As I forecast yesterday, my family went to Xishan, an island in the middle of the Taihu (Tai Lake). It is connected to the land via a big Taihu bridge.

Here is the island – Xishan 西山:

View Larger Map

Here is the the island in the bigger map in the Taihu:

View Larger Map

The Area

Many weeks, Wendy and I was wondering where we should go to spend the weekend. In Shanghai, we have became hopeless to find any place new or to spend the night. We love Hangzhou, and Suzhou.

There are not many new things in the city of Suzhou. Our interest is mainly around the Taihu area.

This time, we decided to go to the island in the Taihu.

Xishan

Xishan is the largest island in the Taihu (Tai Lake, the second largest lake in China). It is connected to the land with a large Taihu Bridge – three sections connecting three islands.

We went to a place called Mingyuwan Village 明月湾村. Many of the buildings in the village were built in 1700s.

We stayed there for one night – 100 RMB (13 USD) per room per night. We went to their orange farm, and hand-picked 14.5 kg of orange. We paid 29 RMB for it (4 USD).

Transportaiton

Getting there from Shanghai is easy. Here is how we got there:

Yan’an Elevated Expressway

-> A9

-> A30

-> Take Daying Exit 大盈出口

-> West on Beiqing Road for 8 km 北青公路

-> Suhu Expressway 苏沪高速

-> Suzhou Ring Expressway 苏州绕城

-> Take Xishan Exit 西山出口

-> Take Taihu Bridge 太湖大桥

-> Follow about 10 signs to the village.

We took about 2 hours to get back (3 hours to get there because of traffic jam on A9).

It is funny that the expressway from Suzhou to Shanghai just stops at the border of Suzhou and Shanghai. Suzhou is waiting for Shanghai to continue the construction but Shanghai just responded coldly. There is almost no cars on the road at all. It is said that the Shanghai section will start construction soon.