Today I went to Changshu on a brief research trip. Very successful. The people at the Changshu Museum were extremely welcoming and friendly. They provided me with transcriptions of all of their (plentiful) Tang-Song epitaphs and answered every question I could possibly think of. I took a 7 am bus from Shanghai, got to the museum by 9, and was done with business by 10:30. Got to do a little tourism. I wouldn't say that the town is attractive, but it does have some charming spots, especially around the canals:
I also went over to the park in the center of town (which, the museum directors assured me was the site of the old Song dynasty town). I have a tendency to want to climb towers if available, so I went up the Southern Song-period (extensively renovated (rebuilt?) in the 18th century) pagoda. Here I am at the top:
Incidentally, the clothing scheme of the day was "respectable scholar" (in order to be taken seriously at the museum). Did I succeed? Any tips for future trips where the staff may not be as friendly to begin with?
And here's a cool stone lion at the stone inscription museum next to the pagoda:
The trip back to Shanghai was the low point of the day. Lots of traffic getting into town! If the window were the type I could open, I would have been seriously tempted to hop out during many of those moments we were completely frozen in a line of cars.
In the evening, I went to an American restaurant for a Caesar salad. Got to have a salad every once in a while...
