(13) SUZHOU - SHAN TANG STREET & GUAN QIAN STREET

Shan Tang Street

Ini jalan paling terkenal dan paling tua di Suzhou. Tempat ini sangat makmur pada masa dinasti Ming dan Qing. Sebenernya tempat ini baru tetapi jalannya sudah tua, soalnya jalan lama ini sudah dimakan umur dan direnovasi beberapa tahun yang lalu. Jadi mayoritas gedung-gedungnya sebenarnya baru.

It’s the most famous and oldest street in Suzhou. It was very prosperous in Ming and Qing dynasty. Actually this is a new but old street, because the old street was wormed out with the ages and it was renovated a couple of years ago. So the majority of buildings are actually new.

Dimanapun kita jalan di Jalan Shan Tang, banyak hal menarik yang kita jumpai seperti pemandangan canal yang indah, asesoris lampu-lampu merah yang fantastic, warung-warung makan traditional, lukisan-lukisan China (seperti kaligrafi China), sampai kesenian dan gallery tersedia di jalan ini. Luar biasa ya?! Sebenernya gue pengen beli lukisan kaligrafi China dan beberapa lukisan tangan lain yang memang gue koleksi setiap pergi travel ke nagara lain… tapi sayangnya penjualnya ngasih harga mahal banget dan susah ditawar. Mungkin bukan hoki gue.

Everywhere we turn Shan Tang Street, there are interesting things to see ranging from lovely canal scene, fantastic red lamp accessories, traditional shops a long the street, traditional street food, Chinese painting (like China calligraphy), until art and gallery, the street served all. It’s amazing, isn’t it? Actually I would like buy a China calligraphy and some painting, I always buy painting from every country where I traveled for my collection… but unfortunately the shop gave me very expensive price and very difficult to bargain the price. May be it’s not my luck.

Guan Qian Street

Ini tempat shopping favorite gue. Sepanjang jalan ini banyak macam-macam outlet, restoran, butik-butik merek terkenal, perhiasan, dan lain-lain. Seperti di Kuta Square tapi jalan ini hanya untuk pejalan kaki, nggak ada mobil ataupun taransportasi lain lewat sini. Kita juga bisa tawar menawar harga. Meskipun didominasi barang-barang merek local dengan banyak toko menjual sepatu boot kulit dan jaket musim dingin, kualitas barangnya bagus dan harganya pun sangat murah, meskipun kita nggak pinter nawar. Hmmm….ini bener-bener surganya wanita …. Ha ha ha ha ha….

It’s my favorite shopping center. A long the street is many various shopping outlets, restaurant, branded boutiques, jewelry, and etc. Looks like Kuta Square but the street only for walkway, no car or other transportation passing through. We can bargain the price as well. Even local brand names dominated with many shop selling leather boots and winter jackets, the quality very good and the price was very cheap even we are not a good bargainer. Hmmm …. It’s really women paradise…ha ha ha ha ha….

Gue beli jaket panjang warna putih dan sepatu boot kulit warna putih, soalnya guide kita bilang nanti di Beijing hawanya lebih dingin lagi sekitar minus 10 derajat dan gue pikir sepatu kets and jaket gue nggak bakal cukup untuk nahan dingin. Apalagi persediaan hokairu udah menipis. Makanya gue musti siap-siap untuk itu, kalau nggak gue nggak bakal bisa keluar dari bus nanti ….he he he he ….Gue dapet harga murah banget untuk jaket dan sepatu boot cuma RMB 180. Setahu gue di Indonesia terutama Bali untuk masing-masing jaket dan sepatu boot bisa keluar duit Rp 1.000.000,00.

I bought a long white jacket and white leather boot, because the guide said in Beijing the weather will be around minus 10 degrees and I don’t think so my sneaker and my jacket would be enough for me. Moreover my hokairu left couple pieces only. So I have to prepare it otherwise I couldn’t go out from the bus …he he he he… I got very cheap for both only spent RMB 180. As I knew in Indonesia specially Bali for each jacket and boot we have to spend around Rp 1.000.000,00.

Hal menarik ketika shopping dan nyoba beberapa jaket dan sepatu, pelayan toko selalu bilang I YO YO. Lokal dialek ini artinya “bagus atau cantik”. Dialek lainnya I YA YA yang artinya kebalikannya “jelek”. Hal lain yang menarik kita bisa ketemu chestnut manis paling enak di sini. Tadinya gue mau beli sekantong tapi temen travel gue satu bus udah beli dan ngebagi makan bareng.

