Beilin Museum

At 7:50 AM I was already waiting by the Beilin Museum or The Stele Forest ticket office. I was the first visitor walking in solitude and peace. After 2 months in China, today when I’m writing it, I realized how rare of an occurrence it was in such a populous country. Actually, by flying from London with 8 hours of time difference, I woke up very early and left a hostel for a walk. First time in China! I was excited and cautious at the same time. What to expect from locals? The hostel I picked had high-scored reviews. Plus, it was located right by a South Gate entrance. In reality, it wasn’t so great. While I picked an individual room, it was dirty, smelly, and underground. A bathroom/shower area was ill-maintained and filthy. It’s OK for 2 nights. 

Walking early morning in that area was so quiet. There were groups of elder ladies doing morning tai chi (it looked like it). They stared at me while slowly moving as I was passing by them. I was walking around looking for a coffee place, which I didn’t find, however, there was a breakfast place. While no one spoke a word in English, it wasn’t hard to figure out a procedure of obtaining a breakfast. Right in front of a restaurant, a lady stood in front of a table filled with dishes: veggies, dumplings, soup, etc. I pointed to what looked eatable and she pointed to walk inside the restaurant. In 5 minutes a plate with soup, cooked vegetables, and the steamed bun was in front of me. No coffee though. After breakfast, it was time to head to the museum.     

The museum has left one of the best memories I have in China. Either it was a quiet sunny day or unrushed atmosphere of the area or my excitement from being in China, but I remember it as something fascinating. Of course, if you like history, you will find lots of interesting information. 

Xi'an Drum Tower

After the stele museum, I headed to Drum and Bell towers. Both are next to another. It took me about one hour to visit both with a detour to Starbucks for a nice sweet cold frappucino.

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda

I took a taxi to Big Goose Pagoda and strolled in a park around it. For some reason, it didn’t leave any special memories. Perhaps because it was under restoration and wasn’t fully visible.  

South Gate Ting

I returned inside the city wall, walked around South Gate where the old area is full of shops selling paints, drawings, ink, brushes, etc. It was nice. And what I liked that it wasn’t very commercial. No numerous eateries or coffee places.

After a lunch around 2 PM around that area, I went to the top of the wall where I’ve rented a bike. It took me leisurely three hours to circle it.

Muslim Street

At 6:00 PM I headed to a Muslim street for street food. It was fun and overly crowded. Xi’an specialty is some kind of sandwich while walking along the street I could tell which sandwiches are good because of lines. There could be two kiosks next to each other selling same things, yet one would be empty and another has a long line. I picked a medium size line. Because I was curious to try everything, many items I had to throw away only after one bite or two. Well, some were not tasting so good or were too spicy.

Tang Paradise

Around 8:00 PM I took a taxi to Tang Paradise where night shows take place. The place is beautiful. Then I took a taxi back to a hotel. I had some difficulties explaining a driver where my hotel is even though I showed him Google Map location along with the hotel Chinese characters name. To my big surprise or shock, he didn’t understand. Few minutes into driving, he pulled to a sidewalk and approached a group of people, took my phone and started asking them probably how to get there. Seriously… we were on a straight line/road to the hotel; no turns were involved. Just one-mile drive. Why???? I’m still questioning why he could not drive straight and had to ask for directions even after my thorough explanation (in English though) and gesticulation and pointing to the map.

South Gate Ting

I took a bus #5 from the South gate and existed at a railroad station.

Xi'an Railway Station

From here I got on a bus, which showed Terracotta Warriors sign and warrior’s picture along the bus’s body. I can’t recall the price, but it was very cheap to ride to the park, 7-8 yuan. 

Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum

When we arrived at the last stop, about one hour ride or so, I couldn’t understand at first where the park. Then I just followed people and ended up at a ticket office. I didn’t take a guide because 1) not even one approached me 2) I didn’t think I need one. If you don’t want to read online Terraccota warriors history, then get a guide. There are almost no signs in English with explanations of what is where and why. Perhaps many people arrive with tours and have pre-organized guides who take them around. I was by myself, the second day in China on my first trip to this country. I returned the same way: easy and straightforward. If I didn’t have a train at 6 PM that day, I would also stop by Huaqing Hot Springs, where the bus makes a stop. It was a bit hard to take good pictures because of the crowd blocking more or less good picture-taking spots. Another Starbucks showed up at the park exit. I had to stop by. I like about Starbucks glocalization strategy. China has unique coffee blends like Red Bean Latte or Pistachio Latte. Well… I’m making up the names now. I don’t remember actual flavors. Red Bean Latte was there, yes. Others I don’t remember. 

