Suzhou expert to be

I wish that I would’ve found someone that had actually live in Suzhou before I decided to move here. I mean, it’s been a positive experience, but there are just some things that I would’ve done differently knowing what I know now. With this in mind… I’m going to try as best I can to ramble about my Suzhou experiences and pass along the wisdom.

 

Suzhou is in Jiangsu province which is very close to Shanghai. I live in the SIP (Suzhou Industrial Park), which is only one part of this town. From what I know, there are 3 different areas of Suzhou; one being the SIP, SND (Suzhou new district), and downtown Suzhou.

The SIP and some areas of SND are very modern and western looking. Downtown Suzhou, on the other hand, looks more like a traditional Chinese city with traditional architecture. The SIP was designed to look like Singapore and is actually bigger than it. Actually, Singapore invested in the SIP or it partially belongs to it or something like that. Anyway, point is that the SIP is modeled after the Singapore and that’s why it works well. All the plumbing and wires, etc. are underground so you will not see any electrical wires in the SIP. The park also houses many western businesses, which is really nice because they attract a lot of foreigners that are nice to have around!

 

The cost of living is relatively cheap.

My apartment is 3500 rmb per month and it has 2.5 bedrooms (one is a study), 2 bathrooms, kitchen, living room, dining area, washer, and a balcony that is shared by one room and the living room. The apartment came with all the furniture, which is really modern and also includes 2 TVs and 2 DVD players… not a bad deal. We spend about 800 rmb for 3 months of electricity, 260 rmb for more than 4 months of water and I don’t know about gas yet because I haven’t had to pay that yet and I’ve been here for 3 months. Food is ridiculously cheap, unless you go to a western restaurant western restaurant, which is still cheap in comparison. Beer is about 3 rmb for a Tsingdao and 8-10 rmb at a restaurant. The most expensive part about Suzhou is probably the partying. It costs 30-60 rmb for one drink at a low scale bar and of course, a lot more at an upscale bar. This definitely adds up, but you don’t have to tip, which is GREAT!

 

Ok, I’m tired… I’ll write more later.