Small Town China: Roadtrip to Huangtu 璜土

Even though Changzhou is not a big Chinese city when compared to a place like Nanjing, Shanghai, or Beijing, it feels huge to most expats who arrive here. For a case of perspective, sometimes I like to visit some of the smaller towns and cities. It makes me certain that I don't take Changzhou for granted. So, I decided to jump on my electronic motorcycle and cruise over to Huangtu 璜土. This is township that is part of the city of Jiangyin 江阴 -- which, in turn, is part of Wuxi 无锡. In China, it's common to have towns with cities and cities within other cities. That's the way the local governance is organized. 

So, I started out on the roads near my home in Xinbei. This norther Changzhou district shares a city line with Jiangyin.  

This is at an intersection where the Changzhou city buses all turn towards the international school and the northern high speed rail station. Make a wrong turn at this intersection, and you are in a whole different city. The shopping mall is Wuzhou Plaza. Most of it is empty, right now. Not that far from here, I decided to stop for awhile. 

While I love my bike, it really needs a lot of maintenance at the moment. The batteries are going, and they are going fast. I have had this for a year now, and so it's to be expected. Bike batteries tend to only last a year, and I already have over two thousands kilometers on this thing. Right now, I simply can't go as far as I used to. Also, I have crashed twice on this thing -- once by getting hit by a car. Luckily, both times I wasn't seriously hurt, and bike has had -- mostly -- cosmetic damage. And for those who don't live in China, these vehicles use absolutely no gas. You merely plug it in to a wall socket to charge it. From here, I strolled around an open air market for a bit.

Oh, by the way. One thing I love about China is this: during this time of year, pineapple is extremely cheap when you compare it American supermarket prices. And yes, the middle picture is big pile of toilet paper. From here, I got back onto the road. 

The farther you get from Changzhou, the farther you get from high rise apartment complexes. The "Small town China" vibe increases.  Then, I arrived at my destination, Huangtu. 

A lot of the streets look the same. 

I am not trying to be condescending when I say the town center really doesn't have much to see.  Here is one of their parks. 

To be fair, Huangtu has two huge ecological parks nearby, and one of them has a fake beach. But, the above is where a lot of the shops are. You have to take a vehicle to the other two. And the other two, I will likely devote separate posts to in the future. 

Also, this part of China always seems to have some sort of canal nearby. 

Even the local Buddhist temple nearby seemed largely deserted. Sometimes, some Changzhou expats can be a testy bunch that like to complain about how the city is not enough like Shanghai or Nanjing. Those are the people who usually do one year here and then leave. As for me, seeing the smaller side of China makes me appreciate what I have living in Xinbei.