China: Cemetery Visit in Suzhou

The number one reason for going to China was to visit my maternal grandparents' grave site. My grandmother died of COVID almost a year ago, at the age of 102. This was the first chance the whole family could make the trip together. The day after the last one arrived from exams at UPenn, we set out for the cemetary in Mudu, 60 miles west from Shanghai, in the municipality of Suzhou. As this was the first time the whole family visited the grave together, it was a great relief and comfort for my mom, being the only child.



In Suzhou we stayed in the area slightly to the northeast of city center, known as Pingjiang Road which has retained many old buildings, bridges, and canals, and is much loved by tourists. Suzhou also has a greenway along its 15km moat, though very little of the old walls remain. The few gates are mostly reconstructions. Nevertheless I now have a new found appreciation for Suzhou, a place I have visited numerous times before. There was also a family dinner in Suzhou with my second cousin and husband.











On the one full day, John and I walked the popular Lingbai Route, starting from Lingyan Mountain, then onto Dajiao Mountain and Yangchang Mountain, and ending at Dragon Lakes in the Baimajian Scenic Area. The trail is only 10km, and the three hills are not particularly high, a couple of hundred meters, but a good part of the trail is loose dirt which made it difficult. One of the north facing slopes was still covered in ice and snow. We went down an alternate trail, and came to an 80 degree slope with a couple of ropes. Long story short, I ended up dangling from the rope. My rescuer on a parallel rope had to be instructed by yet another kind hiker to put out his foot, so I could step on his foot and right myself. I was much humbled. See video below.



















On the way out of Suzhou, we made a short stop at Hanshan Temple, which is right off the Grand Canal, teeming with cargo boats, even a tanker! I could hardly imagine more traffic when the earliest canal sections were put in operation almost 2500 years ago. Modern fresh water shipping is a rare site to encounter on our travels.