China Peony Festival Tour April 2009

 

We arrive in Suzhou and check into our hotel for the next three nights, The Bamboo Grove Hotel and then visit

The famous Huqiu (“Tiger Hill”) garden. The pagoda there was built in 961 and yes it is slanted a bit more than two meters off its vertical axis. The gardens are for leisurely strolling and there is much to see tucked into nooks and crannies.

There was a flower festival going on while we were here so got to enjoy more than we expected…this is a delightful park full of so much and what I enjoy about it is the fact that a lot of it is hidden so you discover as you walk. One of my most favourite pictures is that of the little boats sitting on the water…this to me is what China is about… that and the fact that there are so many parks and green spaces. They are both used and appreciated for the value they bring the people. You can see from the map that this is a very large place.

Suzhou, the garden city of China. We’ll visit the city which is anciently regarded as one of China’s most scenic places and also referred to as “Venice of the East.” Watch – you might spot people doing their washing on the nearby Taihu rocks. Suzhou is located in the south of the Yangtze River Delta and borders Taihu Lake to the west and Shanghai to the east. Thus it is a water city as well as a famous historical and cultural center with a history going back 2,500 years. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were some two hundred famous gardens there, and the city was renowned both in China and abroad for this place that inspired the great East Asian garden tradition.

Afterwards we enjoyed a Grand Canal cruise. Now you just never know what you will see on this cruise…I had been before but I sure don’t remember a chair being washed….there were lots of couples getting pictures taken. This is a place for couples to have their pictures taken for their wedding or perhaps a photo shoot for a magazine or… whatever… it was wonderful watching what was happening…even the bridges had photo shoots happening.

We met a very happy lady wanting to sell us some mangos in the parking lot and I bought and enjoyed their sweetness (after washing of course)