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[Music]
My solo trip continued as I
flew from Seoul to Suzhou.
This is the part of my trip where
I felt like I went back in time.
In one day, I felt like I
went from Kdrama to Mulan,
from a modern glitzy city
to stone bridges and ancient canals.
It felt like I had stepped into a Chinese painting
an ethereal world from an ancient time.
The energy shifted completely
from a fast-paced buzz to
an introspective presence.
All right, I just arrived
in Suzhou for my solo trip.
This is the city where my grandma is from.
And it's actually a city with a lot of sightseeing
like ancient Chinese classical gardens
and a lot of beautiful scenery I guess.
So I'm excited to explore.
And the hotel that I'm staying at is gorgeous
it really is the perfect mix of like
old Chinese historic building with
some modern elements tied in.
And I love this aesthetic like even
the view of my room like the view
outside is so quaint.
There's like some water, kids running around
some beautiful trees and buildings
and I am excited to explore more of this place.
It's also funny because some of
my interior design choices for my house
was actually like places like this
where it mixes like old traditional
Chinese style, some Asian elements
with some modern.
And like I literally have a
book about Chinese gardens
in my living room like as like a coffee table book
and now I'm here.
So yeah, I'm just going to enjoy it.
Okay fit check.
Literally whole outfit from Korea.
Top, jeans, bag, all all fresh from Seoul.
I'm a new girl. Oh and glasses too.
These are like $5 glasses from nyu nyu.
Love it. Let's go.
[Music]
I chose to come to Suzhou for a few reasons.
First, I've always been drawn to the beauty of
Chinese gardens and classical art.
It even inspires the way I designed my home.
Suzhou has the most classical
gardens in all of China.
It feels like a living gallery of ancient beauty.
On a personal level, both my grandma and
grandpa's families are from this region.
So I wanted to experience this place
that's so closely tied to my roots.
To connect with Chinese history
and my own family history.
And since Suzhou is just a couple hours away
from Shanghai by car, it was the perfect place
to explore before meeting up with my dad.
You guys it is, it is so
pretty here. I'm not okay.
It is so beautiful with the sunset,
I don't even know exactly where I am.
I just know this is in my
hotel's like backyard area
but this is like very very scenic, very historical
I'm going to have to do some research.
I need to look at a map where
am I, I don't even know.
It's so peaceful right now.
The sun, this view.
[Music]
So beautiful. Yeah. That's how I feel.
Excitement, beautiful, gratitude.
I'll show you the view.
[Music]
[Music]
This evening lighting it's so beautiful right now.
When you come to a place like this,
you got to get into character.
Honestly, I was most looking forward
to doing a Hanfu photo shoot.
I got my hair and makeup done and
I love that they're so elaborate.
They really go into the details with your hair
adding all these extra accessories and extra hair.
And I shot photos at my hotel and
the very beautiful Panmen
scenic area next to my hotel.
This look is inspired by the Song Dynasty which
was the era when Suzhou was the center for
silk production, art and
intellectual life in China.
This era was all about confusion values,
elegant aesthetics, poetry, calligraphy
and scholarly refinement.
As a strong Libra, my sun Mercury and Venus
are all in Libra and a Gemini rising,
I feel like this era emphasizing art, beauty,
knowledgeand and intellect really suits me.
No wonder I'm drawn to places like this.
[Music]
Hello from Song Dynasty version Aileen.
So today I am dressed in Song Dynasty
fashion from the hair to the makeup.
Apparently, these pearls are
a Song Dynasty thing
and I'm just feeling like I'm in another era.
So I'm just going to walk around and
get some clips of me being me.
I don't know, I just feel so pretty.
When exploring this beautiful
place with ancient gardens
and thousand-year-old pagodas,
I felt such a deep sense of awe at the history
and the worlds that have existed before us.
The lives lived, the stories
lost, the countless people
who have come across the same place
and found inspiration or meaning here.
