Perhaps best known as “Other Lisa” in the comments at the Peking Duck (or @otherlisa on Twitter), Lisa’s a long-time blogger (her blog, Paper Tiger Tail is one of my favs., she was also a past contributor at the Duck) and has the distinction of having seen a side of China most of us expats have only read about in books.

Lisa was one of the first and few foreigners who entered China directly following the end of the Culture Revolution (read about it here, it continues to be one of my favourite blog posts gracing the ether). She is a fascinating woman, and so when she asked me to design a Web site for her soon-to-be-released book, Rock Paper Tiger, I jumped at the chance.

The site was launched early October, corresponding with her novel becoming available on Amazon for pre-order. As is the case with so many people I work with, I had never met Lisa in person, at least until this past weekend. Currently travelling through China, she swung by Suzhou and hung out with Maggie and I for a couple of days.

Suzhou Canal Night Cruise

It’s always great having people come visit Suzhou as it gives us a chance to dust off our tourist caps and take in a sight we hadn’t yet seen in our three+ years here. With Lisa it was the night cruise of the Suzhou canal. I was a bit apprehensive that the night cruise would even be open in the winter months, but a quick phone call to the boat operators and we were in business.

The cruise lasted 70 minutes and cost 60 RMB (off-season prices I think). We bought tickets and boarded the boat at a wharf on the south western side of the old city — on Pan Xu Rd. (江苏省苏州市盘胥路739号 0512-68118088) not far from the intersection of Xu Jiang Rd. The tour was mediocre. I’m glad I can say I’ve done it, but whether or not it was worth the 60 RMB/person is debatable.

The biggest problem I had with it was the seating was clearly designed for slim Chinese frames — had I not had proper leverage, I’m sure the chair would still be stuck to my ass. The deck was enclosed and heated, a bonus for the chilly November weather, but the glass windows made photos without reflections nearly impossible. What the enclosure gave in protection from the elements it took in visibility, and would have much preferred an optional open-air deck that afforded better views. There was a small spot on the bow, but after some Chinese dude trying to impress his girlfriend stood in front of the captain, we were banned from it.

The route was alright, but not as comprehensive as I would have expected. I sort of thought 70 minutes would have taken us around the entire outer canal of the old city (it surrounds the city like a moat and has been in place for about 2500 years). Instead we journeyed up the southern leg of the canal, and then turned around and backtracked. The tour operators tried to distract us from this redundancy with a musician plucking a sān xián and belting out some rather discordant (to my laowai ears at least) Kunqu, the local opera style.

The second leg of the route was slightly improved, as we headed up the western side of the city towards Shantang Jie, the spot you see in virtually any collection of Suzhou photos (here’s mine). It was cool to see at night — with virtually every building in the area lit up like a Chinese-inspired Christmas decor.

Here are some photos:

As I said, I’m not sure the 60RMB was justified, but I’m happy to have crossed it off the list of things I’ve been meaning to do. Having the opportunity to finally meet Lisa in person and get her thoughts on the changes in China, US political situation and life in general was priceless.

Be sure to pre-order your copy of Rock Paper Tiger, and let me know what you think of her site.

Last week Maggie and I grabbed a flight out of PVG and made our annual pre-holiday trip to visit the inlaws and friends in Dalian. That we both work outside the confines of anyone’s schedule but our own, we are fortunate that we can travel when the rest of the country is distractedly focused on tying up loose ends before one of China’s major holidays. It makes for cheaper and less crowded travel.

Returning to Dalian, where I spent the first year and a half of my China life, is always a mixed bag. I love Suzhou, and I love living in Suzhou more than I loved living in Dalian. But at the same time, Dalian has the huge draw of both friends who have remained (or returned) there and a rather large nostalgia factor.

That it was the first place me and China started our near half-decade affair has left me with a strong impression of Dalian. Around every corner and down every road there seems to be an “oh, I remember that place!” moment, followed promptly by a “hey, but that’s new!” While living there I was always on the fringes of the city proper — living first in Jinzhou district (the “district” bit being a bit of an insult to the city, as it’s older than Dalian), where I met Maggie and where her family continues to live; and second in Jinsanjiao, on the northern edge of Dalian city.

