Jin Ji Lake is a fairly modern area in Suzhou. Ten years ago, the lake was surrounded by farmland and fishermen. The area around the lake has now been developed with business areas, beautiful parks, residence areas, and a 9 mile walkway around the entire lake. The Lake is inside of the Suzhou Industrial Park or SIP, which was developed with the help of Singapore.

"There are eight neighborhoods with diverse water and landscape expressions encircling Jinji Lake.Each neighborhood has its own identity. Neighborhoods on the western and northern shores, closer to the city of Suzhou, feature broad promenades that attract residents and workers to the water's edge. Waterfront parks are adjacent to shopping, entertainment, and cultural destinations. These neighborhoods have names like Cityside Harbor, Marina Cove, Grand Promenade, and Arts and Entertainment Village. On the eastern and southern shores, farther from Suzhou, lie lakefront destinations for more passive recreation and environmental education; these neighborhoods are poetically named Reflection Point, Discovered Island, Mirror's Crossing, and Reflection Gardens."

We spent 2 different days at Jin Ji Lake exploring different areas.

Along Li Gong Di Causewaylong area with International shopping, restaurants and bars. We ate at a restaurant called Boya Music Bar and Restaurant, which was alongside of a canal off the lake. We sat inside, but right along the front of the restaurant where we could see outside. They were playing American country oldies music and there was a slight breeze coming in through the open doors and we thoroughly enjoyed it! Jim said their ribs were better than those at TGIFriday's!

Then we walked towards Cityside Harbor Plaza. Unfortunately, I had on new shoes and ended up with sore feet, but I did enjoy the views. There was an area with a large wading pool, and there were bumper boats and some big plastic inflatables that you got inside of and ran in like a hamster wheel (I'm sure Leah will post those!). Leah would have stayed there all day, but we convinced her to keep going.

There were many unique statues along the way, lots of places to rent bikes, small kite shops, and of course snack and drink shops - and LOTS of people! When we got to our destination, Rainbo Walk, we went to cold Stone Creamery and relaxed for awhile. We still had a couple of hours until the night show would start so we enjoyed one of our favorite past times - people watching.

As the time for the night show drew closer, the crowd grew larger. The show was supposed to start at 7:30 and didn't. There was a large screen that obviously had info on it - in Chinese! After a little while, a nice young lady told us that the show would start at 8:00. I must admit at one point of standing there waiting, looking around me, surrounded by thousands of Chinese people.We had seen some foreigners earlier, but I think they must have all gotten balcony seating at the restaurants, which we will do if we ever go again! This time, Leah wanted to be as close as possible!

The show was fantastic! Well worth the wait! It was a combination of music, water, lights, lasers, fire and video. I was amazed at how high the water went!

Afterwards, instead of fighting the crowds for a taxi, we went to a restaurant called Zapatas and had dinner, then easily caught a taxi home.

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