A stroll around Luzhi
Last Saturday we went to Luzhi, a nearby water town, for a quick visit because C.’s company had a Women’s Day activity for their female employees there and as C. is the head of that office he wanted to go and say hi. After doing this (to the chorus of the “Oooohs” and “Aaaahs” from about 50 women when they saw Baby A.), we walked around the old town a bit. It was cloudy and the weather forecast had said it was going to rain, so there wasn’t many people. We took a few pictures, saw a few cats, ate a bowl of local noodles and a warm flat bread… We also bought some pickled vegetables, which are a local speciality, and the shop attendants were wondering aloud if C. was Japanese. They were talking in Suzhou dialect but even I could understand them! Chinese people tend to think foreigners cannot speak Chinese so they often talk about you in front of you.
Some pictures from our stroll:
Stone lion guarding a bridge.
When I finally managed to take a picture, the cat was already leaving.
The water in the canals doesn’t exactly have a healthy colour…
A picturesque corner.
These little boats can take you along the canals.
But check the pricing information: in Chinese it says 150 RMB per boat, in English it says 150 per person! Innocent mistake or foreigner price??
Plum blossoms (or maybe apricot… they look the same to me!).
Mirror to scare evil spirits away (because they are hideous and fear their own reflection).
See you next time, Luzhi.
More pics from a previous visit to Luzhi can be seen in this post.
Haha, I love it when people don’t know you speak the language and talk about you right in front of you! I’m Chinese and I look Chinese, but I was brought up speaking mostly English so people think I don’t understand Chinese… it’s so satisfying when I tell them, “you know, I know what you’re saying”. 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
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This made me smile too, because my mother is Italian. When she was young she worked in Germany. Back then it rare that any Germans would speak or understand Italian. She and her girlfriend were together at a restaurant and they were making comments about some man they had seen. When the man got up to leave, he said in German (my mother and her friend were fluent in German) that he understood everything they said. LOL – my mother and her friend were shocked, of course, and much more careful when speaking in Italian. Luckily, they did not say he had a BIG NOSE or anything like that! :)
Sometimes I actually pretend I don’t understand Chinese. Like for example in the breastfeeding room of one of the Suzhou malls they don’t allow you to bring the stroller inside and you have to park it outside and carry the baby and the diaper bag. Well, I think this is a stupid policy for a service that is supposed to bring mums some convenience, so I just bring my stroller inside and pretend I don’t notice the employee calling me…
Wonderful photos, and I can see your son (a son correct?) has really been growing! I had a brain freeze and thought “Did she have a boy or girl… then I thought, I am sure it was a son.” My daughters are in their 20s now, but I remember fondly when they were little. Thanks for sharing your trip, it’s wonderful for us to explore new places in China through you. Have a good day.
Yes, it’s a boy, hehe. My husband’s aunt said that hats with two pompoms are for girls though, so maybe that’s why you were not sure? Although I had never heard of this pompom rule myself, haha.
LOL – in America grown men are wearing a hat with a pompom, especially when skiing. It’s all about style, some guys feel comfortable wearing a pompom. I just did a search… sailors wore hats with pompoms, so during a storm fellow sailors could see them. Actually, it’s interesting, a lot of history on why soldiers in different countries wore pompoms, the Scottish did, etc. Thanks for making me smile. NOW, for sure, I will remember you have a son!
Wow! Baby is getting huge — good job.
I see the cat does not share the Chinese delight in babies. :)
He’s super tall, 92th percentile for height, but kind of skinny (30th). When I went to his 6 month check up a couple of weeks ago, the doctor said he was too thin and I should give him formula. WTF. I told her why would I do that when he’s perfectly normal and within the growth chart (and besides I know I have more than enough milk myself, it’s just that I couldn’t tell her know many ml he drinks as my boob doesn’t provide that information for now…
WTF, indeed. You only supplement with formula if you have to. Like if he keeps screaming after you nurse him. Glad you stood up to that doctor.
Nice photos and your baby kid is cute. C sounds like a considerate boss. That’s impressive you can understand Suzhou dialect.
I can’t understand much, but “Japanese” is one of the few words I know, haha. Sounds like “saponin”.