Never having lived downtown may be one of the major reasons I was eager to leave Dalian, and upon looking back, may have lead me to judge the place a bit unfairly. While it is relatively Western friendly, my feeling about the place is that it doesn’t remotely compare to the Westernized parts of Suzhou. Dalian, despite all its development, is still in Dongbei, China’s northeastern rust-belt.

And while Dalian — more than most Dongbei cities, has spent lots of time and energy trying to reinvent itself, learning largely through trial and error what works and what doesn’t, Suzhou’s a decade or two ahead. As a comfortable place to live, Suzhou still takes the cake. However, let me compare a few differences between the two places I’ve called “home” in China:

Weather

Despite being a Canadian, I’ve no loyalty to four distinct seasons. While Dalian’s weather is much closer to that of which I’m used to, I wasn’t sad to leave Dalian’s icy winters behind when I moved south. What I hadn’t counted on was Suzhou’s absolute bunk climate. Even in winter Dalian is likely to have beautifully clear-skied and sunny days. Suzhou hasn’t had sun since the Song Dynasty.

While enduring Dalian’s northern winters may be a challenge, its summer is livable and its spring and fall are a good length. Not so in Suzhou. Suzhou’s summer is akin to living in a bathhouse for 4-5 months, and its winter is wet and about as close to freezing as you can get without committing to it. Winters are made all the worse by the peculiar evolutionary trait of those born south of the Chang Jiang being without the good sense to insulate their buildings. Fall and spring are things only existent in fables — as proof, it will be October tomorrow and I’m still in shorts and tees.

Dalian: 2 – Suzhou: 0

Food

This is another area where both places are nothing to write novels about — blog posts maybe. I find Dongbei food rather simple and bland, while Suzhou’s local fare is sweet and a bit odd (bull frog is a common menu item). My palate is much more inline with Hunan or Sichuan food, and I can’t get enough of the cumin-y goodness of Xinjiang food.

Where Dalian edges out Suzhou is that it has a wide selection of chuar locales. There wasn’t a place I lived or visited in Dalian that wasn’t a 5-10 minute walk from a street full of low-sitting tables and stools eager for you to grill stuff. While Suzhou has a few chuar spots, they are just that – few. And while my body is surely happy I’m not sucking back enough carcinogens to give my grandkids cancer and washing ‘em down with bottle after bottle of cheap brew, there’s a reason a chuar restaurant is usually my most anticipated event in Dalian.

Dalian also scores points over most Dongbei locations as being close to the sea, and for this seafood lover, that’s a huge plus.

Dalian: 2 – Suzhou: 0

Western Standards of Living

Now before the FOTBers or hard-core expats get their backs up, let me qualify this by saying — to each their own. For me, I’ve lived in China long enough that a bit of comfort is something I’m willing to look for. When I first arrived, and occasionally still in fits of boredom, I loved the chaotic cacophony that I had assumed was China. I felt it defined China in some way, and that I was missing out on it by living a cushy expat existence. But then I asked myself, would anyone live in those conditions if they weren’t forced to by finance or because they’re a cultural tourist? Probably not. At least not me.

And while Dalian has some charming and exclusive expat-geared communities and facilities, Suzhou gets all the points in this category. In fact, from what I’ve seen of Shanghai, Suzhou would give it a run for its money. The entire eastern end of Suzhou is row after row of wide, organized streets, designated and protected bike paths, international restaurants, and decently maintained apartment complexes.

Dalian: 0 – Suzhou: 3 (because few things top ‘livability’ for points)

Culture and History

The park at 2,500-year-old Pan Gate

Being that it was the native home to nomads, it is perhaps unsurprising that there aren’t many long-standing cultural spots in Dongbei, and what few the area has, virtually none of them are in Dalian.

Suzhou, by contrast, has been sitting here for 2,500 years just collecting culture like it might one day come back in style. Despite winning 3 points for its modernity, Suzhou has done a decent enough job maintaining its numerous historical sites — the revenue for which no doubt helped pay for the newly developed districts.

Both places provide good insight into what is China’s chimera-like culture, but for strictly bookish culture and history points, Suzhou wins hands down. There aren’t many cities in China that get their own Chinese sayings, nor do many still have monuments to pre-Qin kings.

Dalian: 0 – Suzhou: 2

Natural Scenery

Bingyu Valley, just outside of Dalian

Both Suzhou and Dalian have decent scenery. Suzhou’s Venice-like network of canals are fed by a number of lakes in the surrounding area, including China’s third largest, Tai Hu. Additionally, there are a good number of large hills (called “mountains”, but really?) for a day out hiking.

