Suzhou Spring Outing
Chapter Shanghai Alumni
From 17 to 18 April 2021, Chapter Shanghai Alumni organised a Spring Outing to Suzhou together with EPFL Alumni and SORSA. More than 30 alumni enjoyed the spring breeze while strengthening contacts and friendships.
At this time of spring, SORSA Swiss Alumni Shanghai and ETH/EPFL Alumni Shanghai jointly or-ganised an outing to Suzhou, one of the most photogenic cities in China with more than 2500 years of history.
The charm of Suzhou
“Up above there is heaven; down below there are Suzhou and Hangzhou” is a well-known say-ing in China and it expresses the charm of Suzhou. Suzhou is only 100 kilometres away from Shanghai and known for its canals, bridges, embroideries and beautiful gardens. There are at least seven ETH alumni living in Suzhou and many Swiss companies have subsidiaries
in Suzhou.
Lingyan Mountain
The meeting point was the restaurant ”fish & rice”, a typical Chinese restaurant in the old Mutu Town. After a short but yummy lunch, we started to conquer the Lingyan mountain. On the way up, we passed numerous bamboos and tea trees. It took us about half an hour to reach the peak of the mountain where a 1600 years old active Buddhist monastery, the Lingyan Shan Temple is located. It was the place where the Emperor Qianlong stayed during his expeditions through the Yangzi River valley. On the top, we enjoyed the amazing panoramic view of Suzhou.
Tradititonal architecture
Thereafter, we visited the Mudu ancient town providing insights into traditional South-China canal-town architecture with its bridges, boats, ancient residences and gardens. Unlike the prosperous industry cities in China, the town shows a simple and peaceful image. In the evening, some of us enjoyed the Kun opera at Yan Garden.
