Being that this blog has been around for a while now, and that it consistently lists at the top of the search results for many things “Suzhou”, I tend to get my fair share of e-mails from readers or random passers-by.

Most of these are e-mails from folks moving to Suzhou, or China in general, and are looking for a man-on-the-ground to answer some of the peace of mind questions the guide books don’t give you. I always try to answer these as honestly and as detailed as I can, as I also did this when coming to China and…