Tongli - An Ancient Water City

The Leaders of the U.S. Delegation!

While most of you know Cheryl, Kate has not appeared in my blog until this trip. She and Cheryl were in the PhD program together at Oregon State and became friends. Kate also is a Dean at PCC and together they are the co-leaders of this group who are in China to learn about education in China (party). If you're not convinced look at the next 2 photos as evidence.

I'll turn the blog back over to Cheryl now.

Kate and I started the day with a great walk around part of the city. We kept trying to get to a park and instead were walking over bridges and couldn't find the way. We will try again tomorrow. We did see some people out exercising and fishing. We also saw quite a few people walking their dogs. Dogs are quite popular here.

I spent several hours at Tongli. For some reason most of the pictures are on my Nikon camera instead of my iPhone. It was very very hot so was difficult to do much looking around. I did go to a museum (sex museum) and watched an opera and a musical performance by an elderly gentleman. Some of the pictures of the people in the shops are priceless, just can't believe I didn't get any on the iPhone! (We'll post those when she returns).

The following 2 photos were taken by Bonnie Starkey.

I found quite a lot of information about Tongli on the internet. The following is a little:

Tongli is a small water town about half an hour from Suzhou with a history of over 1,000 years. Forty percent of the houses date back to the Ming and Qing dynasties (that 1368-1644 for those of you who aren't up to date with your Chinese history) It was built around 5 lakes, divided into 7 islands by 15 rivers and connected back together by 49 bridges. Canals everywhere. Water still forms a major role in the lives of its inhabitants. From: Aaron and Ely. (back to Cheryl).

Since today was Sunday, we asked to cut the day short. We did have a huge lunch and of course they wanted to provide us with dinner tonight, but we asked for a little rest. We will be back at it with formal events tomorrow and a farewell banquet.

I can't believe that my trip is 1/2 way done. The group that I am traveling with is wonderful. I am so pleased to be able to get to know all of them. It seems like most of the time when I have been with a large group, there is always someone who is "needy or annoying". That is not the case, everyone is a professional and a lot of fun to be with. Again, I will say that it has been an incredible experience.

Love, Cheryl