The nice thing when I shop and try some jacket and boot, the ladies shop always said “I YO YO”. It’s a local dialect and means “beautiful or pretty”. The other dialect is “I YA YA” means not pretty. The other nice thing we can find the best sweet chestnut in here. I would like to buy but my travel friend Josie bought already and share to me.

Ahirnya kita tutup perjalanan hari ini denga dinner di sebuah restouran Chinese food dan kemuadian ke hotel E-Central untuk check in. Hotelnya bagus tapi gue nggak beruntung karena pemanas ruangannya nggak bagus. Jadinya gue nggak tidur nyenyak karena kedinginan.

Finally we closed our day by dinner at a Chinese food restaurant and then we go to E-Central hotel for check in. The hotel was nice but I was not lucky that heather in my room was not working well. So I couldn’t sleep well because too cold.

(12) SUZHOU - THE HANSAN TEMPLE

Kuil kuno ini terkenal dengan 108 bell yang berdentang menyambut tahun baru China untuk mendoakan keberuntungan dan kebahagian di tahun mendatang. Letaknya di sebelah barat kota Suzhou dan dibangun sekitar abat VI pada jaman Dynasty Liang (502-519). Nama Hansan berasal dari cerita tentang 2 orang sahabat bernama Hansan dan Shi De. Mereka sangat akrab dan tinggal bersama seperti saudara. Ketika orang tua Hansan pergi melamar seorang gadis untuk menjadi istrinya, Hansan baru tahu kalo calon istrinya tersebut adalah kekasih sahabatnya Shi De. Karena Hansan takut membuat Shi De sedih, maka dia meninggalkan rumah dan dalam perjalanan ia berhenti di sebuah kuil kecil. Sedangkan Shi De mengira bahwa Hansan pergi karena dia. Shi De memutuskan untuk pergi mencari Hansan. Akhirnya, takdir mempertemukan mereka di kuil dimana Hansan menyembunyikan dirinya. Kemudian karena cerita tersebut, maka mereka menyebutnya Kuil Hansan.

This ancient temple is famous with 108 bells which ring at midnight to pray the Great Buddha to bless for everyone, for luck and happiness in the next coming year. It’s located in the west of Suzhou. The pagoda was build around the VI Century, Liang Dynasty (502-519). The name Hansan is related to a story of two twinned friends, Hansan and Shi De. There were very closed and lived together as brothers. When Hansan parents went and asked for a girl’s hand for him, he just knew that his future wife was Shi De’s lover. Because Hansan was afraid to make Shi De sad, he left his home and stopped at a small temple. Regarding Shi De, he thought that Hansan left because of him. He decided to go out to look for Hansan. Finally, as fate, they met each other at the temple where Hansan was hiding himself. They live together as before. Being moved by the above story, they called the Temple Hansan.

Sebenernya gue masih pengen nikmatin tempat ini dan ngederin ke-108 bells dibunyiin. Suasana kuil juga ramai orang sembahyang tahun baru China. Tapi guide manggil kita kembali ke bis untuk melanjutkan perjalanan berikutnya.

Actually I still would like to enjoy this temple and hear the 108 bells ringing. Many people were praying for Chinese New Year in the temple. But our guide calls us already to go to the bus for continue our trip.

(11) SUZHOU - THE LION GROVE GARDEN (SHIZILIN)

Tujuan pertama kita di Kota Suzhou adalah Lion Grove Garden atau biasa dikenal dengan nama Shizilin. Taman tersebut merupakan salah satu dari 4 taman yang terkenal dan representative bergaya klasik kuno di kota Suzhou. Ketiga taman yg lain yaitu Blue Wave Pavilion (Canglangta), Lingering Garden (Liuyuan) dan Humble Administrator’s Garden (Zhuozhengyuan). Tapi kita nggak pergi ke ketiga taman tersebut.

Our first destination of Suzhou was The Lion Grove Garden or usually called Shizilin. The garden is one of the four most famous and representative gardens of an ancient classical style in Suzhou city. The other three are Blue Wave Pavilion (Canglangta), Lingering Garden (Liuyuan) and Humble Administrator’s Garden (Zhuozhengyuan). But we didn’t go to the other three gardens.