The places that stayed and the structures
that still stand after all these years.
There were many times when I found myself
getting emotional and tearing up.
Part of it was I couldn't believe I was here
that I had finally made it back
to China after so many years.
Part of it was also this feeling
of connection to my grandparents.
At being at the places that
they had also been before.
Of seeing the lifestyle here
and imagining their youth.
My heart felt full at the familiarity of hearing
their accent spoken by the people around me.
I hadn't heard this accent in years.
I was literally at a dumpling shop eating dinner
and getting teary-eyed because at the table
behind me was a grandma with two little kids
speaking Mandarin in that accent that
sounded just like my grandma's.
After not hearing it for so long
it just felt so familiar and comforting
like I had never been to this place
and yet it reminded me of my childhood.
[Music]
On my sightseeing days I didn't vlog as much.
Partly because it was so crowded
but mainly because I just wanted to be present.
I visited a few famous gardens, museums and
famous ancient roads where
there were lots of food
and shopping red bean milk tea.
At the Suzhou West Museum
I was amazed to see
old artifacts dating back 5,000 to 7,000 years
that they dug up here in Suzhou.
It blew my mind to think
that people have lived here
for thousands of years.
That this land has carried so many generations,
so many stories.
I just went to the museum and I bought
such cute stuff at the gift shop.
I normally don't buy things
at the museum gift shop
but I don't know, the
aesthetic called to me, right?
It's like Chinese aesthetic but
make it pastel, cute and modern.
Which is so my style.
So I'll show you what I got.
First is this keychain.
It's actually a mirror behind this thing and
I just thought the colors were so pretty like
I think it's tangerines and it's so pretty.
The colors, the aesthetic, the shape, love it.
Okay this is like, what do they call it?
Oh this is a popsocket.
That's in the shape of a gourd
and it's like yellow and blue.
I have been trying not to
get a popsocket for so long
cuz I like my phone to be
slim but this was so cute
I just I had to get it. I had to.
This one is a mirror and it
comes with like a little tassel.
I thought it was so pretty.
It's just, yeah it's just
a mirror. It's so pretty.
[Music]
So there's like this beautiful
mountain shape with a lake
and I'm going to go explore
it cuz it's just so pretty.
I also really love the Confucious Temple
and Ancient Tablets Museum
where you could see an array of ancient
stone tablets that truly thrust you into the past.
I was having my Google camera out
just trying to translate
as many tablets as I could.
It was just so fascinating.
As I was researching why Suzhou
has so many beautiful gardens I learned that
it was once the cultural heart of China.
Home to some of the wealthiest and
most educated people in the country.
Suzhou was known for its silk, its scholars
and its refined way of life.
These gardens were built by scholars, artists
and officials as private retreats to reflect,
write poetry, paint and connect with nature.
They were a place to think
deeply and cultivate the self.
What really fascinated me was learning that
in ancient China they tested
scholars and future leaders
not just in knowledge but in confusion values,
ethics and the arts like poetry, music,
painting and calligraphy.
I was like, why test the arts?
Like what does poetry or music have
anything to do with leadership?
Apparently, they believed that to lead well
you needed to have heart,
depth and artistic sensibility.
In those times, the best
leaders were meant to be
artists at heart, people with compassion,
discipline and vision.
That's why so many officials were also poets,
painters and musicians.
That was so eye opening to me because
it's so different from how
we view our leaders today.
They placed a strong emphasis on character,
wisdom and cultivation of the self because
they believed to be a great leader
you first had to be a great human.
I thought this was so beautiful and
something we've lost along the way.
Through the rise of industrialization and
capitalism we've come to prioritize
qualities like efficiency,
productivity and output.
What society deems valuable has shifted.
We now live in a time where
artists are not truly valued
for their wisdom or leadership.
Their voices are often dismissed as if
they don't know what they're talking about.
As if creativity has no
place in shaping the world.
That's why it inspires me
that there was once an era
where art wasn't just
appreciated. It was essential.
