The Chinese have a saying that heaven on earth are the two water towns of Hangzhou and Suzhou. Fortunately, last weekend and this weekend I had the chance to visit both.Last weekend, I planned a trip for a bunch of people in our group to go to Hangzhou - around 15 people ended up making it there because I waited too long to buy the train ticket, doh! Instead Todd, Mark, and Will hopped on the slow train with our friends Lillian and Bird from SJTU and took a trip to Suzhou.
Suzhou was a big change from Shanghai - it was nice to walk down the street and not have to hear the constant blaring of car horns so familliar in Shanghai. We visited 2 of the 4 gardens the town is famous for and a pagoda where an old emperor is buried. I liked the first one, The Humble Administrator's Garden, the most probably because the other garden was very similar. They were both very beautiful - everywhere I looked I wanted to take a picture (can you tell from the 146 that I took?) I was amazed by the little bushes sculpted to look like big trees, the equivalent of Japanese Bonzai. Could you tell from the pictures?
After the gardens, we walked around town a little and I bought a silk weaving picture and some Chinese fans. Another thing Suzhou is famous for is all of its canals. They used to be the popular means of transportation back in the day, but now cars have taken over (gas is only $1.48/gal here).
The Tiger Hill Pagoda was Suzhou's version of the leaning tower of Pisa, where the founder of Suzhou is supposed to have been buried with 3000 swords and a tiger
protecting his underwater tomb. We layed on the grass on top the hill overlooking the town for a while, then trekked back to the train station where we were able only to purchase standing tickets back to Shanghai. We ate dinner at........dun dun dun ....KFC. They are taking over this country.I'll update about this weekend's trip to Hangzhou and the Dragon Boat Festival dinner after I come back from lunch. They've blocked Blogger and Flickr now, so I can't see any blogs, but hopefully this update will work. Zaijian
3 comments:
I'm amazed at what you're seeing and learning without the guidebook...hey, why not write one of your own? These blogs are a great start! Can't wait for Part 2. Your pics didn't load in the blog but I was able to see them in your gallery and try to imagine which ones you might've picked to post. Is it almost heaven, like West Virginia? xox, mom
JOHNNY! I am so happy you are having a ball. I am waiting for part 2, and can't wait to hear about Yellow Mountain. Miss you SO much! See you soon :)
Oi, achei teu blog pelo google tá bem interessante gostei desse post. Quando der dá uma passada pelo meu blog, é sobre camisetas personalizadas, mostra passo a passo como criar uma camiseta personalizada bem maneira. Até mais.
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