Lion Grove Garden dibangun tahun 1342 sebelum Dynasty Yuan oleh biksu Tianru dan kelompok aliran Budha Zen untuk mengenang guru besar mereka biksu Zhongfeng. Sering dengan berjalannya waktu, nama dan orang-orang kaya yang memilikinya pun berubah-ubah. Kemudian ahli waris terakhir melimpahkannya kepada rakyat Repulik China. Sehingga dari sejak itu, taman tersebut terjaga dan terpelihara dengan baik, juga terbuka untuk umum. Nama Lion Grove Garden diambil dari batu karang besar di dalam taman yang bentuknya seperti bentuk singa. Hmmm … gue nggak tahu gimana orang-orang China ngeliat batu karang besar itu seperti singa, gue perhatiin sama sekali nggak ada mirip-miripnya tuh sama singa… he he he he … Sayangnya waktu kita berkunjung ke sana pas musim dingin, jadi nggak bisa ngeliat gimana indahnya taman ini dengan bunga warna-warni di sana sini. Kita cuma bisa ngeliat batu-batu karang, kolam dan pohon-pohon kering.

The Lion Grove Garden has build in 1342 during the Yuan Dynasty by Monk Tianru and a group of Zen Buddhist disciples as a memorial of their master-Monk Zhongfeng. By the number of time, the garden has changed names and hands by many rich peoples. Then the last heir was donated to People’s Republic of China. From then on, the garden entered a steady and well-protected period, also open for public viewing. The Lion Grove Garden got its name by having huge rock garden with lion look a like rock landscaping. Hmmm… I don’t know how Chinese peoples saw it, but I didn’t see how the rock looks like lion … he he he he he….. Frankly we visited the garden on the cold season, so we on the winter time, so we couldn’t see how beautiful the garden with flowers in everywhere. We only saw rocks, the water pond and dry plants.

(10) SUZHOU - On the Way to Suzhou

Cuma yang gue heran, kenapa ya…tahun baru tapi nggak berasa tahun baru kayak di Indonesia, terutama Bali meriah banget. Sepanjang jalan ke Suzhou suasana rasanya sepi, sunyi, dan nggak keliatan orang. Malah gue pikir kayak kota mati ditinggalin penduduknya. Gue sempet SMS sama beberapa temen di Indonesia tentang suasana Tahun Baru ini. Lucu-lucu mereka nge-reply SMS gue. McD bilang, elo salah kota kali … hi hi hi hi hi….nggak tahu juga ya…. Then Irene bilang, orang China-nya lagi pada shopping ke Plaza Bali semua … hi hi hi hi hi…gue emang ngebayangin itu sih.

I was surprised, why the Chinese New Year was not look like a Chinese New Year in Indonesia, especially in Bali so merry. The situation on the way to Suzhou was very quiet, deserted, and no body. Moreover I thought look like deadly city where left by the peoples. I sent SMS to some friend in Indonesia regarding the situation of the Chinese New Year. They were replying with funny SMS. McD test me, ‘I think you are in the wrong city’ …hi hi hi hi hi …I don’t think so …. Then Irene text me, ‘all Chinese people are shopping at Plaza Bali … hi hi hi hi hi … I imagined that actually.

Kota Suzhou terkenal dengan sebutan Venice dari Timur. Kota tua di pinggiran negri China ini dikelilingi air. Tempat ini menarik wisatawan karena transportasi sungai, jembatan-jembatan, dan rumah-rumah tradisional kuno dengan tembok-tembok putih dan atap berwarna gelap yang sengaja masih dipertahankan oleh pemerintah China. Sayangnya kita nggak dibawa guidenya sightseeing naik perahu seperti waktu di Xitang. Padahal gue pengen banget ngeliat tempatnya Dian Sastro photo shooting untuk Kayu Manis Resort yang kata Harris ngambil background kota kuna ini. Kalo ngeliat foto-fotonya dian Sastro sih tempatnya mirip dengan kota Xitang.

Suzhou city is very famous called The Venice of The East. Around the ancient town in the suburban of China country are bounded by water. Among the things of tourist interest are the waterways, bridge, and traditional ancient houses with white walls and dark roof-tiles which have been under protection by China government. Frankly the guide didn’t bring us sightseeing by boat like in Xitang town whereas I would like to see the place where Dian Sastro (the famous Indonesian actress) took photo shooting for Kayu Manis Resort. Harris told me that they took the background shooting in this city. When I saw Dian Sastro picture, the place looks like Xitang town.