Dalian is also great for hiking, with Da Hei Shan and Bingyu Valley being particularly great spots to visit. However, where Dalian jumps ahead of Suzhou is its proximity to the sea. While perhaps not for everyone, it’s hard to deny the aesthetics of a nice sea-side sunset/sunrise. Coupling its drastic seaview vistas with its rugged hilly terrain, Dalian beats out Suzhou in this category.

Dalian: 2 – Suzhou: 1

Location

This was one of the primary reasons I was eager to move down from Dalian to Suzhou three years ago. While Dalian is well-connected via trains, planes, busses and ferries; Suzhou wins out simply for being directly adjacent to one of China’s (indeed, the world’s) largest cities. Suzhou’s proximity to Shanghai (just half-hour on the new fast trains) give it a huge leg-up over Dalian, which despite its connectivity is still in the relatively isolated northeast.

And while unlike Dalian, Suzhou doesn’t have its own airport, we’re happy enough borrowing the two in Shanghai, or a third in nearby Wuxi. Shuttles run from Suzhou to both of Shanghai’s airports, and because Shanghai PVG is a truly international airport, global direct flights are easy to come by.

The one downside to Suzhou’s otherwise unencumbered system is that it is virtually the last stop before Shanghai for all trains coming from the north. This can make it a bit of a challenge to get train tickets to Shanghai last minute.

Dalian: 0 – Suzhou: 1

Nightlife

I’m married, what the hell do I know about nightlife anymore?

Actually, I think both cities are pretty much on par with each other in this regard. Both have a couple of clubs, a number of pubs, and a few good miscellaneous expat hangouts (cafes and whatnot). The only edge I might give Dalian here is that it is generally cheaper to go out in Dalian than in Suzhou — which seems to have taken its pricing cues from its big sister to the east.

Dalian: 1 – Suzhou: 1

Final Score & Conclusions

Dalian: 7
Suzhou: 8

Not a striking difference, and admittedly my scoring is biased as all hell. At the end of the day, I would happily recommend (and have numerous times) either place as a good spot to live. That they have their differences is a great argument against the opinion (that I’ve more than once repeated) that all Chinese cities are indistinguishable at their core.

A few photos from my trip to Dalian

What wasn’t mentioned on the Web sites I reviewed, but was added to the rhetoric after I arrived was that Dalian girls are considered some of the most beautiful women in China. I’m betting had I known this beforehand, it wouldn’t have come down to a coin-toss between Dalian and Qingdao (another beautiful sea-side city with a beer festival, but no beautiful women to speak of — my requirements weren’t complex).

Dōngběi nǚzǐ, northeastern women, are renowned throughout China for being tall, strong-willed and fair-skinned beauties; a fact that most every taxi driver comments on when I tell him that my wife is from Dalian.

When moving to Suzhou in 2006, the aforementioned beautiful Dalian girl in tow told me (somewhat apprehensively) that Suzhou has been famous for centuries (perhaps millennia) for its beautiful women. After having heard the same thing about Dalian over the previous year and a half, I was beginning to suspect Chinese people just told foreigners this about every city in China.

According to this recent article on Netease, thankfully translated by the folks at ChinaHush, which ranks China’s top 10 cities with the most beautiful women, there’s some truth to it (if truth can be found in online polls) — Dalian took the #1 spot, with Suzhou following closely at #4.

1. Dalian | 大连

Bold but graceful
Score: 95
Girls from northeast of China always have the reputation of being light skinned and tall. Dalian girls are undoubtedly the cream of the crop among girls in the northeast of China. Compare with women in southern China, Dalian girls might not be as graceful, but they are more bold and prideful; Compare with women in other northeast China and other inland cities, Dalian women added more elegance. For example actress Dong Jie (董洁) is a typical representative of the girls in Dalian.

