China Trip 2008: Part 2

China Trip 2008
Part 2: Suzhou

Day 3 - Suzhou 苏州

We took a 2-hr coach from Hangzhou to Suzhou. Upon checking in to Motel 168, we step out to SHOP!!! Staying rite in the shopping area is fantastic. =P

On the streets of Suzhou, this is a pedestrian onli shopping street

My mama in high spirits

Russian?!? No... Juz english pasted in the wrong direction

As it also happened to be Tina's bdae, we surprised her with a cake at Harry's Bar.
(Left - right: Ah Bing, Tina, Apple)

Day 4 - The Best of Suzhou 1-day Tour

As corny as it sounds, it really was quite good, minus the silk and pearl factory visit. Introducing 1 of the 4 famous Suzhou gardens, The Humble Administator Garden.

The brilliance of Suzhou's garden lies with the secret of meticulous planning on how its scenery changes each time the visitor views through different windows, direction, etc. As land is scarce in Suzhou, the gardens cannot be big, so views had to be 'borrowed' to make the garden seem bigger than it was. As above, the pagoda is not part of the garden, merely borrowed into the scenery. Brilliant!

This is not photoshop-ed. Shot through blue glass in the pavilion, it gives the look of winter and soothes the heat in the summer.

Floor plan and map of Suzhou - 200 yrs ago

Awaiting for a cruise ard the moat of ancient Suzhou

We den proceeded to the Cold Mountain. It was famous due to its mention on a poem, apparently by a very famous poet.


Haiz...if only SG had seasons... Anyhow plant flowers oso nice

I simply adore round doors... personal fetish...

Next stop was the Tiger Hill 虎丘.

They happen to have a floral fair, so mum was extra pleased.

The pillow-rock

With this entrance, U enter into another realm

The leaning tower of China in the backdrop.

This is the main plaza. According to folklore, an emperor had invited all the craftsmen to a celebration upon completion of his tomb building. But he din want anyone to leak out the secret of where he would be buried, he poisoned the wine and the blood of the innocent men stained the rock creating lines of red crevices. Creepy....

But we got jolted back to modern china with signages in Chinglish telling us to be decent and pay attention to security.

My vv posed papa

Lavenders!!! Like in Summer Scent.... NICE

Parting shot at the Tiger Hill atop its bridge over its moat

After all the visiting, we continued with shopping, trying to get to as many shops as possible before leaving for Shanghai the next day...

...TO BE CONT...