无锡．Wuxi

It's pronouced "Woo-Hsi", and it's between Suzhou and Nanjing, 1.5 hr due west of Shanghai via fast train. I went there to visit Lixin and taste Wuxi ribs -- it's famous and incredibly tasty (you gotta have this). I was busy feeding myself and so forgot to take a photo to tantalize you all. Here's one from the web:



Thanks to Lixin, Noriko and their 2 great boys, my day trip was super relaxing. It felt like the kind of holiday I would have taken when I was working: nice meal, park, tea, nap, snack, swim, read ...

Wuxi is a modernizing city just like it's sister city Suzhou. Growing with foreign investment and keeping it's great Fengshui intact. The parks here are pretty like Suzhou but not jam-packed with tour groups with loudspeakers.

Boys, see you in Tokyo.