Xi'an Railway Station Xi'an Branch

Overnight train to Chengdu. A ticket I had to pre-book with travelchinaguide.com 

My first train experience in China. It started with getting through gates and security. The train didn’t originate in Xi’an but made a brief stop. I understood a room/gate of departure, however, I didn’t understand when I have to go through the gate. I kept showing a ticket and an attendant kept telling me something because I was anxious about missing the train. Then she explained with a translator that the train is late and she didn’t know how long is the wait time. After 2 or even more hours of waiting, the lady waved to me and told me to hurry. She was rushing taking me down a corridor to a platform. We made it. She took me to the right carriage and handed to a train attendant. 

Chengdu

My original plan (as outlined in the itinerary) was to arrive in Chengdu at 8 AM. However, it happened to be a popular time for travel and tickets were sold out a month prior to my arrival. I had to go with a slower train, which arrived in Chengdu at noon. I booked train tickets through ChinaTour.net since I also bought the Yangtze River cruise through them. Although I haven’t dealt with any other travel agents in China, therefore I cannot compare, I was very and very happy with the quality of their services. Everything was very well communicated in a very polite and helpful way.

Anyway, back to Chengdu. In my itinerary, I put Leshan Buddha. The tour leaves in a morning, and I hoped I would make it, however, when I arrived I found out that even if I arrived as planned at 8 in a morning, instead of noon. I still wouldn’t make it. On the other hand, it doesn’t have to be done via a tour. TravelChinaGuide has a good description of how to get there by public transportation.

Ok, I didn’t see the statue of Buddha. I stayed at the Chengdu Lazybones Lounge Hostel because it had good reviews. It was just a simple accommodation with many cats downstairs. Staff spoke very decent English that made me happy. Regarding its location… well…. I guess it’s good. I walked pretty much everywhere from there.

The day I arrived I went to an old part of the city. Nice stroll with pretty buildings.

Sichuan Opera Theater

In the evening I took a tour of Sichuan Opera (all tours I booked with the hostel). It included transportation and entrance tickets. There are other touristy spots in the city, however, I didn’t go because of time restraints. I did try to go to Wide and Narrow Alley (Kuanzhai Xiangzi), however, by following google maps I got lost and didn’t find it.

The opera was entertaining and had lots of visual effects.

Chengdu Research Base

A Panda Research Center tour started the early morning at 7 am. The driver didn’t speak any English. I kind of felt bad for him because he silently had to follow us and just wait. Few people/tourists I’ve met in China mentioned they were not interested in pandas, therefore, they skipped Chengdu. The place is worth visiting simply for an educational purpose. The base had many signs in English with good history and descriptions. There was plenty of information to enrich one’s mind about pandas. Plus these cuddly animals are overly cute.

Chengdu Railway Station

The tour has ended around 1 PM. A quick lunch was on the “to do” list prior to leaving Chengdu. The lunch spot was recommended by the hostel staff.

It was very easy and convenient to take the metro to a train station. A train going to Chongquing departed at 2 PM. It took about 2 hours to reach the city. A line of taxis at Chongquing train station awaited passengers. One of them took me to a pier to start a Yangtze river cruise. 

Chongquin Pier

As planned the train arrived in Chongquin around 4-4:30 pm. Because there are many trains going that direction, I didn’t bother pre-buying a train ticket. Lines at train stations are long though. 

Upon exiting the taxi, I looked around a drop off place. It was confusing to find the right ship. Plus, there was no formal pier. The ships were parked along the river. A guy who desperately wanted to carry my luggage (we agreed on 50 yuan) took me to the right ship, otherwise, it would take me a long time to walk around figuring out which one is mine. Then he tried to get more money out of me like 100, but I just ignored his whining. The walk was under 10 minutes and the luggage was a medium-size suitcase, nothing heavy. 

