Where are we today? Shanghai and Suzhou

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Move over Buck ee’s.  You have nothing on the quick stop we went to in our way to the city of Suzhou.  Ceilings painted with blue sky and white clouds. An artificial stream running down the center.  Places that sell things like duck on a stick.  Fresh fruit and veggies on display.  The Chinese traveler’s convenience store is something to see. 

This was just a pit stop on our tour group’s nearly 2 hour trip from Shanghai to Suzhou. Known as the Venice of China, Suzhou has a population of 10 million. (Shanghai is 26 million.). At the heart of the city is an ancient canal system.  The main one is part of a canal that linked the city with Beijing and was built beginning in 
500-600 AD.We loaded into boats to tour the area. 












Following that, we had a lovely lunch in a local hotel and then headed to the Suzhou Embroidery Research Institute.  We met women who create the most intricate, exquisite embroidery with silk thread.  






The detailing doesn’t show in these photos.  One piece that fascinated me had a fool the eye effect.  At first glance, it looked like two.splendor men.  In the next glance, the image of the two men blended into one large man.  It was on a silk screen which could be viewed from both sides. 

Our final stop was the Humble Afminustratir’s Garden which dates from the 1100’s, but its current iteration was completed the the 1500’s.  The garden features a connected maze of large pools and islands and bridges.  A number of beautiful pavilions are spaced throughout the 13 acre



It is the current fad for young ladies to dress up in beautiful Ming Dynasty clothing with powdered faces and period hair adornments. They come to the garden to socialize and to take photos of their costumes.  Today, with one exception, it seemed that all their young beaux preferred to dress like 21st century men. (In Tokyo, young female tourists from Korea like to walk around in Geisha dress and face.) The lovely young ladies made it seem that we really were back in time, and I could just imagine having tea on one of the pavilions. 










Zaijian! 

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