Of all the places that you would expect to get a decent bite to eat it would be Shiquan Jie. Everybody spends at least a little time there but with just a few exceptions most of the food available is targeted more towards pedi-cab operators and is often of questionable cleanliness. Terrace 749 has come to the rescue. It’s just a few doors down from the Shamrock Bar but keep your eyes peeled because it’s small and you have make your way up to the second floor. It occupies the space that was briefly taken up by Pizza Zone and Street Coffee.
After you sit down and take a few moments to get over the effect caused by a decorator that obviously had a passion for the color pink you can browse a very expansive menu. Page after page reveals snacks, appetizers, salads, sandwiches, pastas, pizza, and main courses like Chicken Roasted in Potato Packets with Lemon and Herb Vegetables. Where else can you order that? Steven is an American chef and 749 brought him in to design the menu and train their chefs. He brought with him an amazing recipe for...
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Review
Shang Yi Fang
Yes, we know it’s not winter but there is no reason that the thermometer should keep you from enjoying some food plucked straight from a steaming cauldron. Hot pot can be a hassle. The staff at most chains are about as useful as a condom in a eunuch’s pocket. Yeah, I said it. And some people can’t handle that special feeling that you get in the bathroom the next morning after eating at a Chongqing-style joint. Other times it’s hard to get enough people together to make it worth while and the thing that I hate the most is that when do get enough people together, I always wind up sitting next to a left-handed freak show.
Shang Yi Fang makes short work of all of the usual difficulties. The staff here is, if anything, over-attentive and they even speak a little English because there is hardly any on the menu. That’s okay though because there are plenty of pictures. They even offered to ball up our beef “wah” (it’s tightly packed minced and ground meat) for us. Shang Yi Fang also makes it easy for everyone to make sure that their soup is flavored just the way...
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Hot Spot
Mudu Old Town
Moving slightly away from our philosophy of going off the beaten path, we offer you this introduction to Mudu’s Old Town. It’s a miniature version of what Suzhou may have looked like 200 years. It’s not the busiest of places but a tour group is never far away. It’s accessible by the same busses that serve the Lingyan Mountain site (Bus Nos. 511 and 2) so you can get a good look at both of these places in a single day. Entrance to the town is free but various gardens, temples, and homes do require a ticket. You can buy them individually or get an all-inclusive one for 60 RMB.
The Old Town also has some clean hotels with Internet access nearby so you can make a weekend of it. Within the town, you have lots of choices about what to see and do. Our favorite place was Gusong Garden. It’s the most isolated. We sat in the shade of a massive old pine tree and admired the labyrinthine rock garden and hundreds of blooming flowers. After a short nap we strolled down the canal and got some food...
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Also in More Suzhou
The Taxi Read
Through the Looking Glass: China’s Foreign Journalists from Opium Wars to Mao by Paul French
High Five
How To Apply For Work Visas And Related Documentation by Olaf Griese
The convulsive history of foreign journalists in China starts with the newspapers printed in the European Factories of Canton in the 1820s and ends with the Communist revolution in 1949. It also starts with a duel between two editors over the China’s future and ends with a fistfight in Shanghai over the revolution...
A lot was written prior to the Beijing Olympics about China’s restriction of visas for foreigners doing business. With the Olympics now a thing of the past, the restrictions remained in place for 2009. China has various anniversaries to contend with, such as the 50th anniversary...
MORESuzhou magazine
2009 June Issue
China’s Foreign Journalists from Opium
Also in MOREHangzhou
And MOREChengdu
Moresuzhou.com
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Of all the places that you would expect to get a decent bite to eat it would be Shiquan Jie. Everybody spends at least a little time there but with just a few exceptions most of the food available is targeted more towards pedi-cab operators and is often of questionable cleanliness. Terrace 749 has come to the rescue. It’s just a few doors down from the Shamrock Bar but keep your eyes peeled because it’s small and you have make your way up to the second floor. It occupies the space that was briefly taken up by Pizza Zone and Street Coffee. 
appetizers, salads, sandwiches, pastas, pizza, and main courses like Chicken Roasted in Potato Packets with Lemon and Herb Vegetables. Where else can you order that? Steven is an American chef and 749 brought him in to design the menu and train their chefs. He brought with him an amazing recipe for...
Yes, we know it’s not winter but there is no reason that the thermometer should keep you from enjoying some food plucked straight from a steaming cauldron. Hot pot can be a hassle. The staff at most chains are about as useful as a condom in a eunuch’s pocket. Yeah, I said it. And some people can’t handle that special feeling that you get in the bathroom the next morning after eating at a Chongqing-style joint. Other times it’s hard to get enough people together to make it worth while and the thing that I hate the most is that when do get enough people together, I always wind up sitting next to a left-handed freak show. 
English because there is hardly any on the menu. That’s okay though because there are plenty of pictures. They even offered to ball up our beef “wah” (it’s tightly packed minced and ground meat) for us. Shang Yi Fang also makes it easy for everyone to make sure that their soup is flavored just the way...
Moving slightly away from our philosophy of going off the beaten path, we offer you this introduction to Mudu’s Old Town. It’s a miniature version of what Suzhou may have looked like 200 years. It’s not the busiest of places but a tour group is never far away. It’s accessible by the same busses that serve the Lingyan Mountain site (Bus Nos. 511 and 2) so you can get a good look at both of these places in a single day. Entrance to the town is free but various gardens, temples, and homes do require a ticket. You can buy them individually or get an all-inclusive one for 60 RMB.
lots of choices about what to see and do. Our favorite place was Gusong Garden. It’s the most isolated. We sat in the shade of a massive old pine tree and admired the labyrinthine rock garden and hundreds of blooming flowers. After a short nap we strolled down the canal and got some food...
The convulsive history of foreign journalists in China starts with the newspapers printed in the European Factories of Canton in the 1820s and ends with the Communist revolution in 1949. It also starts with a duel between two editors over the China’s future and ends with a fistfight in Shanghai over the revolution...
A lot was written prior to the Beijing Olympics about China’s restriction of visas for foreigners doing business. With the Olympics now a thing of the past, the restrictions remained in place for 2009. China has various anniversaries to contend with, such as the 50th anniversary...
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