Yantze River Cruise

A guide immediately greeted me in English upon entering the ship. That person, I wish I remember his name, spoke very good English. The whole cruise experience was simply wonderful. Going through memories of 2 months in China, I can definitely say it was the best experience in the country. Everyone on board was attentive, smiling, and extremely polite. I was the only one Westerner on the cruise, yet all announcements were doubled in English even those that were not applicable to me. At the very beginning the guide (or ship manager), I don’t know the proper title, warned me that I would have to share a room with a Chinese person. He apologized in advance if I would encounter any issues with that. I refused to pay for the second bed and have a cabin all to myself. I got lucky, a person I shared a room with happened to be a young Chinese girl traveling solo. It was surprising to learn that she is 17 and traveling by herself. She spoke enough English and was a not-demanding person spending lots of time writing stories on her laptop, so she was a good neighbor.

Yichang

Three days on the ship flew quickly. It was so sad to leave. Some people might complain that the ship didn’t have any entertainment in English, but it was fine with me. Not doing anything is almost a luxury nowadays. Overall cruising Yangtze River is a truly memorable experience: gorgeous views and peaceful atmosphere. Buying from a local agent is almost twice cheaper (asked my roommate how much she paid for her trip) than online, however, without Chinese friends or speaking the language tourists are left with available expensive options. 

After the ship disembarkment, few buses were waiting outside. At the beginning of the cruise, the manager offered to pre-buy the bus ticket. I did. After about an hour ride we were dropped off at a train station in Yichang.

Wuhan

My travel in Hubei province coincided with floods. A train from Yichang to Wuhan was late by two hours, therefore, I missed an overnight bus to Tangkouzhen.

Wuhan was filled with water. It took over an hour to leave the train station because roads leading to the station were flooded. I had a 2G internet connection, which was enough to look up the available inexpensive room through booking.com. I didn’t book the room. I just showed a taxi driver hostel’s address, which happened to be much further than expected. A person at the reception was very helpful and said many people are stranded in the city because of the flood. He also helped me to get a bus schedule to Tangkouzhen. Next morning he called a taxi for me and gave directions to the driver.

Around 10 PM when everything was settled, I went out looking for a place to eat. Bright big windows lured me in. The place happened to be a bbq/grill restaurant. The only menu available was in Chinese. Internet wasn’t enough to do an instant translation, however, it was enough to translate just one word (and it took a while) – VEGETABLES. A server who didn’t speak a word in English nodded. In 5 to 10 minutes, skewers with various vegetables started to appear on a table. It seemed as the girl brought every single vegetable on the menu. There were so many leftovers. It was way too much for one person. Well… the good thing I tried so many different vegetables.    

Huangshan National Park

A free shuttle service from the hotel was offered in the morning to drop guests at a bus station. After breakfast, I had to wait for 20-30 minutes for a young couple that was so forceful to stuff their baby with food. The baby girl didn’t want to eat, and her mother was very persistent in putting food into the girl’s mouth. A shuttle driver also was sitting with me and watching them finish. Finally, after me complaining, the couple got up and moved inside the shuttle. Soon we arrived at the bus station. Then we had to wait for 10-15 minutes for the bus that takes to the Huangshang National Park to arrive. As soon as we got inside the bus and got seated the mother of the baby-girl opened a bag, pulled out snacks (eggs and something else) and started putting all that into her daughter’s mouth.

A ride on a cable car was very pretty. A teenage girl was sitting in front of me trying to make a conversation by asking my name, where I’m from, etc. Most of the time she was giggling probably because she didn’t understand my replies. The night before I skyped with my mom, who asked me to be careful hiking alone in the mountains. When I got to the top, I almost started laughing taking pictures to send to my mother. It’s impossible to get lost or even hike with so many people on trails. Often I had to squeeze in between a very slow large group of people. All roads/trails were overcrowded. The park has super pretty vistas and challenging hikes. I hated, just hated that everything was paved and turned into stairs. After 7 hours of walk, my leg muscles were dead. I couldn’t walk for 5 days after the hike. A mistake was to skip a cable car down and walk. 

Huangshan Hot Spring

Around 5 or 6 PM a bus driver dropped me off at Huangshan Hot Springs on the way back to the city. It took me some time to find the entrance. Different people were pointing to different directions, no one spoke adequate English to actually help. Anger and frustration were overflowing. Finally, I asked a group of girls in uniforms showing them an entrance ticket to hot springs. They gesticulated to follow them. Finally!!! The entrance was right at the road turn.

