Off the beaten track .....

Now that Wuxi is no longer on the tourist trail outlined by the Lonely Planet, most things can be considered an authentic Chinese experience. Yesterday it was a beautiful day, so instead of going to the gym, I decided to head off the beaten track and onto a very (literally) beaten track in the New District. I began by cycling out past school where there is an area I’ve been curious about a for a while. It seemed like there might have been farmland beyond the factories and yes, there was! I spent a very enjoyable afternoon bouncing along the narrow farmers paths, past carefully tended vegetable patches and a variety of homes. The homes ranged from a basic shell of a home covered with plastic bags to small, run down apartment buildings. The only commonality between the homes was the huge piles of rubbish that littered the outside environment. Imagine looking out your window every day and seeing rubbish strewn everywhere and smelling the putrid smell of it decomposing and being incinerated. Awful. But, despite this uninspiring view, all the people I came across were friendly and welcomed me with a big grin and a 'Nihao!' as I bounced my way past them. The most beautiful aspect of the afternoon was the silence - not a sound to be heard. It was hard to believe I was only 30 minutes away from my noisy, but luxurious apartment on Chang Jiang Road. As I headed back into the modern world, I stumbled across a large open air market. What an experience this was! Fresh fruit, vegetables, tofu, pickled vegetables, meats, fish .... there was something for everyone. I ended up buying some fruit and veg - $1.50 for peaches, bananas, lettuce, cucumber and some bokchoy. I declined the offer to purchase the meat and fish - some of it you couldn't even see for the flies. It reminded me of the stories I used to tell the MLC girls about life on the Victorian goldfields - well, this is life in modern China! Men sat at their butcher stands swishing away flies with large poles covered with plastic bags while women caught fresh fish as they attempted to jump out of tanks and onto the floor. It was a hustling, bustling 'real' market place and I hope I can find it again. I then headed back to Chang Jiang Road and was surprised to find myself at the back of the massage place - of course, I couldn't pass it without popping in to say hello (and maybe have a massage!).