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.
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| 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.
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| An Artwork |
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| Lake and surrounding |
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| Looking through a window |
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| Inside one of the buildings |
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| A large marble disk with mountain landscape |
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| 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.
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| The garden was very crowded |
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| A pavilion |
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| One of the pavilions |
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| 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.
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| Residences along the canal |
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| A Temple |
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| A Fruit Stand |
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| A Typical Street |
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| Sightseeing Boats |
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| 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.
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