Few words about the hot springs. Premises are nice, tidy, pleasant, and pretty. However, each pond/pool was supposedly having different smells/oils/flavors/etc. The only pool that looked like having something added in it was “Red Wine” because of a burgundy color. All others like green tea, jasmine (I’m making it up because I don’t remember exact “flavors”) were simple regular warm watered pools. After paying 30+ bucks, I felt as I was lied to. Free tea and benches to relax on were nice touches.

Upon returning to the hotel, I went for a walk in the town (like walking up and down the stairs was not enough). In the evening I also purchased a tour to visit three neighboring villages: Tachuan, Hong Cun, and Xidi. There is a possibility to walk from one town to another, and at first, that was the plan. However, due to time constraints, I went with an organized tour, which was well worth the money.

Hong Cun ancient village

A tour bus picked me up the first. Then we went to another hotel where we waited for almost an hour. Nothing happened, no one joined. Then the bus drove to another hotel where two people jumped in. Then another and another hotel. When the car was full we headed toward Hong Cun village. The ride was so pretty. Many hills in the area are covered in tea bushes (it’s just my guess that those were tea plants, no one told me that and I didn’t ask to confirm. It just looked so). Many cafes and shops were still closed. The village was so quiet. It was the place to get lost in a maze of streets. For some reason, this village stands out among other cities/towns I’ve visited in China. Either morning atmosphere or slow lifestyle created such a memorable impact on me.

Many houses had open doors/gates and I assume residents of the houses were selling various snacks. I tried purple rice. I believe it’s some kind of dessert because it was sweet and tasty. I also tried other cookie looking snacks, however, they were not that tasty.

Xidi ancient village

Next village we visited was Xidi. It looked very similar to Hong Cun village in style, yet it felt different. There were more souvenir shops, more people, and less polished look. What I liked about it though is a small creek running through the village where local women and kids were doing laundry. It looked very authentic and original. They were not paying any attention to tourists as they were actors playing the roles of ancient villagers.

Tunxi

A morning van bus took me to Tunxi. Next day I was boarding a bullet train to Shanghai. A train ticket was purchased together with a Yangtze River cruise through the same agency. The agency sent my train ticket to a hostel in Tunxi, that I booked ahead of time.

Tunxi old town is very small and can be walked through in less than an hour. The hostel was right in the middle of the street: Old Street International Youth Hostel. I loved the place. First, its location is perfect (not if you have large suitcases though because it’s a walk away from drivable streets). Second, it was nice and clean with an awesome patio upstairs for people to watch or a drink or both, whichever is personal preference. Third, girls that greeted me were sweet, talkative, and very informative.

The street itself was great. It had many shops, beautiful old buildings, and bars/restaurants. I only had one evening there to catch a speed train to Shanghai the next day.

Old Street at Tunxi

After woking up, I went around looking for a coffee place. In the very far corner on one of the side streets, there was a place with stickers, signage COFFEE on its windows. However, it was opening at 9 or 9:30 AM. And it was only 8 AM. Let’s walk around more. At the very end of the street, a place looking like a coffee shop popped up. What a great find!!!!! The first room was a shop with many cute things. I bought a few items there. By the back wall, an espresso machine and pastry counter were parked. I had two lattes because cups were small especially for American coffee drinkers, who are used to at least “tall” size. An internal room with tables and couches was so cute and well designed. The building the shop was sitting in was one of the old ones. An hour passed by quickly while reading news from the phone (hooray to free wifi!). After encaffination, I went for a walk along a river, which was right across the street. On the way back to the hostel, I stopped by the first coffee shop. It was still closed, at 12 PM! Apparently, owners just don’t care.

Guilin city

Flying from Shanghai to Guilin was a time saving decision. There is also a train that takes 8-9 hours. Guilin is located in a very pretty area. The decision to go there was based on multiple references to Li River as one of the top ten attractions in China. It definitely is.

Guilin itself has few interesting spots to check: Reed Flute Cave and Yao Mountain observation deck.

Daxu ancient town was listed as an interesting spot to check in Guilin. However, it wasn’t fascinating. There was really nothing. A short stroll through semi-broken shattered structures with few people and nothing really to look at. Mixed feelings were strong and loud especially after visiting other ancient villages.

Reed Flute Cave

Reed Flute is a pretty cave. On other cave tours (in the US), many guides spoke how colored lighting is damaging for caves. However, all caves I’ve visited in China had colorful illumination.

