Uprooting. Again.

Here’s what I know. I had free time coming to me this morning when this trip began. I was counting on that free time for a chance to catch my breath, do some shopping, have a leisurely breakfast, and generally catch a second wind for this trip. Somehow, that time was revoked, so I – we – could be carted around town as a group again to see a shopping district and a temple. To put it simply, I am far from happy, and I have plenty of company with me among the cohort.

So, now, instead of sleeping in I am up at 5am, packing my bags again so we can make the trip to Suzhou (pronounced “Sue-Joe”). Suzhou is where we’ll visit with Tyco, visit St. Joe’s China facilities and see a Chinese hospital.

But first, we go shopping. Shopping in China is as much a sport as it is about need fulfillment. Like I’ve said, you wanna bargain with just about everyone. No price is fixed. In fact, almost no named price is fair. To keep from overpaying, you have to talk the vendor down – way down.






Dr. Wang walks us to a shopping plaza known for some items that my wife would like, so pardon me while I keep the specifics a bit sketchy. But, let’s just say that watching Dr. Wang haggle is fun. The vendor immediately tells Dr. Wang she remembers her face. Now that a little friendliness is injected, they go at it. And once an acceptable price is established, we’re encouraged to tear in and find the goods we’d like. We all get a nice deal.












We hop in the bus, and find that we’ve spent so much time on this shopping excursion, we’ve got to blow off the temple, and head straight for a Thai lunch at “Thai-rrific” (yeah, I know…).

Back in the bus an hour later (pattern, anyone?), and we settle in for the 2 hour bus ride to Suzhou, which is further inland. I am terribly sleepy, and my mind cheers as I pass out.

I wake violently in a fit of coughs. Some irritant has gotten into my system, and I’m trying to stop. “Oh no, not again…”As I look around, the road signs signal we’re nearing Suzhou. This means the air will be tough to live with again. I’m not gonna have an easy time here.

Suzhou is gray – grayer even than Beijing. There are rubble piles scattered throughout the town. Little bridges dotting the lanes stretch over water that is opaque and pea soup green. The people roll past us on their bikes and their mopeds, completely unafraid to take on our bus in an intersection.





Yet, this is the home of China’s silk trade. Moreover, Suzhou typically is among the top 5 cities leading China’s annual GDP growth. This town is not small potatoes.

We drop our bags off at the hotel in a hurry. Here in the heart of this gray town is a beautiful hotel.



The shower in my room shares a glass wall with the main sleeping quarters. I curse the fact that my wife isn’t here, ‘cause that spells free show every time someone hits the shower.

We hop back in the bus, this time to squeeze in a visit to the historic Humble Administrator’s Garden. It’s a lovely place, even though we’re forced to appreciate it under an overcast sky at a breakneck pace.

Then, with some pulled strings, we get carted over to a government-owned silk mill, where we hope to squeeze in a little shopping.

Okay, we get stuck in traffic. Traffic here is just like Beijing’s – a free-for-all. Our own driver takes lefts from the right lane, barrels into an intersection peppered with bicycles. “Holy sh*t” becomes an oft-repeated phrase. And when we finally make it to the mill, we very nearly T-bone a motorcyclist who decided to gun it when he saw us making a turn.

These koi are a pretty close picture of what traffic is like around here.


First, a quick lesson in the art of silk making. Cocoons get boiled and then threaded out (you have to look really closely at this photo to see it), and then used to thread. We blow into the showroom and do a little shopping. The women turn into a whirling dervish of activity, as they scramble for nice fabrics, silk duvet covers, scarves, ties, bags, dresses, robes, etc.

I grab what I need to fulfill my needs without adding to my luggage fees. I take a seat and then get a chance to know one of my tour guides, Edwin. I take it as a good omen when I meet him in Shanghai – Edwin was my late brother’s name. The fact that he’s a cool character, working his phone like a Fortune 500 CEO, only makes me happier to have him on our side. It also doesn’t hurt that he looks like a young Leonard Nimoy.

Edwin is everything that should scare us about the new Chinese generation. Ambitious. Hard-working. Looking to constantly improve. As we chat, I find he’s also very politically astute when it comes to business. But most frightening, he’s not afraid to roll up his sleeves and get his hands a little dirty to succeed. (Don’t ask, let’s just leave it that. And no, I don’t mean to demean or judge him in anyway. He grew up in the poor parts of Shanghai. Having seen just how poor that really is, I refuse to undermine him.)

When we get back, I agree to take in dinner with “Wall Street Mike”, Pete and Will. We’ve got some things we need to discuss, and it’ll be a nice chance to catch up. We hit the hotel’s Chinese restaurant (“They had Chinese? Go on!”). After watching Mike put in an order in some kind of broken English, we wonder what will actually come out for us to eat. Thankfully, what comes out is quite good. We have a nice cap off to a messy day.

I get back to my room early enough to get some solid sleep and start a new day. Sadly, the coughing fit of earlier, and the beer I had at dinner, aren’t deadening my pain, And with everything off, I have distractions. I’m up until 3am when I decide to sterilize.

I call the front desk and ask for a cup of salt to be sent to my room. I get a ready acknowledgment. “OK, sir”. So imagine my surprise when the doorbell rings and a guy is standing there with an iron and a board.

After tracking down the one late-night staffer who speaks English, we get it right. I clean out my throat and lungs in ugly fashion, and can finally call it a night.