The caves were interesting, geological mini karst formations and were definitely colourful, thanks to the lights that had been installed caves will now never be quite the same. Whether these caves are still seen as important for Taoism is doubtful given their psychedelic look. Outside it was raining. And the blossom was lacking. We had come too early in the season. But I did get a few pictures and I also got the umbrella that I have been coveting for sometime.

On our journey onto the island we had passed a lot of pick your own farms. February onwards is the season for strawberries and so we stopped on the way back to Suzhou and picked about 5kg of strawberries.

This basket was full by the time we left

In the summer the farms turn into PYO for watermelon – which doesn’t quite have the same appeal. The strawberries ranged from being quite small, to massive. But they were juicy and while we kept some for ourselves, a lot where given away to colleagues and friends. I have been used to picking strawberries in the summer time at Anstey, 6 miles east of Shaftesbury, Dorset but picking in winter with the rain coming down outside the poly tunnel was definitely an experience to be repeated next year!.

A couple of weekends later we went to Shangfangshan, Suzhou’s national forest park. I am a member of the Suzhou Photographers group on Facebook, and a few people had posted pictures of blossom and tulips. It looked inviting, but no one could tell me how to get there by public transport as they had driven/been driven there. So we plugged our destination into maps on the iPhone, and followed the instructions. We got the metro to Binhe Lu (line 1), exit 4 and then bus 415. Over an hour later we arrived. This time we were greeted with a Dutch windmill surrounded by Tulips in front of a lot of cherry blossom. Some of the tulips, despite being behind a little picket fence, were trampled on by people who wanted to get the “perfect”picture. We also came across an enclosure of peacocks – maybe they were fenced off too – for their own protection.

These pictures were taken on the same day – it was getting warmer!

We kept on walking and by pure accident we ended up at the back entrance of Suzhou Zoo. Having had a bad experience at Shenzhen Zoo, we didn’t know quite what to expect. I knew that it was fairly new, and hoped that the enclosures and animal welfare would reflect that. The jury is out. It wasn’t as upsetting as Shenzhen were they had kids holding meat on a fishing line dangling down the wolves and making them jump for it, the enclosures were large but there was no water in the pools in the enclosures. However, they are at the forefront of the South China Tiger breeding programmes and the numerous large enclosures reflected the money that has clearly been spent.

We saw a lot of different birds that day and a few big cats. The zoo was empty of people and not many of the enclosures had animals in them. But it was an unexpected day out considering we had gone to see the tulip and cherry blossom.

Our weekends have also been taken up with sport. Eleanor has continued with swimming and was rewarded with a ribbon for winning her heat at a Shanghai meet for Girls 8 and Under 25m Freestyle. From the start of the year to the meet in April she has knocked more than 10 seconds off her time.

Eleanor has also lobbied for girls to take up rugby. In PE, the winter programme was netball for girls and rugby for boys. Eleanor successfully got the right to play rugby in PE lessons (and tag rugby during Sports Day) and also to play for the U9s team which is mixed. They have no positions and are learning not to clump around the ball. Eleanor understands this, but it has been a slow process for the team to learn.  There are two girls on the team with Eleanor being the first! There have only been a few matches at Dulwich in Suzhou and therefore to support the team in Shanghai has been a labour of love leaving Suzhou at 6am in the morning. Just like the swim meets, the parents are great and vocal (!) Though the kids don’t listen to the 14 or so parents shouting “advice” from the sidelines.