Longji Rice Terraces

In the morning: good breakfast (included with the hotel stay) and a taxi to Guilin Bus station. A girl at the hotel provided a print out with directions to Longji Rice Terraces. That piece of paper had all the necessary information in Chinese and English to show people and get the idea of where to go.

After an hour or an hour and a half of riding, a bus made a stop by a ticket office to Jongji Terraces. A girl whose job was to collect money on the bus told people to get off. She stepped out with us and pointed to another bus, which was parked right in front. Transferred. A woman comes and people started pulling their wallets out, I followed them. The woman was selling tickets to that special area. I decided to go to Ping’an Field because hiking loop is smaller than at Jinkeng Red Yao Field, again the decision was made due to time limitation.

The road split in Heping where a person approached selling tickets for Longji Terraces. Then she said to catch another bus going to different towns. After 10-15 minutes on a smaller bus with the ticket in my hand, a bus driver dropped and waved to get off. I had to catch another bus going to Ping’an. I showed my printed map with circled village name in Chinese, so the bus driver knew where I’m heading. One guy who was sitting on the bus said to watch my time because the last bus was leaving at 5 pm. With all the transfers, it was already lunchtime. Right before an entrance to the terraces, many cafes and restaurants dotted a street. I picked the one towering over a high valley drop. The restaurant had a tiny balcony/patio to sit outside. The views were spectacular. After the rain, the air was fresh and not so hot. 

Houses and villages are spotted throughout terraces. At first I’ve misread “rice terraces” (wishful thinking?), however, when I was there I’ve been told the plants on the hills were chives. Still, it doesn’t make the places look less beautiful. First time visitor of field terraces, quiet awe. The day was simply perfect: cloudy, at once even drizzly, and humidity giving surrounding greenery such a vivid deep color. I can’t recall the type of food they serve locally, something with chives though.

All-in-all In four hours spent at the terraces: I had lunch, walked the terrace loop, and had 30 minutes of extra time for ice cream while waiting for the returning bus.

Hiking trails were well maintained and easy to navigate. 

River cruise

On the first day in Guilin, while walking around, I stopped by a travel agency and bought a Li River cruise. I wish I didn’t do that. Later when I checked with the hotel, it was only 20 yuan (3.5$) more expensive, HOWEVER, it included a shuttle ride to a ferry station. The girl at the hotel was trying to help me calling the travel agency asking how, where, why, etc. without her I would have missed the cruise. The agency told her to get me a taxi, which they would reimburse me later (NEVER HAPPENED). I paid 200 yuan because the taxi driver couldn’t figure out himself where is the right place for the drop-off. Apparently, there are few departure points depending on a cruise company (my guess). A word of precaution: if you don’t speak Chinese, don’t try to save money by going to places for Chinese tourists. Yeap, learned it hard way.

The cruise had lunch and snacks (and assigned seats). I spent lots of time outside watching the scenery and other boats passing by.

Yangshuo

The river cruise has arrived at Yangshuo. Yangshuo was a fun place, full of tourists. It reminded me of Playa Del Carmen in Yucatan, Mexico. I wished I stayed there longer to explore the area. Bike rental was a popular activity. On the other hand, in July the place was very hot (just like in many other parts of China). I didn’t do any of the tourist activities there. The evening was spent walking back and force within a few blocks. There were so so many people, as well as lots of food stands with interesting snacks. I even saw stands selling grilled oysters, which I opted for “no try”. It made me think with sea/ocean being so far from Yangshao and Chinese people being not so much into hygiene (from my observation), what are the risks of trying seafood so far away from its origin.

Fenghuang

At 6 AM I was already at a Yangshuo bus station. I had to wait for 30-40 minutes before the bus departure. It took about 1 to 1.5 hours to get back to Guilin where another bus was departing to Fenghuang. There is only one bus a day departing Guiling for Fenghuang, 11 AM. The ride is about 6 hours.

Fenghuang in Chinese means “phoenix county” (according to Wikipedia). Undoubtfully it’s one of the most beautiful towns in China.

An interesting feature in the town is that every night each restaurant (and there are many lined up on the main street, parallel to the river) had its own live performing band. Every night was LOUD, luckily Chinese people are early birds, and the music was ending at an appropriate hour. If you want to take pictures to make friends and relatives jealous, then get up before sunrise and head out. Sun rising atmosphere, few people outside, morning cool air, all adds up to memorable feelings.

