The Gardens of Paradise - In China?

The Chinese say "In heaven there is paradise; on earth are Suzhou and Hangzhou." So we took the opportunity to check out Chinese paradise last weekend. We got into Shanghai late Friday night and were whisked in a cab to Suzhou under cover of darkness. Waking early the next day we decided to take care of arrangements to catch a fast train to Hangzhou that night and dump our luggage before wandering through the cities gardens and canals. It became exceedingly clear we were not in Kansas anymore. After successfully depositing our luggage in a locker with the help of about 5 friendly people who spoke no English – we finally were directed to an area two blocks away where there were 1,000 people milling about in 20 different lines to buy train tickets! Of course, no English and no clue what to do. My handsome and amazingly resourceful husband picked a short line and got us tickets – but no fast train tickets left – we were looking forward to a 4 hour journey at the end of the day. Undaunted we decided to drink in the beauty of the city and after negotiating with several taxi drivers found a “chauffer” for the day (for around $12US!).

We first visited the garden of Wangshi Yuan (Master of the Nets Garden). David has a wonderful “Master of the Nets” joke – yours only for the asking! It is known for its use of space (the smallest garden in Suzhou) which creates the illusion of an area that is much greater than its actual size. Even more than the architectural achievement is the mood of tranquility and harmony with lotus floating everywhere.

We then went to the Beisi Ta Pagoda first built in the third century AD, and rebuilt in 1582. The pagoda is, at 76m, the tallest Chinese pagoda south of the Yangzi, though it has only nine of its original eleven stories. Climbing it gives an excellent view over some of Suzhou. There's also a very pleasant teahouse where we spent some time letting the cricket sounds reverberate over us in waves.

Next stop was the silk museum – which is more of a silk factory with a shop at the end. However we did enjoy seeing the step by step process and the fashion show urging you to buy.

After being driven among the canals and refusing in every language we knew to take a canal tour or eat lunch where our chauffer wanted us to– we finally got to the Humble Administrator's Garden, covering about 52,000 sq. meters (12.85 acres), the largest and most renowned garden in Suzhou. It is listed as a World Cultural Heritage site and has also been designated as one of the Cultural Relics of National Importance under the Protection of the State as well as a Special Tourist Attraction of China. Water is the main background along with small forests, hills and rock formations. It was certainly large enough for us to have difficulty find our way back out of. We saw the beautiful Beisi Ta Pagoda reflected in the water and lotus after beautiful lotus.

We attempted a quick lunch at the ubiquitous KFC ( a new one in China every other day) at the train station and were alarmed to find that China’s version of chicken nuggets is cartilage nuggets – at least the fries were edible! The train station was yet another experience where much to our dismay – our luggage was jammed in the locker. The helpful attendant soon drew a crowd of over 30 people all giving their input (in Mandarin of course) about how best to jimmie it open. After about 30 minutes and about 4 official types and half the train station working on the issue – our luggage was free at last. This allowed us to join mid-horde the group pressing toward our train. We felt like we were in the front row at a rock concert and everyone made a dash for the lead singer when the train arrived. Squished toes, sweaty and jostled we made it to our car – beyond puzzled to find out we had reserved seats. What was all that pushing about? We had the opportunity to be very cozy in our tiny bench seat and watched the beautiful pastoral scenery fly by. I was amazed to see huge lotus ponds, rice fields, and many various things growing under plastic tubes. We were also mesmerized listening to China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power by Rob Gifford. A BBC correspondent in Beijing, Gifford took the Silk Road prior to leaving the country and his book is a wonderful travelogue that discusses modern day China and its dilemmas while reviewing the history that got it where it is today. For anyone planning to travel to China or who deals with the country – it is a must read (listen)!

Hangzhou was idyllic as we rode the cab to the hotel in the moonlight past “Autumn Moon over Clam Lake.” We read that the best way to see the sights was to rent bicycles to ride around the lake. The next morning we started off in search of them and stumbled across one of the most beautiful parks I have ever seen – truly paradise on earth. Through that we reached a winery and the lotus pool – the structure that housed the winery is one that we will build if we ever build our own house. We finally rented some bikes and were relieved as it somewhat cooled the 100+ humid heat! We cycled through dripping willows, all sorts of flowers, trees, causeways – around the lake - it was amazing. One highlight was the Leifeng Pagoda - a class apart from its pagoda brethren in China in that it had an escalator to it, an elevator to the top and it was glossy and air conditioned! The view was certainly worth the elevator ride – and would have been worth a hike up the stairs. Somewhere before the “Orioles Singing in the Willows” park the police put up signs that there was no bike riding allowed in the parks and would race towards us when we approached a section like little barking dogs. We tried to convey that we wanted to just walk the bikes – but they were having none of it. So, I actually told the cop I thought he and his rules were stupid (of course after I realized he understood no English!) We kept seeing glimpses of a fountain show across the lake and were excited to see it. After being told to park our bikes miles away from the show – we were showered by a crazy park attendant watering the tree we were sitting under. However, the water show was fun and the best part was the oohs and ahhs of the little kids! The Shangri La pool was heaven before we boarded a bus to Shanghai and to work!