3 weeks in China (1st part) I once read in a blog about the things a person should do before turning 22, one of which is that making a long trip alone. That's why for the first time of 20 years in this life, I went out of Vietnam, all by myself. It was also my first time going by plane and fortunately the 2 hour flight went so smoothly. I arrived at Shanghai Pudong International Airport 15 minutes earlier, went through customs and passport control. And now the adventure finally began! During the 3 weeks I visited 3 cities and 2 islands. My first destination was Suzhou, the city called Venice of China. My friend was studying here and he would be my guide through the whole trip. We found a cheap hostel which is near my friend’s university and accepts foreign people. The price was quite bearable, around 80 – 150 yuan per day (To tell the truth, if you are in Hanoi, with 150 yuan you absolutely can have a comfortable room in a 3 star hotel in the Old Quarter. But I was in China, of course, no complain). In the first days the weather was nice. It was cool and windy. I visited some of the city’s main sights such as Xiangmen, Pingjiang street, Guihua Park, Jinji Lake, etc… Beside the modern and luxuriant streets, the Fengmen Road local market reminded me of the markets in Vietnam, where you can purchase every kind of thing from food to clothes. It’s not a place where you buy goods with a certain price like in the supermarket. You must be good at valueing the thing you buy and know how to bargain well. Inside the market there was a shortcut to a neighborhood. From there you can discover that poverty still exists somewhere along with the development of the city. Then the weather turned bad, raining continually till the weekend. I also had the chance to visit Tongli, located on the outskirt of Suzhou. It is considered Venice of the East for its system of canals.