4. Suzhou & Hangzhou | 苏杭

Pretty girl of humble birth
Score: 92
Suzhou is the most girly city in China. Some say more than half of the beauties of southern China are in Suzhou. They all have admirable pretty hands. Needless to say, Suzhou girls are most suitable to be kind, considerate and desirable lovers. Suzhou and Hangzhou are known to produce beauties, is indeed well-deserved reputation. [Example]: Han Xue (韩雪)

The full list is

1. Dalian | 大连 – Bold but graceful – Score: 95
2. Chongqing | 重庆 – Warm like fire – Score: 94
3. Chengdu | 成都 – Pure as the eye solution – Score: 93
4. Suzhou & Hangzhou | 苏杭 – Pretty girl of humble birth – Score: 92
5. Changsha | 长沙 – Beauty of blandness – Score: 91
6. Nanjing | 南京 – Delicate, free and natural – Score: 90
7. Shanghai | 上海 – Fashionable and exquisite – Score: 89
8. Beijing | 北京 – Aristocrat of the century – Score: 88
9. Hong Kong | 香港 – Fashion Pioneers – Score: 87
10. Guangzhou | 广州 – Soft inside and hard outside – Score: 86

It’s something I’ve been intending to put together for a couple years now (as the dead-end link in my header long alluded to), and have only just gotten around to in a fit of procrastination last night.

It also spurred me to whip together the following map of Suzhou’s different districts. I looked around and couldn’t really find anything that simply and quickly laid out where the different districts were. So, there it is. It’s by no means cartographically perfect, but I hope it will give any newcomer the gist of the city’s layout.

Suzhou District Divisions Map

Locals half-heartedly bemoan the changes prosperity has brought. The city, they say, is irrevocably different. But Suzhou has hung onto its character, and is an excellent place to witness the contrast and clash of new and old in today’s China. On Pingjiang Lu, an old, cobbled street beside a canal, it is possible to sit, a little guiltily, beside the water, sipping Italian coffee and surfing the internet, while residents of the ramshackle homes nearby, carrying-poles slung between their shoulder blades, collect the day’s water in buckets.

If you live in, or plan to visit, Suzhou I highly recommend giving the guide a look at. You can read it online here, or download it as a PDF for offline viewing.

The site’s editors wanted me to put together a summary article on “my Suzhou”, and as of last week it was published on the site. For anyone that’s ever asked my opinion about what to see while visiting Suzhou the content will feel familiar, as it generally just rehashes what I’ve suggested to people many many times over the years I’ve lived here.

If you get a chance, check it out: Suzhou Insider: The Humble Expat’s Garden City

It also features a number of photos I’ve taken around Suzhou — the requirement of which finally forced me to get off my ass and start uploading the countless number of China-centric photos I’ve taken over the years to my Flickr account. I’m a long way from being done, but it’s getting there.

The list, compiled by New York-based human resources company ORC Worldwide, states the major reasons for giving Suzhou the thumbs down are pollution and a lack of culture & recreation facilities. Other problems included disease/sanitation, medical facilities, education facilities, and availability of goods and services.

It needs to be asked: has ORC Worldwide ever even been to Suzhou?

Granted, their list was compiled for BusinessWeek and specifically for an article about hardship pay, but really?

From the report:

While Suzhou is famous among Chinese as a beautiful garden city, ORC analysts are less impressed. The eastern Chinese city near Shanghai “can be a difficult place for expatriates” because of the pollution and the limited opportunities for culture and recreation.

Now, I’m not receiving any sort of hardship pay to be here, so maybe not the report’s target audience, but I would consider myself an expat and I’ve lived in Suzhou for some time now, so let me tackle these one by one:

Pollution: I will concede that pollution is a problem, as it is in virtually every 2nd tier Chinese city. That Suzhou appears on the list, while Shanghai and Beijing don’t (both having, in my opinion, worse air quality), is a bit baffling.

Lack of culture & recreation facilities: Huh? Did they miss the 150,000 sqm Suzhou Science and Cultural Arts Center (SSCAS)? On top of being home to a large cinema (with English language films and an IMAX screen), it also contains a large live theatre that routinely features symphonies, Celtic dancers and recently played host to Elton John’s Aida. If that’s not enough to keep you entertained, how about any one of the bazillion expat-focused bars. Pool halls. Suzhou Kunqu opera. Bowling (at least two locations in the city I know of)? A plethora of gyms and swimming pools. Any of the UNESCO World Heritage worthy gardens. A museum designed by world-renowned architect IM Pei. A good number of lakes and mountains to hike around.

But then maybe the hardship pay lot are a hard to entertain bunch.

