to 50 yuan. Though we don't begrudge their high starting prices as we know sometimes they get lucky and make a sale to tourists who are willing to pay such prices (after converting to their own currency).
Eventually we began to explore the real old town of Tongli, immersing ourselves in the amazing gardens (such as Tuisi Garden - the main attraction of Tongli) and old residences (including Gengle Tang, which is made up of 52 halls and 5 internal courtyards). We soon found ourselves at the attraction most recommended by the Lonely Planet - the Chinese Sex Culture Museum. Not as saucy as it may sound (although it was forced out of Shanghai to Tongli), we learnt about the role of sex in religion, sex in primitive society, sex in daily life, and unusual sexual behaviour! As we wandered around the 'museum' we found ourselves giggling at huge penis sculptures and all forms of dildos, as well as the more 'proper' porcelain plates and vases with karma sutra style depictions. We also shuddered as we learnt about the darker sides of Chinese sexual history such as foot binding and the punishments given to licentious women.
We feasted in one of the local restaurants before taking more time to take in the beauty of the locals rocking and rolling their boats along the canals, who despite their town being turned into a tourist attraction retain happy faces - a contrast to what we have seen in many other such tourist towns in China.
Once we felt we got as much as we could out of Tongli, we set about finding another hot and stuffy bus to take us home to Suzhou. Our evening at home consisted of reading, dining, and once again hiding out from the thunder storms that saturated the streets - hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow night so we can explore more of the markets, but for now our wallets are enjoying the break.
Adlibing the sexually infused canal town of Tongli.
After a stuffy bus ride, we were soon revived by the atmosphere of the town and were ready and rearing to explore the many gardens and other attractions in this small town. Before we got to such attractions, however, we were sidetracked once again by the markets, where Liv picked herself up some super cool Puma shoes for a mere NZ$9. We chuckled along the markets at the crazy prices quoted to us for the sellers' goods - for example Liv's shoes started at the quoted price of 360 yuan, but were eventually bargained down to 50 yuan. Though we don't begrudge their high starting prices as we know sometimes they get lucky and make a sale to tourists who are willing to pay such prices (after converting to their own currency).Eventually we began to explore the real old town of Tongli, immersing ourselves in the amazing gardens (such as Tuisi Garden - the main attraction of Tongli) and old residences (including Gengle Tang, which is made up of 52 halls and 5 internal courtyards). We soon found ourselves at the attraction most recommended by the Lonely Planet - the Chinese Sex Culture Museum. Not as saucy as it may sound (although it was forced out of Shanghai to Tongli), we learnt about the role of sex in religion, sex in primitive society, sex in daily life, and unusual sexual behaviour! As we wandered around the 'museum' we found ourselves giggling at huge penis sculptures and all forms of dildos, as well as the more 'proper' porcelain plates and vases with karma sutra style depictions. We also shuddered as we learnt about the darker sides of Chinese sexual history such as foot binding and the punishments given to licentious women.
We feasted in one of the local restaurants before taking more time to take in the beauty of the locals rocking and rolling their boats along the canals, who despite their town being turned into a tourist attraction retain happy faces - a contrast to what we have seen in many other such tourist towns in China.Once we felt we got as much as we could out of Tongli, we set about finding another hot and stuffy bus to take us home to Suzhou. Our evening at home consisted of reading, dining, and once again hiding out from the thunder storms that saturated the streets - hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow night so we can explore more of the markets, but for now our wallets are enjoying the break.Adlibing the sexually infused canal town of Tongli.
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