Our final full day in China was spent drawing at Pianjiang Road in Suzhou. And what a fantastic last day it was. The students spent the morning drawing and had a little bit of free time in the afternoon. We will have our last group dinner this evening!
Today we visited the Lingering Garden and the great historical Suzhou city gate. At the garden, which was similar in style to yesterday, there was traditional Chinese music being played throughout the day by two different women. We had great weather (again!) and got in another full day of drawing. More images of the final pieces to come tomorrow. Here are a few from yesterday.
Day one in Suzhou was a pleasant change from Shanghai. We visited the Humble Administrator’s Garden, which was not all that humble. And, in fact, was extensive enough to spend the entire day there drawing. Everyone agreed this was exactly what was needed.
Our one short drawing session in Shanghai was at the Bund (waterfront), Shanghai’s modern commercial showcase. Here are students at work and some of the drawings from today and the last session in Beijing at the Bird’s Nest stadium.
You may have noticed a slight change in our itinerary. Because of construction along the railroad tracks, the train from Beijing does not stop in Suzhou, therefore we decided to go directly to Shanghai from Beijing (and spend a day and 2 nights) rather than take a day trip from Suzhou. So Today we spend the morning drawing in Shanghai and then the move to Suzhou, a 45 minute trip by train.
Since the students were off with themselves yesterday, these photos are some of the sights they may have seen.
Don’t worry, we’re still in Shanghai! I had a few extra Beijing pictures to put up.
We are in Shanghai! China’s most cosmopolitan city that feels more like New York City than Beijing. It has a long history of playing host to foreigners, so it is also an easy city to navigate for Americans.
After spending 11 hours on the train yesterday, today is a “free” day for all of us to explore the city as we wish. Tong is going to give a brief “lecture” on where to go and what to see, then, with a buddy system firmly in place so no student is off on their own, everybody can see the sights, shop(!), and relax after an arduous week and a long train ride.
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