The next day in Shanghai wasn't in Shanghai at all. We ventured out towards Suzhou, a city you've probably never heard of. But nevertheless, it's been described as "The Venice of Asia", which oddly enough has been applied to Bangkok as well. Whereas Bangkok does use the rivers and canals for transportation, for Suzhou, it's pretty much just for tourists. The upside then, is that it's kept pretty clean. Anyway, after a quick train ride, we got out at Suzhou station and saw... snow! Wow! I've not seen snow in probably 6 years, so I had to build a little snowman to celebrate. The first stop was at Beisi Pagoda. A little temple with a big pagoda, it's pretty but overall forgettable.

We walked towards the Administrator's Garden, which I know sounds boring, but is reportedly one of the most beautiful gardens in China. Especially with the snow, I thought it would be really pretty. So did the rest of China, because ohhhhhhhh myyyyy gooooood. The line was bonkers, and probably would be a 3 or 4 hour wait. In the snow. Just... no. Why would anyone do that? Like, even if you came from the other side of the country, there are other gardens. Yes I'm sure it's pretty, but it's not like this is some world famous landmark. I don't get it, especially because Chinese people suck at lining up. It's not an orderly, 3 or 4 hour queue. It's a disorderly 3 or 4 hour battle to push to the front.

No. A million times no. I would rather walk back to Shanghai.

Instead we went through Pingjiang Road, the walking area of the town, which was quite pretty. We had a snack of crab balls (crab meat in ball form, fried... I think), before stopping at a restaurant I had heard about. This restaurant has a bit of a reputation, for being older than America is a country and serving the best squirrel fish in the city. Squirrel fish is a Suzhou specialty, or so I am told, that's sort of a diced and fried fish, laid out in such a way to look like a squirrel's tail. I... guess it does? Sort of? Anyway, it's basically sweet and sour fried fish, which I mean, you can't go wrong. Combined with eggplant, which has constantly been mom and dad's favorite food on this whole trip. I gotta agree, China does eggplant right. America has been utterly defeated in the eggplant war.

After numerous shops and photo taking, we took the metro over to another canal at Shantang Street. This one was a little more picturesque, in that the canal actually ran through the buildings, serving as a kind of street, and not just something for tourists - although it was that too. But honestly, that's about it for Suzhou. We just walked around, took photos, shopped, and ate. Nothing wrong with that.

Back in Shanghai for the last full day, there were some odds and ends to clear up. We began at Jingan Temple, maybe the most impressive in scale of the Buddhist temples I've seen. But because it was Chinese New Year, they were charging insane admission - 100 yuan. Even their regular fee of 50 is nuts. I mean, this is a temple. IMO if you're not letting poor people into your religion, you're doing religion wrong. Maybe one day we'll go, because it is an impressive building. But the extortionate pricing doesn't sit well with me.

Continuing the religious theme, the next few places were churches. Something Ella really digs, the best one was probably Xujiahui Cathedral, which is HQ of the Diocese of Shanghai. It's a really pretty building, and they were giving out flyers of stuff to do in that district. It's a bit out of downtown, so I was a bit surprised at how much there was to do around there. Nice of them to do that, and I'm sure one day we'll be back and have a chance to explore the area.

Maybe a combination of Ella fighting a cold, but at that point the two of us were exhausted. We went back to the hotel for a nap, something I hardly ever do, to get ready for the evening. We had booked a cruise up and down the river, which, is something only tourists would do in the middle of winter. It was cold for sure, but that also made the air much clearer. We got some pretty great views of the skyline at night. Ella said she liked it more than Hong Kong. I admit it's good, but I don't know - I still maintain The Peak at night is the most beautiful place in the world.

And for mom and dad, that was it for Shanghai. The next morning, we took them to the airport. Ella and I had a flight that evening, so we had some more time. Still exhausted, we tried to do the Art Museum - closed for CNY. There was a pedestrian area I had heard about called Tianzifang. As soon as I walked in, I remembered "OH, I've been here and love it!" It's a network of alleys filled with coffee shops, boutique stores, and bars. A bit touristy, but nonetheless pretty, it's too bad mom and dad didn't get to see it. It's a great part of town, provided you're not claustrophobic, because the side alleys are quite narrow. But it makes for neat photos, anyway.

We had thought about going to another art museum, but at this point, after weeks of constant traveling... we had both had it. We went to the airport very early, and just sort of decompressed from a crazy whirlwind of a holiday. Back here in Guangzhou, I have a newfound appreciation for Shanghai. I like it there. It's much more international, which is odd considering Guangzhou's history as the only port open to the west. But times have changed, and maybe we'll change too - who knows, next year we may be calling Shanghai home.