Me & City (Suzhou, China)

As 2009 comes to the end, the Circular of the General Office of the State Council released the  statutory holidays in 2010!

Please note in order to get longer and continued holiday time, taking extra days off during the weekdays are generally made up by woking on Saturdays and  Sundays instead.

New Year’s Day: Jan 1st to 3rd, a total of three days’ holiday.

Spring Festival: Feb 13th to 19th, seven days’ off.
On Feb 20th (Saturday) and Feb 21st (Sunday) everyone will resume normal work.

Tomb-Sweeping Day: April 3rd to 5th, three days off.

Labor Day: May 1st to 3rd,  three days off.

Dragon Boat Festival: Jun 14th to 16th,  three days off.
Everyone will work on Jun 12th (Saturday) and Jun 13th (Sunday)

Mid-Autumn Festival: Sep 22nd to 24th, three days off.
Everyone will work on Sep 19th (Sunday) and Sep 25th(Saturday)

China National Day: Oct 1st to 7th, 7 days off.
Everyone will work on Sep 26th (Sunday) and Oct 9th(Saturday)

Today is Winter Solstice Eve, also known as Midwinter Eve!  First let me tell you in short, it’s a big day for Suzhou natives!

Winter Solstice, one of the 24 solar terms in the lunar Calendar and usually falls in the fourth week(around the 22nd) of December in the Gregorian Calendar. It is the day of the year with the fewest hours of daylight.

The custom of  celebrating Winter Solstice Day by Suzhou natives dates back more than 2000 years ago，when the Kingdom of Wu adopted the Calendar of the Zhou Dynasty from which Winter Solstice is recognized as the first day of new year. So there is an old local saying in Suzhou  that “Natives celebrate Winter Solstice Day as big as New Year’s!”.

Just as in Christmas, the most important moment is the eve of the festival—Winter Solstice Eve.  A sumptuous dinner is usually well prepared to have a wonderful family reunion on the eve . Among all the elements of the fancy meal is Dong Niang Wine (冬酿酒), literally translated as Wine Brewed in Winter. It’s a rice brewed wine prepared about two months before the Midwinter Day made up with glutinous rice, sweet osmanthus and water is a must.

In Suzhou, Dong Niang Wine is a special seasonal wine, tastes  light and naturally sweet only made for the Winter Solstice. As the holiday approa ches , you can find the wine easily in many markets,  from big supermarkets to little grocery  stores. Besides, some Suzhou time-honored brand shops supply Dong Niang Wine brewed on their own every year as a tradition, such as Yuan Da Chang.  Most older natives prefer to wait in line for the wine brewed by these old shops,  maybe because the wine has accompanied them since their childhood!

Just as everybody know “When you in Rome, do as the Romans do”, I’d like to say when you in Suzhou, especially if you spend the Winter Solstice Day here, drink the Dong Niang Wine as the Suzhounese do! Cheers!

Suzhou Garden Yearly Cards allow you visit almost all of Suzhou Gardens and tourist attractions freely. The cards are valid for one year and you can go up to 100 times per year without extra charge. The cards costs 120 RMB and another 40 RMB for the deposit and are issued twice annually, in June and in December. So it’s just the time to get one if your are a garden addict!

Though the application for Suzhou Garden Yearly Card is open to almost everyone living in Suzhou—natives,  new Suzhou residents came from other cities and foreign residents, as a foreigner you will get the card successfully on condition you can prove over 2 years of Suzhou residence showed by  your visas and plan to stay in Suzhou for at least the following 6 months.

Passports (must), residence permits(must) and police registration form(recommended)  should be brought when  you apply the card. And pay attention that you have to apply the card in person but not have anybody bring your materials to the service centers and act for you cause a mugshot of  you need to be taken and recorded in the card memory.  Meantime,  you are  not allowed to rent the card to anybody else when visiting the gardens.

There are several service centers for your choice as follows:

Hongsheng Dasha Suzhou Tong Customer Service Center
Tel. 0512 6522 3311
Address: 1st fl. Hongsheng Dasha, 566 Ganjiang Lu, Suzhou干将东路566号宏盛大厦一楼西侧

Fenghuo Lu Suzhou Tong Customer Service Center
Tel. 0512 6829 6688
Address: 56 Fenghuo Lu, Suzhou 烽火路56号

Suzhou Gongyuan – Suzhou Park
Address: 26 Minzhi Lu (Wusa Lu), Suzhou苏州市民治路26号(五卅路)

Tongjing Gongyuan – Tongjing Park
Address: Tongjing Nan Lu, Suzhou苏州市桐泾南路

Annual Farm Produce Annual Fair will be held from Dec. 18th to 20th in the Suzhou International Expo Center.

It is said that the fair this year is the most grand one compared to those held in the past 7 years; the total booths cover about 20000 square meters. More than 300 categories and over 2000 classes of farm produce products will be showed and the exhibitors include local, nationwide and international which means Suzhou locals have a great chance to try something new this time, probably those never seen and heard of. Cool! Don’t miss the opportunity to have a troll at the EXPO this weekend!

Date: Dec. 18th-20th.
Address: 3A and 4A Hall of Suzhou International Expo Center (On the road of Xiandai Avenue)
Bus No. 28, 129, 812, 100, 2, 47, 106, 108, 138, 156, 156, 158, 206.
Get off bus stop: International Expo Center and Northern International Expo Center

World Women’s Handball Championship will be held at the Suzhou Sportes Center from Dec. 5th to Dec.17th.

Admission:  from 80RMB to 480RMB
Location: Suzhou Sports Center
Address: 183 Sanxiang Lu, Suzhou
Info & Ticket Hotline: 4008851591, 62514425

Xishan, with an area of 79.8 square kilometers, is the biggest island in Tai Lake, which is connected with Suzhou city by Tai Lake Bridge.

Tangli town, which is located in the east part of Xishan island is a town famous for old dwellings. Xishan Woodcarving Building, also known as Renben  Hall, is the most notable one constructed in A.D. 1855.   Renben Hall covering about 2000 square meters is a serial of buildings built with carved wood; especially delicate carving skills are expressed by the exquisite doors and windows.

click to view more photos

Enjoy the wood carving art!