Suzhou is known as the Venice of the East because of the myriad of canals that flowed through the city.


There is a famous Chinese saying: "In the sky is Heaven’s paradise, on Earth is Suzhou and Hangzhou."  Translation: Suzhou, and neighboring Hangzhou, are the closest things to Heaven on Earth.


After hours of walking around the city desperately searching for food someplace where we could read the menu that was not KFC - one of us (for once it wasn't me!) hit a moment of VERY low blood sugar and we had to make a quick choice between chicken feet vendor or mystery bun vendor.


We obviously went with mystery bun which wasnt bad.  Still not too sure what we ate, I think it was some kind of sweet black bean paste, but it was sweet so served its purpose as a sugar boost.



Wish we had found these rental bikes earlier in the day.  There are rental stations all over the city which would have saved hours of walking and quite possibly "the sugar crash". But overall we had a wonderful day exploring "Heaven on Earth" Suzhou.