This place is something to behold. Big glass windows let in lots of light and give great views of the people outside. But you won’t feel like a fish in a bowl. Zen is set far enough back from the street, shielding you from the prying eyes of pedestrians. Wouldn’t want them to get too envious of what’s going on inside. Within are clean, straight lines and some of the finest cuisine in Suzhou. The place is just swanky!
Now, the MORE budget doesn’t really allow for a lot of the dishes here, but it is our job to tell you about all Suzhou has to offer, not just those hard-to-find gems that don’t damage your wallet. Shark Fin, Abolone and Bird’s Nest Soup will definitely set you back more than a few hundred kuai, but the money is worth it if you’re looking to impress some clients or potential business partners. If you’re in it for yourself and not wanting to spend a mint, lunchtime is the best. There are dozens of cheaper options to be had and plenty of dim sum. Dumplings Stuffed...
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Review
Renaissance Café
It’s hard to go out and eat if you’re alone. Enter any nice restaurant by yourself, and they always ask how many people will be joining you. “It’s just me,” you say. There’s always the initial look of shock that soon fades into one of pity. It’s like this in a lot of countries. But not in France. If you eat alone in France, you’re a gourmand, a food lover. Here, you are a fatty or just sad and lonely, or maybe a little of both.
If you don’t want to get those awkward looks, you need to find the right place. Hotel restaurants are great for that. When we’re feeling solitary, we hit the Renaissance Hotel. It is full of solitary souls like ourselves, usually here on business. If you are sad and lonely, it’s a great place to meet other people. If you are overweight with an eating disorder, you can be guaranteed that nobody who witnesses your gorging will ever cross your path again. And, if you are a true gourmand, you can’t go wrong with the Renaissance’s food.
We like our burgers blood red. There are lots of good...
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Hot Spot
West Garden Temple
Recently, through no fault of our own, we became the caretakers of four tiny little turtles. They weren’t eating, so we turned to Google for a little help. We stumbled upon an article on the recent discovery of a Rafetus Swinhoei, more commonly known as a Yangtze giant soft-shelled turtle, arguably the most endangered species on earth. For years, there had been rumors of this legendary creature cruising lakes west of Hanoi; legend has become reality. The article also mentioned that the only other known specimens were recently united in the Suzhou Zoo (which we reported on a few months back). And then there were three…
Anyhow, the above is a roundabout way of addressing a coincidence. We went to check out the West Garden Temple. This temple, with a history of over 600 years, is well known for two things: its unique architecture and the Life Releasing Pond. The pond is where people are encouraged to set free any captured aquatic life. During our stroll around the pond, we encountered a monk and inquired about setting our turtles free. As we sheltered beneath umbrellas, he gave us permission but warned that there were already two giant soft-shelled...
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Also in More Suzhou Magazine
High Five
The Wallet Wather's Diet by Tim Hoerle
Interview
Wan Feng- i am not an angry man by Jingjing
Unless you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and have never had to take it out, you’ve had to save money at one point. For some, it gets easier and jiao don’t have to be counted, but most of us will have to keep trying to save throughout our lives. We make, we spend too much and we save. At the start of the month...
Wan Feng is definitely a character. People refer to him as ‘The Angry Man on the Air,’ and he is known for his severity with his callers. His radio show is called “The Garden of Eden” (yi dian yuan 伊甸园). When it first began, the show was just a reproductive health education program and....
MORESuzhou magazine
2008 May Issue
The Wallet Watcher's Diet
Also in MORE Hangzhou
And MOREChengdu
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This place is something to behold. Big glass windows let in lots of light and give great views of the people outside. But you won’t feel like a fish in a bowl. Zen is set far enough back from the street, shielding you from the prying eyes of pedestrians. Wouldn’t want them to get too envious of what’s going on inside. Within are clean, straight lines and some of the finest cuisine in Suzhou. The place is just swanky! 
but the money is worth it if you’re looking to impress some clients or potential business partners. If you’re in it for yourself and not wanting to spend a mint, lunchtime is the best. There are dozens of cheaper options to be had and plenty of dim sum. Dumplings Stuffed...
It’s hard to go out and eat if you’re alone. Enter any nice restaurant by yourself, and they always ask how many people will be joining you. “It’s just me,” you say. There’s always the initial look of shock that soon fades into one of pity. It’s like this in a lot of countries. But not in France. If you eat alone in France, you’re a gourmand, a food lover. Here, you are a fatty or just sad and lonely, or maybe a little of both. 
r, you can be guaranteed that nobody who witnesses your gorging will ever cross your path again. And, if you are a true gourmand, you can’t go wrong with the Renaissance’s food.
Recently, through no fault of our own, we became the caretakers of four tiny little turtles. They weren’t eating, so we turned to Google for a little help. We stumbled upon an article on the recent discovery of a Rafetus Swinhoei, more commonly known as a Yangtze giant soft-shelled turtle, arguably the most endangered species on earth. For years, there had been rumors of this legendary creature cruising lakes west of Hanoi; legend has become reality. The article also mentioned that the only other known specimens were recently united in the Suzhou Zoo (which we reported on a few months back). And then there were three… 
set free any captured aquatic life. During our stroll around the pond, we encountered a monk and inquired about setting our turtles free. As we sheltered beneath umbrellas, he gave us permission but warned that there were already two giant soft-shelled...
Unless you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and have never had to take it out, you’ve had to save money at one point. For some, it gets easier and jiao don’t have to be counted, but most of us will have to keep trying to save throughout our lives. We make, we spend too much and we save. At the start of the month...
Wan Feng is definitely a character. People refer to him as ‘The Angry Man on the Air,’ and he is known for his severity with his callers. His radio show is called “The Garden of Eden” (yi dian yuan 伊甸园). When it first began, the show was just a reproductive health education program and....
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