Day 787: Moving makes a difference

Two years ago when I moved to Suzhou I wanted to enjoy a similar lifestyle to what I had in San Francisco: live in a fun neighborhood, have a good selection of restaurants and take-away food options nearby, be close to where my future friends might gather frequently, and be within walking distance of the bus, subway, and a few favorite watering holes. I found such a place in the Xinghai Square neighborhood of Suzhou and everything was great! My apartment had a lovely view, full-sized kitchen, and an extra bedroom for visitors. The living and dining areas were a bit small but perfect for one person. Lots of restaurants nearby for Western and Chinese cuisines, and even a few bars. (Though sadly the concept of daytime drinking hasn’t caught on in Suzhou… Have to go to Shanghai for that, especially along An Fu Lu in the Former French Concession neighborhood…) Over time, however, my commute to work kept increasingly getting longer, or at least felt that way. The subway system is being expanded from three lines to eight, and, as a result, lots of the roads are being torn-up and reconfigured to make subway station construction more feasible. What used to take forty-five minutes each way on the bus turned into a sixty minutes. Bus drivers, already notorious for being aggressive with the break pedal and acceleration seemed to get even more aggressive, lurching the bus quickly resulting in passengers losing their footing and even sliding back and forth in their seats! With the daily rush-hour commute packing the bus with people rushing to work in time for their 9-9-6 routine, it made for quite a stressful situation.

Xinghai Square is a great neighborhood, especially if you want to live in the closest resemblance Suzhou Industrial Park has to a downtown area. Though Suzhou isn’t nearly as big, crowded, or expensive as Shanghai, Shenzhen, or Beijing, living downtown does continue to provide a subtle stress upon a person as there’s less chance to unwind and detach from daily life. While that’s a downside, the fact you’re in the middle of all the happenings and actions is fantastic!

Fast forward in time: About a month ago I gave in and rented a new apartment, one that is on the opposite side of Jinji Hu and Dushu Hu lakes, one that is much closer to work (a measly 15 minutes walk each way), and in a location that feels like living in the suburbs (or even exurbs if you consider Suzhou to be a suburb of Shanghai… Which it kind of is). The apartment is just as nice as the old one with a bit of a nicer view (I look over some apartment buildings, a shopping center, and can see a portion of Dushu Hu and what I think is part of the Grand Canal in the disyance! At least there are shipping barges going up and down it quite often…). While I no longer have a large kitchen and extra bedroom for visitors, there is still plenty of room for two guests to crash with me if needed. (And if that doesn’t work out, three hotels are across the street!)

After living in the new location for a month I’ve noticed a few changes. I’m no longer stressed or annoyed when I get to the office in the morning (bonus!), I don’t feel bad when I leave the office at 5pm (since I took maybe an hour combined for lunch and my walk to the building and started work at 7am), and I have time again to exercise regularly (double bonus!).

Speaking of exercising, on a recent jog through the park near the new apartment I realized that people in the area seem less… Angry? Normally when I’d encounter people in Xinghai Square or Dongfangzhimen more often than not their conversations would sound angry or upset and be in quite a loud manner. Down in the Yueliangwan area where I now live, people are much more calm, relaxed, and just seem to enjoy life more. Maybe it’s because they’re not being bumped into every few steps by others? Maybe it’s because you’re breathing air not as filled with cigarette smoke (the air pollution has been great the past month thanks to the high temperatures making the factories too hot to run)? Or maybe just being out of the hussle and bustle of downtown city life replete with car horns and traffic takes stress away?

Whatever the reasons are, I’m enjoying life in the new place. Friends thought they’d no longer see me as I’m “on the wrong side of the lake” and “it’s so far away!”. In reality they see me just as much as they did before if not more so! Turns out that taking the bus from where I live now to where we’d meet up for lunch, dinner, drinks, or even swimming at the pool is less than 40 minutes on the weekends due to less traffic! The bus costs 1-2元 (~7-14¢) and takes about 10 minutes longer than grabbing a Didi (China’s version of Uber and Lyft). I will say, though, having to grab a Didi or taxi after hours does have issues at times and is much less convenient than walking home the 1-3km, so there is that bit of an annoyance.

But if having to wait a while to grab a Didi then sit in the car for 20-25 minutes is my biggest problem or concern these days, I might have to say that life is good in southeast Dushu Hu!