Disease/Sanitation: I’m no expert on either, but I don’t imagine it’s any worse than any other city in China.

Medical facilities: Chinese hospital visits and Chinese bank visits will go on my grave as two things I never learned to love. Despite that, I’ve been to Suzhou’s hospitals (several of them) and though I wouldn’t treat a dying goldfish at some of them – SIP’s Kowloon seems decent enough to get this scratched from the list.

Education facilities: With a number of my friends working for several of the international schools here I take a bit of offense to this. SSIS, Dulwich and EtonHouse are all well-respected international schools offering accredited curricula.

Availability of goods and services: This may be the last offender, but it is the one that proves unequivocally that the ORC folks had their heads up their asses when they assessed Suzhou. Granted, the rare expat that lives downtown might have a hard time finding goods from home. But as most expats live in the SIP or SND districts, I just can’t imagine the ORC surveyors did their homework properly.

A stones throw from my house are a variety of international restaurants (Thai, Tex-Mex, burgers, Indian, Korean, Japanese, European – you name it), a foreign import supermarket, a foreign-run dentist, a Starbucks, a foreign-language bookstore and a Cold Stone Creamery ice-cream shop. If those things don’t suit my fancy, I simply order delivery pizza from Melrose (2-for-1 Tuesdays!), delivery subs from Subway, or delivery groceries. On the odd occasion I actually go out and “shop”, I’ve got two massive supermarkets a 10RMB ($1.50) cab ride away – and a soon to open Walmart.

But then maybe the folks that require “hardship” pay to take a job overseas are especially hard to please.

The full list, though if Suzhou is any example, it’s about as useless as a Chinese typewriter (I’m still trying to coin this phrase):

Very High Risk
1. Lagos, Nigeria
2. Jakarta, Indonesia
3. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
4. Almaty, Kazakhstan

High Risk

5. Mumbai, India
6. New Delhi, India
7. Nairobi, Kenya
8. Bogota, Colombia
9. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
10. Chennai, India
11. Hanoi, Vietnam
12. Guangzhou, China: Lists “phyiscal remoteness as a problem, and then lauds its proximity to Hong Kong as a “major plus”. WTF?
13. Tianjin, China: Report says “With limited availability of international flights, Tianjin can feel remote” – yet Beijing is 30 minutes away on the fast train – and from there the world. WTF?
14. Suzhou, China
15. Qingdao, China
16. Shenzhen, China
17. Bangalore, India

Medium Risk

18. Cairo, Egypt
19. Kiev, Ukraine
20. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

One last thing. The report stated: “Santo Domingo is the worst-ranking city in the Western Hemisphere, according to ORC. ‘While the pleasant environs of the Caribbean are a plus, hurricanes, power failures, poor roads, crime and the threat of disease are drawbacks to this location.’ Crime, natural disasters, poor roads and (legitimate) threats of disease and it’s five cities above Suzhou? WTF?

(h/t @ednaczhou)

The site offers home delivery of groceries in and around the Jinji Lake/SIP area of Suzhou. Yeah, we just click, click, click and hit send and magically a man appears the next day with our groceries. Blows my fucking mind.

Now, I’ve heard of similar services back home, but have had little cause to use them. Shopping in Canada is about as stressful as a yoga class. You show up, listen to a bit of Musak, casually consider your health for 45 minutes and then drive home.

A trip to the supermarket in China is … like my fat ass doing yoga. Uncomfortable, painful, awkward, and filled with the concern that I may end up seriously maiming others around me.

I’ve talked about my love/hate of Chinese supermarkets previously, and so wont rehash it all here. Needless to say, I avoid shopping as much as possible.

As Maggie largely handles all the shopping (in part because of our new cooking arrangement), and for a long time – like most things “China” – it didn’t get to her.

However, it is impossible not to see a transition in my wife from the somewhat sheltered person I met in Jinzhou to the woman she is today. Sociologists would have a field day with her. She’s a blossoming bougeois bouquet and, for better or worse, there ain’t no going back.

As such, she (like me) despises trips to the supermarket now, and routinely returns from Saturday afternoon shopping saying, “it’s like a damn war!”

Enter 5jshop.com – the bilingual, QQ-connected solution to all our problems (of a shopanistic nature).