A time when creativity,
beauty and self-expression
were seen as reflections of
wisdom, refinement and leadership.
[Music]
I did another Hanfu photo shoot
because why not?
I wanted to try another style
so I went for this lavender look
that felt more on brand for me.
We shot in this private garden just for people
doing Hanfu photo shoots
so it wasn't as crowded
with people like a famous garden would be.
Hi loves, I wanted to try a different look cuz
I noticed that the girls get better hair when
they do it outside cuz I did mine at the hotel.
So this is just a different look, you know,
just so I have options. A girl loves options.
[Music]
And here are the photos from the shoot.
I do like this concept better than the first one.
I understand the photos are still pretty edited.
You know what's funny?
I already asked them twice to please
tone down the editing because Chinese people
really like to overedit everything
to their beauty standard.
Like they make your skin lighter, eyes bigger,
face smaller, they make you taller, skinnier.
And I sat down with the editor the first round
and asked him like: "Please
don't make my face a V shape.
I know you guys like the V shape but please
keep my face normal, I want to look like me,
Don't make me so skinny."
And so he had to like adjust everything
cuz he already edited it once.
And then he sent me the photos on WeChat
and then I told him like:
"No, no these are still they don't look like me."
And so I asked for a second round of re-editing
so this is after two rounds maybe even three
for some of the photos.
But you know what? I will take it.
So I just finished taking
my second round of photos and I think
I'm going to explore a little bit.
I'm not sure if the other gardens are still open
I might just explore the streets and this wear.
So I get to wear this until I
guess for like a couple hours
until I have to return it.
I'm leaving Suzhou tomorrow.
So tomorrow I go to Shanghai
and so I'm really taking in all the historical
parts of this environment because I'm going to go
to a completely modern place tomorrow.
[Music]
After the shoots I kept the outfit on of course.
And I explored a famous
ancient street by the canal.
It was really crowded but I did get to shop
for some cute souvenirs.
I bought a couple fans. I'll show you guys later.
[Music]
I made it in and it is crowded but very lively.
I didn't have to wait in line.
In the end I realized I was already inside.
I just had to cross a bridge but yeah.
There's a line to get in this
area because it's it's a holiday.
It's just very busy you know.
[Music]
I got some buns.
I had to find a quiet corner
cuz the street is so crazy.
[Music]
I wasn't sure if it was salty or sweet.
Can't tell what it is cuz there's like sesame.
There's green onion, something.
It's like a pastry.
After this I want to find
a drink or some dessert.
I don't know if I'm going to
keep vlogging cuz it's crazy.
I don't want to take out my camera
when it's too crazy out there.
If you guys notice I only
vlog when it's like calm.
But today since I'm dressed up,
I'll vlog in the crazy crowd but if it's crazy
normally I don't like vlogging.
[Music]
My week in Suzhou was a quiet, reflective
and artistic break in my trip.
I was deeply inspired by the
culture and history here,
moved by the people
and the unexpected ways
I felt connected to my family roots.
Over the days I began to open up more
and started striking up
conversations with strangers.
Chatting with cab drivers,
helping other travelers translate and so on.
There was even a moment of synchronicity.
I met a shop worker who was wearing
the exact same necklace as me.
And we found out that we had bought it
on the same day and at the same place.
It's funny the little connections
and serendipitous moments that unfold
when you're traveling solo.
This world is full of curious moments
just waiting to be experienced.
That's the beauty I find in traveling.
Those surprising, joyful moments.
Moments of awe, moments of inspiration,
moments of connection.
It's goodbye for now but I know
I'll be back again someday.
After Suzhou I'm heading to Shanghai
for a week to visit my dad ´
who I have not seen in 6 years.
I'll share more of that story in the next video.
So stay tuned for that one.
Thank you so much for
watching and allowing me
to share my thoughts and inspirations with you.
Sending you so much love.
Bye
[Music]
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