Cost of Living

Internet from China Telecom - 100 Mbps - CNY 1688 per year

Bottled water for the dispenser - CNY 18 per bottle, CNY 50 deposit for the bottle or prepay for 15 bottles and the deposit is waived

Piped gas (cooking and water heater) - CNY 496 for 200 cubic meters

Got on the wrong bus!

I guess it happens when you move to a new city, but I thought it would be difficult to do with modern technology in hand.

I'd gone to see some apartments and one of them was a bit further off than I have been before. It was raining and I finished the apartment viewing at about 9:10pm. It gets dark here at about 5:30pm so after 9 is practically nighttime. There weren't too many people on the streets. I used the maps app to figure out the bus to take me back home and walked down to the nearby bus stop. I saw a couple of buses of the correct number pass me on the way and I realized I may need to wait for some time before the next one turns up. The buses usually have a decent enough frequency but it looks like some buses catch up with the one in front and travel almost together. In any case, I reached the bus stop, closed the umbrella and prepared to wait. As usual, there was another bus stop across the road and I saw another couple of buses of the correct number stopping at that stop but none turned up at mine. A few other buses came, stopped and went off.

It was getting darker and I was getting a bit worried because the buses stop operating at some point at night and I wasn't too sure when. A couple of taxis had passed by which was an option for me, but even those didn't appear later. Finally the correct bus appeared and I got on, swiped my card and found a seat. Which wasn't difficult because there was only one other person on board. The trip back to the hotel would take me more than half an hour so there was plenty of time. As is my habit, I took out the phone to track myself on the map app, and realized I was going in the wrong direction. I wondered if the route had changed (having seen that before when the bus took a slightly different route due to some construction) but it was quickly apparent that it was going in the opposite direction to where I wanted to go.

I thought about getting off at the next stop, which turned out to be the railway station. I got off, made my way to a sheltered spot (remember, it was still raining) and fired up the map again. What had happened was that I had got on the right bus but it was going in the wrong direction. I should have been waiting at the bus stop across the road and should have taken one of the buses that I calmly watched stopping at that stop. I walked around to the location where the map showed the bus back would stop (same bus number) and waited for some time. No buses showed up.

Then I saw a taxi with a green light (meaning it was available) in the distance. It was on a different road, however, and soon vanished. Now, the railway station was deserted and there was no visible taxi stand and the map didn't show any subway station either. Then I decided to walk down to the road where I saw the taxi and see if I could catch one. Remember, it was still raining and it was dark. I walked down and waited at a strategic spot, but no other taxis showed up. Then a bus passed by. It was not the right number, but I saw where it stopped in the distance and saw on the map that it was a bus stop. I walked down till there and decided it was as good a spot at any to wait for a bus or for a taxi. There was sporadic traffic, but no taxis or buses. Finally I saw a bus approaching, and it was the correct number. I checked my bus card and was ready to hop on. Except it didn't stop.

I checked the app again, and to my horror I figured out I was now at the wrong stop. The only stop for that number was back at the railway station and the next one was about a couple of kilometers away. Of course, it also means that had I waited a bit longer at the railway station I would have been on that bus. With no other choice, I walked back to the railway station and waited at the correct spot, hoping that it wasn't too late and the buses were still functional. Finally a bus turned up, I got on and spent the next 40 odd minutes on it, on the way back to the hotel.

Language

PT asked me about how I'm getting along in communicating, given I have no Chinese speaking skills whatsoever. Pasting my answer to him below:

English for the ones in office and hotel. Housekeeping staff doesn't understand much but I don't need more than gestures and basic English to communicate with them.

Taxi drivers via cards that the hotel reception writes for me if I ask them to call a taxi for me. I always carry a hotel address card for returning to the hotel.

Local map app for showing places where I want to go, either to taxi drivers or even asking for directions.

Google and Bing translate apps for asking for stuff in supermarkets and for taking photos for translation.

People are helpful and so far everyone I've had to interact with can read from the phone. Team mate came with me to get my local SIM card and also helped to get my Suzhou citizen's card (for bus, subway etc.) so it was faster, but I could have probably struggled through it without him being there.

Subway is marked in English, so as long as you know where you want to go you should be fine.

Bank account form was in Chinese but a lady there filled it out for me, she spoke English.