Hongjiang Old Commercial Town

A day trip to Hongjiang Old Commercial Town began with public transportation. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the details of my trip. What I remember is that there is no direct bus. A transfer town is Huaihua. No one told me the busses from Huaihua back to Fenghuang stop running at 6 pm or somewhere around there. A taxi was the only option available at that time, and it was expensive. I saw another girl handing much less money than what I paid (unfortunately I was the first who paid). The taxi took forever to depart because the driver tried to fill every inch of the car. One person had to sit in between front row seats on a tiny chair given by the driver. Even though I’ve read about tourists groups filling out the streets of Hongjiang, I didn’t see any other tourists. I felt it was an abandoned old part of a town. Maybe today it looks more lively. From the bus station to the town is a little bit of a walk. It’s not the place where I would consider re-visiting. Somehow I don’t have any pictures from that place…. was it so depressing?

Zhangjiajie

A bus ride to Zhangjiajie. It took about 4 hours to reach Zhangjiajie National Park and Wulingyuan, the town located at one of the entrances to the park. The city is somewhat cute. I only walked around the town that day. I stayed at Zhangjiajie Wulingju Hotel, which on bookings.com doesn’t have great reviews. There was nothing wrong with the hotel though. A nice bakery/coffee shop is just a few businesses down the street – breakfast place. 

Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

Zhangjiajie park is super awesome and beautiful. Due to heavy rain, the roads in the park were flooded. Many trails were closed (hopefully for restoration purposes). I took the famous – as China claims “the highest outdoor elevator in the world” – elevator in the park. It was an interesting experience. 

Huanglongdong Scenic Area

A short bus ride to Huanglongdong Scenic Area where a large (colorful) cave is located. Like in Guilin, this cave was also illuminated by colors. Much less appreciated was garbage tucked inside the cave’s mineral growth. Honestly, it was sad to see so little appreciation of such an old beauty. At one point, a strong smell of urine was filling a chamber. While walking in the cave, I ran into a couple of young Chinese smoking right inside. Needless to say, the air had an intense smoke smell. The most memorable part in the cave was a waterfall. I’ve never seen anything like that before. The pictures just cannot deliver the stunning beauty of a stream of water flowing from the center of a cave chamber. It was also loud.  

Zhangjiajie Airport

Around 7 PM I took a bus to Dayong airport. It was not more than 1 hour of riding. If an extra day was possible, I would stay in the city itself and visit Tianmen mountain with glass skywalk… Now that I think about it, I regret missing it. Dayong airport, 10 PM, a direct flight to Beijing. 

Beijing

In total, I’ve spent 3 days in Beijing. One day was for Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City, the second day was for the Great Wall. The third day was already a traveling day. Beijing Traditional View Hotel was a sleeping place, a Chinese traditional-themed hotel tackled inside alleys in the old part of the city, a.k.a hutongs. Just as in Shanghai, most “must do and see” were covered (according to various travel sites). I have little memories regarding a stay in Beijing because the temperature was high and all I could think about is back to an AC’ed room, restaurant, cafe, etc. I’ve booked a Great Wall tour through the hotel. The price of the tour was just like at other places I’ve checked. I have exact same memories of the Great Wall as of Beijing in whole: too hot, too freaking hot! 

Tonglizhen

Just for the sake of being consistent with the itinerary dates, I skip a whole month that I spent studying. Then my parents came to China for my graduation ceremony. My mom came over only for one week. Besides walking around Shanghai, ceremony day, and Beijing tour, I took her to Tongli. Tongli is a super cute little water-town. Shanghai has few water-towns around, I picked Tongli because I’ve read it wasn’t as commercialized as other towns. There are a few ways to reach Tongli. The first time I took the train (when I traveled there alone), I ended up at North Suzhou Train station. I had to travel to Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, which was in some distance. It was definitely a mistake. Suzhou North station is far. I had to take a taxi to Tongli because I couldn’t find a bus. The second time I went to Tongli with my mom we departed at Shanghai Railway Station, which was much closer to my rental apartment. Suzhou train station is right in the city and a bus going to Tongli departs from the same square. Just exit the station and on the left (will need to take outside stairs to a second floor). It looks like a tourist office with special tourist buses going to Tongli. Anyway, the whole travel to Tongli from the Suzhou train station is so much more convenient. Tongli has a coffee shop, a store selling lots of items with cats. Cute! Plus, I really liked one coffee place that overlooks a water canal with boats floating by.