just arr in suzhou, as usu ppl waiting to use net, so a quick note to say: horrible journey from Tunxi to here, but the hostel and the area its in is so nice that i'm feeling much better. Suzhou is a much bigger city than i imagined, and not very pleasant, but this area is perfect. no big vehicles, still got people living in the maze of old houses and waterways all around, really like the 'venice of the east'. The aki centre/place thingy is just beside the hostel, and it seems a lot of old impt bldgs are all ard this block, so I may just buy the book and take a day to explore. It's very pictureques.
It's also very near the town centre/shopping area, but very far removed in spirit. Fantastic. And I haven't even gotten to the gardens suzhou is famed for! Feeing 100% better than when I first arrived. But still very physically tired... gg to rest tonight and hope the gardens are really places to linger in!