Public transport

I've used the public buses and the subway here in Suzhou. Very clean, fast and generally good availability and frequency. Some thoughts in no particular order:

Buses:

1. Bus routes are in an LED display in the front of the bus.
2. A lot of bus stops also have upcoming bus numbers displayed on an LED screen on the bus stop too. Very convenient to figure out how long you need to wait.
3. Bus stops are typically within a few hundred meters of each other, so in most cases you don't need to walk too far to get to one. There isn't one too close to where I am right now, but it's still walkable.
4. Google maps does have mostly reliable data on the routes, but may not have the current data on schedules.
5. Bus rates are mostly fixed - 1 yuan for non-A/C buses and 2 for when A/C is on. A/C is on in winters and summers.
6. There is nobody other than the driver in the bus, i.e. no conductor or ticket checker. You enter the bus from the front door, make the payment at a console/box next to the driver and go to your seat. Exit from the other door.
7. Payment can be in coins, which need to be dropped into the slot of the metal box in front of you as soon as you enter the bus.
8. Payment can also be made by the Suzhou Citizens' Card, by touching it to the payment surface near the coin slot. There is a 40% discount for paying by such a card.
9. You need to be aware of where to get off, or keep checking your maps app. The bus will stop at each and every stop on the route, regardless of whether someone wants to get on or off (in fact, the driver doesn't really know where you want to get off except if he looks in the mirror to see you waiting).

Subway:

1. There aren't as many subway stations as bus stops (obviously), but it's certainly faster via subway to some points in the city since it skips road congestion and travels faster.
2. You can always take a bus to the nearest subway station.
3. Subway stations have multiple entrances/exits, typically one on each street near the station. You can check your map to figure out which exit is closer to where you need to go.
4. Getting a citizens' card makes it very easy to pay for the subway ride - no need to go to the kiosk or counters to buy tickets.
5. Enter the station and find the entry/exit points - typically will have a security guard and an x-ray machine for passengers' luggage.
6. Touch your card at one of the card readers at the entry point - that will open the gate and record your point of embarkation.
7. Figure out which direction you need to go, and wait for the train on that side of the platform.
8. The train has indicators inside it to show which station it is at and which are still to come. There are also announcements and LED displays that show the upcoming station.
9. Once you get off the train, find your way to the exit and again touch the card to the reader - this opens the gate for you to leave and records where you got off, and presumably deducts the appropriate charge from your card. Apparently there is a 5% discount for using the card.

Overall it has been a good experience with public transport in Suzhou even with my lack of language skills.

Prices

Green capsicum 9.96 yuan per kg

Bread 8 slices (half bread) 6.8 yuan

Tomatoes 3.96 yuan per kg

Potatoes 1.76 yuan per kg

Sweet corn 2 pieces 4.20 yuan

Photos from Suzhou

Near the office. The stone balls are all over the place and meant to prevent vehicles moving on to pavements or areas they are not supposed to be in.

 

 

Dushu Lake from the hotel window:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Night scenes at Moon Bay and surroundings

         

Christmas decorations in the hotel:

 

 

Getting the "Alien Employment Permit"

Getting to work in China is a multi-step experience - get the offer, get a medical checkup done, obtain a "Police Clearance Certificate" from the passport office, get an employment license + invitation letter from your prospective employer, get a Z visa from the Chinese consulate, arrive in China, obtain an employment permit and then obtain a residence permit.

I have, of course, gone through almost all these steps and today was the day I got my "Alien Employment Permit". The immigration consultant had applied for it last week and we went to collect it today. I took a taxi from the hotel to the "Suzhou Industrial Park - One Stop Service Center".

This was early in the morning, before the office actually opened; and I could see people arriving and forming queues. Initially I waited upstairs because the office address was mentioned as being on the 1st floor, but I went down again when I saw the consultant standing downstairs. There were a couple of "photography rooms" where you could get the correct-sized photos if you didn't have any. I stood in that line because there was only one of my passport-sized photos left. There were about 10 people in the queue before me and they were processed quickly as soon as the office opened. It was quite professionally done and there was even a coat available there that you could wear if you wanted the formal look.