I’m not native to suzhou, but I think it should sound more like ‘yaponin’ instead of ‘saponin’, right? Please ask C for the anwser, ^_^
It’s definitely something between an y and an s, haha (more towards an s, or at least I hear it like that). Suzhou dialect (well, I guess all the Wu languages) have A LOT of strange consonant sounds!! There is one that makes me crazy, the one for “we”. It’s like a bug buzzing!
How did you learn this- did you overhear people pointing to a Japanese and saying that? It sounds a little similar to the Japanese word for their country “nippon”, ha.
I don’t remember the exact situation, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t learn it from someone pointing at a Japanese, haha. It is indeed similar, and in Mandarin too (Riben).
Not enough clothing layers for the little human!!! Wonder whether the old ladies were also talkign about that :D
Oh right, I forgot to mention that!!! The lady boss of the restaurant of course said the baby was not wearing enough. Because, you know, babies are cold unless they are wearing 56 layers and covered with a bed blanket on top.
Baby A is getting so big. Ooo, Aaaah! I agree the water color doesn’t look too healthy, but I love the look of those water towns with their curved stone bridges. It’s such a romantic look.
I don’t think they’re plum blossoms. I painted so many of them when I was studying Chinese brush painting, and they didn’t look like that.
They might be apricot blossoms then, there is an apricot tree beside my building and I think the flowers looked similar. (I only know it is an apricot tree because I actually saw the fruits one summer, haha. And Nico wanted to eat them so first I smelled one to confirm it was an apricot).
Looks a chilly but lovely day out Marta at one of the little water towns. It’s always funny when you can understand another language and the people talking about you don’t know…and then when walking away I usually say something in that language – good for laughs. I note a few of your followers say your baby is getting big; I thought exactly the same thing…lovely little boy.
Now with the baby I’m pretending more and more than I don’t understand because I get a bit tired of the “mixed babies are so beautiful” comment, absolutely every Chinese person feels the need to say it! I know they mean well but I’m a bit worried about how quick they are to point out that he’s “different”…
Mmm very good point.
Too cute. I also used to hold and play with baby’s feet like that when they are in the carrier :)
Haha, right? Hands just seem to end up there naturally :D
What a lovely little town. But I know EXACTLY what you are talking about when it comes to canal smells…unfortunately. We have the same smell. :P Did you go on a boat ride?
Haha! I didn’t notice any special smell, but the colour was definitely not right…
No! I have never tried the boats! We also have them in the old town in Suzhou city center. I’ve always wanted to, but I haven’t found the right moment yet, haha.
I get that you were glad to leave Luzhi! Maybe if the water was a different colour and smell, the people might be nicer!
Nearly everybody here speaks English so I can’t talk like nobody will understand. Well I can if I use slang and speak super fast! Most of the time I get mistaken for being nearly every Northern European nationality along with American, Canadian and Australian before surprising them I’m British. I don’t mind! It’s a fun game to play!
Oh no, I enjoyed the visit! The water looks ugly but it didn’t have any offensive smell, hehe.
Here I think I could totally talk shit of people in the subway for example and nobody would understand (it has even happened many times that people ask me if I’m speaking in Russian, haha, must be because of the rr?). But I’m a nice person so I don’t do that! :P Besides, even when you don’t understand a language, it’s very obvious when someone is talking about you, right??? You just know!
Yes, you just know! If they didn’t look at you while talking about you, they might get away with it. But no human knows how to be subtle talking about someone else in front of them because you usually have to explain to the person you’re talking to about them who hasn’t even noticed. And if they had and on the same wave length, then mean girls. Russian is nothing like Spanish! Spanish have more excitement when they talk! (sorry any Marta’s Russian followers.)
Sometimes I think it’s worse when you start talking, mess up what you’re saying then they have no time for you or ask again at the top of their voice or ‘QUE! for everyone to know you’re a foreigner. I say no worries and move on, but it’s how they make you feel. Their problem not mine right?!
Here some people get nervous when they see you coming to talk to them… because they think “Oh, no, a foreigner, I won’t understand anything” (because they assume you can’t speak Chinese), then you start speaking in Chinese and they don’t even listen to you because they still think you are talking in English or whatever hahaha.
I get that too! I just speak in Spanish to them and let their brains catch up. That’s until I don’t know the Spanish for what I’m saying then it’s English. Up until that point though!