About 20 kilometres outside of Suzhou is a little canal town called Tongli, known for having some of the area’s best-preserved ancient buildings. Feeling adventurous, I armed myself with some basic directions, said a prayer to the Bus Gods, and set off alone on a day trip. I somehow managed to strike out on the first try, catching my bus on the wrong side of the street and ending up at the north train station instead of the south bus station, but this was easily corrected and only set me back an hour. I arrived at the crowded bus stop outside the station and was briefly lost in the confusion – was this just a regular bus stop, or is this what bus stations are like in China? I examined the bus schedule for clues. Seeing my pale skin and bewildered expression, about a dozen touts and hawkers descended on me, trying to sell me maps and offer me “independent” cab rides to Tongli for 100 RMB, insisting that there was no other way to get there. I shook them off, had a look around, and found that the proper bus station was just a half a block away. So that part was simple. I went in, paid 8 RMB for a ticket to Tongli, and bought some overpriced snacks from the convenience store, basking in the confidence of having secured an adventure for the day.
Arriving in Tongli – or at the bus stop called “Tongli,” that is – I again found myself wandering around looking for a destination that seemed to have gone missing. There were no canals or ancient stone buildings – just the same apartment highrises and hotpot restaurants as every other place. Eventually I realized that I still hadn’t reached my destination – I’d just reached the shuttle. And I had to figure out where to buy tickets, because they didn’t take cash.
Still pretty simple. I found the ticket office tucked off to the side of the tourist information centre and ten minutes later I was stepping off the little electric bus into an 11th-century Chinese village. I cheerfully abandoned my sense of direction and waded into the crowds of tourists, snack vendors and rickshaws. I spent the day wandering the canals and narrow alleys, snapping dramatic black-and-white photos of haphazard clay-tiled eaves and decayed concrete walls reflected onto still water. I snacked on stinky tofu skewers, green tea flavoured glutinous rice balls and red bean pastries from the street vendors as I wandered around, stopping for a while at a dingy little sidewalk restaurant to watch the tourist-laden gondolas drift by over a cup of dragon well tea. I made the rounds to most of the museums and sightseeing destinations on the ticket, including an estate with a small classic garden and the Sex Culture History Museum. My feet were sore from walking on uneven stone streets all day and it was getting late, but as I made my way back to the main gate I kept getting sidetracked by beautiful views and photo opportunities. the crowds became thinner, the little alleys off the main tourist drag became more and more irresistible in the long afternoon light. I didn't make it out until dusk, when the light became too dim for photos.
Braindead and exhausted from a full day of touring museums and losing myself in the heartbreakingly beautiful maze of canals and old architecture, I finally stumbled back to the main gate and into a shuttle back to the bus station. But when I went to buy a ticket back to Suzhou, the receptionist told me there were no buses to the Suzhou bus station. In my weakened state, it never even occurred to me that I could just get a ticket to the train station instead. She told me I could take the city bus #203 just outside, so I ran out and got on, only to be told by the bus driver that he didn't go to the Suzhou bus station, either. In fact, none of the buses did. But, as so often happens, he took pity on the poor helpless lost foreigner and offered to help me get to a place where I could transfer buses. After a long drive through some totally unfamiliar, barren farmland, he dropped me off at the Wujiang bus station and instructed another passenger, a girl about my age with Tina Turner hair, to help me get a ticket to Suzhou. Half an hour later, I arrived at the crowded station, where I was again mobbed by the cab scammers. From there I easily figured out which bus would get me back to my hostel - as chaotic as things can be here, I have to give China props on its idiot/foreigner proof bus system. All the bus stops have clearly marked names, and a billboard lists the different buses that stop there, as well as each stop on their route, with your current stop clearly marked. Some schedules even have a clock next to each route to tell you how many minutes till the next bus comes.
My bus came and I confidently elbowed my way to the front of the heaving crowd as it shoved its way through the doors, triumphant in overcoming my foreign handicap. I'd made my way to a different city and back completely blind. The Bus Gods had finally smiled on me. For the moment, at least, I felt like I'd earned the right to shove like a local.
Chinese word of the day:
迷路
mí lù
Lost
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