Once the photos were done, I was asked to wait. I sat and played with my phone, and then was called inside the police area of the office. Remember, it is a "one stop service center" so there were representatives of various departments all in the same office. The police section seemed to be staffed entirely by women. I was handed over my employment permit and then I signed the application for the residence permit and another photo was taken. And that's it! We were done. Most of the time spent there was spent waiting.

I do wonder whether it would have been so straightforward if the immigration consultant hadn't been there. She did run around a lot and had everything in order. The residence permit is expected to arrive next week.

It is also a new experience for me to have to ask for help for almost everything due to not knowing how to read or speak the language. It's put me in an illiterate's shoes for the first time in my life and it's certainly not a good feeling.

Hunting for a supermarket

It looks like the place I am currently living at is somewhat in the newer side of the SIP, so there aren't too many shops around. There is, fortunately, a Papa John's just across the street and I've been there a couple of times.

I was told about a supermartket in the "Dushu Lake Neighborhood Center" which is not too far from where I live. I could take the subway, but I decided to walk down to get a feel for exactly where it is, to see the sights along the road and to general get some exercise from the walk. I managed to locate the subway station on Google maps and made my way there, with the supermarket somewhere in the vicinity. It took about 15 minutes of walking at a leisurly pace and I came across the entrances to the subway and a large building with "Dushu Lake Neighborhood Center" written on it (in English and Chinese).

Now, here's the difficult part - I couldn't figure out the way inside because there was no obvious entry point. There were a couple of doors marked "Cellar", a hotel entrance and a bus stop with buses going in and out. I finally stopped 3 youngsters who had apparently got off one of the buses, and asked them where the supermarket was. It looks like they understood what I wanted but weren't comfortable responding in English. Finally a girl pointed down and I understood that it was underground. I still needed to know how to get there and then they actually took me all the way in and down and pointed out where it was - very helpful, I must say.

I wandered around a bit inside the store, picked up some fruit and vegetables but had a tough time with the labels for the other items I was thinking of getting. Paid for my stuff in cash and walked back. The whole exercise took me about an hour.

Gmail

Doesn’t work via the mobile app or via the web interface.

 

My workaround was to link it to my outlook.com account and let them figure out how and when to fetch my gmail emails. Works fine.

 

But I also just found out that adding the gmail account under my Outlook desktop client also works! I don’t know how, since it needs to connect to the imap.gmail.com server, but yes, it does seem to be working right now.

Panoramic view from my window

Monday morning visit into the main city

I had to go into Suzhou city to the Suzhou International Travel Healthcare Center to get my medical reports verified. I had gone through a checkup in Bengaluru before the visa could be processed, and they have a process to verify the tests or undergo them again if required. In my case, it turns out they wanted to do a Hepatitis C test (which had not been done in Bengaluru) so they took some blood.

The relocation specialist accompanied me, language is a barrier and obviously I didn't know the process or even where to go. She summoned a cab, with a lady driver, and I got my first taste of Monday morning traffic as we drove into the middle of Suzhou. Roads were still good outside of the SIP and the traffic wasn't really too bad, considering it was Monday morning (certainly much better than Blr). I saw some older houses, apartments - reminds me of old Mumbai flats.
Not many e-bikes out where we went, I've only seen them in the SIP area. They also have their own paths and don't seem to worry much about traffic signals.

Some of my observations: Extensive set of flyovers. Mostly disciplined traffic. Police boxes. New construction going on in a lot of places.

Reached Suzhou

Bengaluru to Delhi to Shanghai to Suzhou. One day's worth of traveling. Not bad overall, though I don't sleep as well on planes as I used to.

Air India was OK, nothing to complain about. Food could have been better but I've never seen really good food on any flight. Always hate the cramped toilet but fortunately the flights weren't too long.

The journey from Shanghai to Suzhou was in a taxi, however the driver didn't speak English. He was very polite and efficient. Most of the road was very good and he was able to drive at more than 100kmph. Didn't get to see any of the city though, it was dark and raining and the road was mostly bounded by Walls and trees with not much visible beyond.

It's cold out here, nothing that we haven't seen in say, Noida but it was certainly noticeable coming from Bengaluru.

My temp accommodation is right on the banks of a lake, very modern and comfy with a good view. Spent most of the day half-asleep, have to take care of some formalities starting tomorrow.