We were a bit apprehensive about the service when it was suggested to us by our great new friends (and new Suzhou bloggers) Ric and Gin – how could we not be? Reasonably priced groceries, fresh from the market to your door, and free delivery? Surely it’s too good to be true.

Well, we must be cashing in karma chips, because our delivery yesterday sealed it. No rotten or wilted week-old celery, no funky smelling mystery meats. We got fresh, clean veg; still-frozen (and sealed) chicken breast; ripe fruit; high-quality pork… delivered at our door. And, factoring in the added costs of taxis and impulse buying, the whole deal is going to end up saving us money.

Maggie might need a bit of work with the ordering system though, as we looked a bit silly ordering one, solitary banana.

Turns out her fears were not unfounded, and last week the whole business closed (it was one part yoga studio and one part female beautification factory).

Details of what exactly happened are sketchy, but best I’ve been able to piece together is that about six months ago the owner of the business realized the place was going down hill (the yoga side was the only side making money), so thinking that throwing money at the problem would solve things, she brought on some friends as partners.

The partners all invested a bunch of cash and suddenly things were back on track (a track the led nowhere good). As nothing management- or business-wise changed, sure enough once the newly infused funds ran out, the business started to tank again.

Now, knowing she couldn’t bring on more partners, the owner tried to cop out of the venture by saying she needed more time to spend with her daughter. She kindly offered to “give” the business to the partners. The partners, not being entirely clueless, realized that she was leaving behind a business that wasn’t making any money, had large debts and owed members a considerable sum of money/classes.

And things went to shit from there. There were vocal arguments, actual fist fights, hired thugs, police intervention, etc. All the while Maggie and the other girls that worked there kept asking “so, are we getting paid?”, as the company keeps one month of salary as “security” to stop employees from not giving notice and just ditching on payday (deterrent or not, it happened ALL the time).

After checking with a lawyer friend of mine and learning that there is actual legal recourse and labour laws here in the Middle Kingdom, Maggie and the girls went down to the labour office and filed a report. This scared the boss into paying them off that day, which essentially took Maggie out of the whole messy situation.

Her students, however, aren’t so lucky. As they’re owed their money back for 6-12 month memberships they’ve prepaid, they’re now taking Maggie’s former boss to court (and have even gotten the local TV station involved). As to whether or not they’ll ever see a jiao of their spent money is, I feel, pretty doubtful. Water from a rock, as the cliche goes.

ALL of that to say, Maggie went from gainfully employed to sans job in a blink. Fortunately for Maggie her skills are 100% transferable and in decent demand.

However, rather than jump back into working at a studio (that could again pull the proverbial yoga mat out from under her), she’s decided to take her private lessons full-time.

She’s been doing a decent amount of private lessons here in SIP for the last year or so, but is hoping that she’ll be able to rustle up enough business to not need to head back into the employ of idiot lao bans.

So, I know I’ve written about Maggie’s classes before, but if you are interested in English-language yoga classes in Suzhou/SIP be sure to check out her newly created Web site (designed by none other than yours truly).

And for those not in Suzhou, stay tuned to her site, as she’s planning to put together weekly instructional videos with a different yoga posture, and what it’s good for, each week.

The Suzhou Bookworm, which always seems quick to respond with an altruistic heart, is hosting the event. The details from the event page on Facebook:

Dear friends and patrons,

On Sunday July 6th, The Bookworm will be hosting a BBQ dinner to raise funds for our dear friend Xiao Hua.

Xiao Hua was the victim of a hit and run on Moye Lu on Sunday. She sustained severe head injuries that left her in a coma. Friends and family have managed to cover the initial costs of surgery and treatment, but at this critical stage of her recovery we must turn to the community for additional support. The proceeds of the barbecue will go towards the estimated 100,000 RMB in medical expenses.

Your 200 RMB donation will entitle you to a fantastic barbecue platter, a selection of fresh salads and sides, 2 draft pints (or soft drinks) and our sincere gratitude for the part you’ll be playing in saving Xiao Hua’s life.

Thank you for you support

Time & Place

Date: Sunday, July 6, 2008
Time: 5:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: The Suzhou Bookworm (off Shi Quan Jie) – map
Street: Gun Xiu Fang # 77, Shi Quan Street
City/Town: Suzhou, China

A tragic reminder that as much as we can joke about the crazy drivers in China – they do represent a real danger that we should all be mindful of.