Suzhou (苏州) - Lingering Garden (留园) and Humble Administrator's Garden (拙政园)

About 30 minutes by High-speed train (HST) from Shanghai is the city of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province.  I have always wanted to visit Suzhou but finding the time to take a side trip from Shanghai is always a challenge.  But I hear so much from Chinese nationals on how beautiful Suzhou is.  On this trip I made sure I included Suzhou in my itinerary.  

My trip by HST from Huangshan to Suzhou falls on one of the busiest travel days in China - May 1.  It's International Labor Day and China shuts down for the next 5 days.  Almost everyone is on holiday.  Suzhou is one of the most popular tourist destinations in China.  Whoever planned my itinerary did not make things easy.  You would think that I'd go from Shanghai to Suzhou first, since it is closest.  Then I may have avoid the holiday crowd in Suzhou.

2nd Class Section, a little crowded

Nevertheless, I am happy that I finally checked Suzhou on my travel list.  I was picked at the train station by the driver and tour guide, Bruce.  We went straight to the UrCove Hyatt Hotel.  It is a beautiful hotel right in the middle of the city.  I told Bruce one of my first priorities is getting some laundry done.  Fortunately, the hotel has free washing machines and dryer.  We put my clothes in the washer, then headed nearby for lunch.  Then it's off to the races. 

There are Four Famous Gardens of China.  They are sometimes known as the Four Legendary Classical Gardens.  All four are on UNESCO World Heritage Site list.  Two are Imperial Gardens built for royalty in northern China and two are Private Scholar Gardens built by elites in Southern China.  The two Imperial Gardens are The Summer Palace in Beijing and Chengde Mountain Resort in Hebei Province.

Before we go on, let's clarify what I mean by garden.  In most cases when we say a garden it usually mans a botanical garden where there are beautiful plants, trees, lake, and beautiful landscape.  Examples are Butchart Garden in Vancouver Island, Canada, Huntington Library and Garden in San Gabriel, California, and Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.  Chinese Classical Gardens has a style that has evolved over 3,000 years.  It's a walled landscaped garden with ponds, rockery, and plants that add meaning to the landscape.  Buildings like halls, pavilions, bridges, towers, art, are intertwined with Chinese philosophy, ideology and aesthetics.  It's a special designation.  That's why there are only four that are designated Classical Chinese Gardens in China.

The other two private gardens are in Suzhou.  They are the Lingering Garden and the Humble Administrator Garden.  Our first stop is the Lingering Garden.  The garden was started back in 1593 and has gone through several ownerships.  This is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Suzhou.

An Artwork

Lake and surrounding

Looking through a window

Inside one of the buildings

A large marble disk with mountain landscape

Rock from a lake that is part of the landscape

The Humble Administrator's Garden was built in the 12th century of the Southern Song Dynasty.  This too has changed hands many times and went through many design changes.  Below are some images from the garden.

The garden was very crowded

A pavilion

One of the pavilions

Window with specially designed pattern

I had such a busy time on my two and a half days in Suzhou that I decided to write two posts on Suzhou.  In the next post I will write about Suzhou Museum and the water town of Tongli.

Bruce and I tried to walk the Old Street in Suzhou on my first day there.  But it was so busy that there was a very long line of tourists waiting to get in.  We didn't even try.  However, on the last morning of my third day in Suzhou I find myself with some time to explore the city on my own.  I decided to randomly roam for a couple of hours. I started with the canal, about a half mile from the hotel.  It was a quiet morning and I was walking past residences along the canal.  Some may have been used as AirBnB rentals.  The city is starting to come alive at that time of the day.

Residences along the canal

A Temple

A Fruit Stand

A Typical Street

Sightseeing Boats

Does this look like Venice?

One of the delights is walking pass many places that sell food.  It reminds me of the food that I grew up with.  Sorry, no croissants, bagels, muffins, waffles, etc.

 

Old Villages in Huangshan - Hongcun (宏村) and Xidi (西递)

Besides Huangshan the mountain, there are two other UNESCO World Heritage Sites in southern Anhui province.  The first is Hongcun and the other is Xidi.  Most tourists who came to Huangshan never thought of visiting these two ancient villages.  I never heard of it.  But my travel consultant put this on the itinerary.  Luckily, I have an excellent guide who has lived in the area for many years.

Hongcun

If you saw the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, you may recognize some of the scenes in Hongcun village.  Not only was it an excellent movie (it was nominated for 10 Oscars and won 4) the scenes accurately depicted the architecture of the 18th century.  Hongcun was established in 1131 by Wang Wen, a general, then a prosperous merchant.  It's been preserved for a thousand years and today many of the residences still have people living in them.

The village is arranged in the shape of an ox. with different parts of the village representing parts of the ox.  Today it's a popular tourist attraction.  Many of the residences cater to the tourists - restaurants, souvenir shops,  The pictures below tell the story of the village.

The letter Fu, meaning Blessing

Xidi 

Near Hongcun is another 1,000-year old village that has been well preserved.  It was first built from 1049 to 1053 during the Song Dynasty.  The Hu family are descendants of the Emperor and later as successful merchants in the Ming Dynasty.  The city is dominated by a main street that runs east to west.  This is joined by many alleyways.  The streets are paved with granite from the area.  The village tells a rich history of China.

On the right is the name of the town, Xi Di

A Farmhouse

Our last stop for the day is called Tunxi Old Street.  Below is a picture of the entrance to the Old Street.  Inside is a main street with shops that selling various things like tea, Chinese pastry, souvenirs, etc.  "Old Streets" are common in almost every town in China.  Instead of tearing down old buildings the town would preserve a section and call it "Old Street" representing what it was like many years ago.  It's a way to attract tourists.

