Check out Changzhou

China is a big country and has thousand of years of history. My aim in China is to see as much of it as possible, which requires going to as many places as possible! Living in Wuxi (无锡）I am on the Shanghai to Nanjing railway line. This line has many stops, the first one I checked out was the one to Changzhou (常州). Like Wuxi, Changzhou has a multi-million population, and is unknown outside of China (and quite possible unknown outside of Jiangsu Province.)

By slow train, the journey is about an hour, and tickets cost about 20 yuan (£2). The itself is clean and feels very safe and the city centre is compact and easy and cheap to get around by bus (1 yuan).

Changzhou has several specular old temples and buildings, as shown above, as well as several high-end hotels. It is possible to find good accommodation for about 150 yuan a night though. 

Changzhou is a very interesting "small" city and I would recommend visiting the city. Wuxi has few foreigners, but time in the city I didn't see a single foreigner! 真奇怪啊！