Suzhou Canals Night Cruise

This past weekend we went on a night cruise on the canals around old town here in Suzhou. This event was put on by the Expatriate Association of Suzhou. This was a really neat way to see the city.  Again I forgot my good camera at home so all I have is a few pictures from my phone.

On the cruise we went under twelve bridges. We couldn't go all the way around old town (the canals do go completely around) because there was construction on some of the bridges. There was a translator that was telling some history of Suzhou as we were cruising along. She was a little bit hard to understand and I'm not sure that she was entirely accurate with the "history" she was giving.

Part way through the ride we could go up on top of the boat to take pictures and to get a better view.  It was fun to be on top of the boat on the cool evening. At one point the translator and one of the crew came up top and starting telling us we had to crouch down as the upcoming bridge was low. There ended up being a couple of bridges that we needed to do this for. What fun!

This was an interesting thing that I feel would only happen in China.

At the end of the cruise there was a short performance by a Bian Lian dancer. Bian lian means "face-changing" it is an ancient Chinese dramatic art which is part of the Sichuan Opera. The performers wear bright costumes and face masks that are changed from face to face. Here is a short video showing the mask change. (Just to warn you - the speaker was right behind us so it might be loud.)

Night Cruise Preformance from Erin on Vimeo.
The beginning is a little bit long, but you will see the changing-faces a couple of times during the video.