Huangshan 黄山 (Yellow Mountain)

If you have seen classical Chinese paintings of jagged mountain peaks and pine trees, that was probably a depiction of Huangshan.  It means Yellow Mountain but there is no yellow in the mountains.  It was renamed Yellow Mountain to honor the Yellow Emperor, Huang Di, who practiced alchemy here and became a supernatural being.  It is not one mountain but a mountain range, known for its scenery, sunset, jagged mountain peaks, unique pine trees, winter snow, etc.  It is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the iconic landscapes in China.

I have heard of Huangshan for many years but never had the opportunity to visit it.  On this trip, since I am traveling alone, I have the flexibility to go where I want to go and not have to ask anyone.  This is one of 3 places in Central China that has been on my list for years:  Huangshan, Suzhou and Hangzhou.

The same driver who picked me up at the Shanghai Pudong airport a few days ago, picked me up at the Sunrise at the Bund hotel.  He dropped me off at the Shanghai South Railway Station.  There are five railway stations in Shanghai.  My train was scheduled to depart at 12:57 from platform 6.  About 15 minutes before departure time we were allowed onto the platform.  Most passengers scan their local identity cards.  I gave my passport to the gate agent and she entered my passport number into the computer and I was allowed in.  My seat was in first-class in car number 1, seat 9A.

My Train Schedule

Train Station Lobby

Gate 6A for Cars 1-8 for Train No. G3087

A High-speed train

First-class Car

I asked my travel consultant to book me in all first or business class trains.  Not trying to be a snob but I don't feel like pushing or jostling for space in second class.  The price difference is small enough that it is worth the extra expense.  I had a seat next to me but it was empty throughout my whole journey.  I don't know whether it was coincidental or I am paying for the extra seat.

A few minutes after departure a lady came to sell food.  I ordered a lunch tray.  It was a very generous helping.  The train is very modern and clean.  It rode very smoothly and quietly on the tracks.  At times it reached a top speed of over 300 km/hr or close to 200 mph.  Scenery of cities and farms flew by.  The toilets are clean.  This is indeed a high-speed train!  I passed the time by listening to podcasts or music.  I had cellular network connection so I was able to receive and send texts and read news on my phone.  It was everything you want a train journey to be.  I would take a train over flying anytime if it takes about the same amount of time.

My big lunch

A squat toilet

I was picked up at the Huangshan North Railway Station and taken to the An Chi hotel.  I don't remember the name of the town it's in but there are several small towns that are considered in the Huangshan area.  I decided to take a short walk and have a small snack or dinner.  I found a restaurant that serves dumplings.  I ordered a tray of nine and it costs 7 RMB, about $1.

My dumpling dinner for $1

In the morning I was met by my guide Megan.  She is a wonderful English-speaking guide with 20 years of experience.  She said this is the first time she has an American tourist.  Her clients are from Europe or Southeast Asia.  We converse in both Mandarin and English but when it came to explain things she used mostly English because she knows my Chinese is very basic.

We were supposed to go to Huangshan on the first day and Hongcun (宏村), Xidi village (西递村) and Tunxi Old Street (西递村) on the second day.  But it was raining the first day so we had to switch the itineraries.  

But I want to start talking about my trip to Huangshan because this is the highlight of this part of the trip.  Before coming here I pictured Huangshan as a standalone mountain.  You can walk to the summit or take a cable car up there.  Was I wrong.  It really is a mountain complex with many individual speaks scattered all over the area.  The place is so big that it took us several hours to go from one end to another.  We were there on April 30, the day before International Labor Day, May 1.  This is the start of one of two China's Golden Week, when almost the whole country shuts down.  The other week starts on October 1, China's National Day.

We left the hotel early that day, thinking we'd be able to beat the crowd.  When we got there it was like the whole of China was there.  First, there was a long line to get on the bus that was to take you to the entrance.  After that, there was another very long line to get just to take the entrance.  Then another line to get onto the cable car.  It took me 3 hours from starting to queue to the entrance.  Finally we are at the top of the mountain range.  That's when we start exploring different peaks and views and learned more about Huangshan.  

This is just the start

Buses taking us to the entrance

More Crowds

Cable cars up the mountain top

The views of the various peaks are very impressive as the following pictures show.  No wonder artists from all over China came here to drawn those classical paintings.

A range of granite peaks

A solitary peak

The mountain in B&W

I was also very impressed with the way the park was being managed.  In my previous trips to China the locals just trampled all over the place.  There was litter everywhere.  This time the park management folks created small collection areas where you can throw your trash.  There are no trash cans.  The locals did throw their trash in those collection areas.  There are also many workers picking up the trash.  In spite of the crowd the place was quite clean.

After a cigarette butt caused a massive fire several years ago smoking is banned in the park.  The local Chinese are notorious for smoking but they nevertheless adhere to this rule. I guess the fine will be quite massive if you smoke in the park.

Maintenance worker picking up trash

Porters carrying people

Porter carrying goods.  No animals or motorized vehicles allowed

There are also several artists practicing their drawing or painting skills.

When we came down from the Mountain we took a big cable car that get us down to the parking lot where buses are waiting to take us back to the other parking lot where we started.  Just to give you an idea how big the park is, the bus took about an hour on the highway to go from one end to the other end where we started.  In spite of the crowd and the hassles it was absolutely worth the time and effort.  This is like visiting the Grand Canyon in the US.  It is an iconic mountain in China that you don't want to miss.

I have been having difficulties with the wifi and internet in both Suzhou and Hangzhou.  Because of government restrictions I have to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to get around some of the banned websites.  It slows my internet connection and I had much difficulty uploading the pictures.  I decided to publish this post about the mountain now and write the next post about the other sites that I visited.