Foreign guests take helter-skelter tour of Wuxi

When the lights turn up it's difficult to know how to proceed with the afternoon given the high bar set by the spritely dancers. Nevertheless, the tour moves onto Donglin Academy, a great institution of Confucian and neo-Confucian thought dating from the Northern Song dynasty (420-581). A group of Belarusian students reflect on the laxity of their own academic endeavors compared to the death sentences often meted out the unfortunate aspiring officials. No less than two placards are devoted to the subject. The tour guide smiles ushering us quickly back to the bus.

It is somehow fitting that we finish in a museum devoted to the Olympics given the monstrous weather barred all outdoor activity. The He Zhenliang Olympic Stadium is devoted to one of China's great sporting servants and the site stands by the banks of the Grand Canal with barges hauling freight up and downstream.

The assembly gazes at a plethora of Olympic memorabilia, including an stupendous 100 meter-long jade carving depicting the history of sport in China; it's glorious invention of football, its excellence in table tennis and badminton, and, of course, Beijing's glorious 2008 success.

Certainly, it is with a particular tenderness for Wuxi that the tour comes to a close and the gathering of international guests goes its separate ways into a wet but warm afternoon.

A group of Russian and Belarusian students chat with a young embroider at Zhao Hongyu's Studio. They are impressed by the skills of the young embroidery expert.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]