China 2001 - Suzhou

Suzhou

Suzhou is often called "The Garden City." It is located 54 miles west of Shanghai in the flat, fertile Yangtze delta. The area is laced with canals, including the 625-mile-long "Grand Canal" built in the 7th century to tie Hangzhou to Beijing. Today it is a bustling metropolis of almost two million people which is the administrative and industrial center for a large area with a population of over 5 1/2 million.

Faced with the prospect of a day of shopping in Shanghai, we decide instead to go sightseeing. The hotel helps us to book a tour which gives us an individual guide and driver who take us out to Suzhou in a minivan.

		The ride, along a fairly new toll road takes less than an hour. We get good views of the Yangtze delta and of the canals which are the ancient highways of the region.
		The interchange where we get off is more than landscaped: it houses a public garden called the "Welcome Garden." It is a fit introduction to the city of Suzhou.
		Our first stop is the Garden of the Master of Nets, the smallest garden in Suzhou and the most exquisite.
		The door has a carving by it which represents the owners status at court. Just inside is a beautifully carved sedan chair.


		Leaving the garden we pass by the grand canal and through a set of shops. Marie buys some silk from the fabric store. The transaction is efficiently carried out by gestures and by writing the number of meters desired and the price negotiations on a pad of paper.
		We cross the high arching Wumen bridge where the moat of the medieval castle joins the canal. Tracks for bicycles and carts have been added to accommodate modern needs.
		The entrance to the city is guarded by the Panmen Gate in the castle wall. There is a double water gate as well as a double road gate.
		The double water gate is sort of like a river lock. The outer gate opens, the boat enters. The outer gate closes and the boat is inspected by guards on the walls. Then the inner gates open to allow it to enter the city. The road gate is similar, with an interior courtyard where hostile parties can be trapped. Today we pass a long line of vendors' tables as we enter. They may be aggressive, but not hostile.
		Red lanterns are symbols of luck and prosperity. They are used as the theme for the street lights along the top of the castle walls.
		We take a brief stroll through a new, modern garden which has fake pagodas, small waterfalls, and plastic cranes.
		Lunch is in a nice restaurant. It is the first time in quite a while that we have had a quiet meal for two. During lunch we notice that a goose is tending an egg out in the garden.
		After lunch we visit the West Garden Temple. It has a large collection of gilded sculptures in its Hall of Five Hundred Arhats. In Sanskrit, the word "Arhat" means enlightened one. Unfortunately, photography of the statues was not permitted. As I was standing and admiring their Happy Buddha statue a monk entered the building, did a double take, and, with a broad grin, put his hands together and bowed to me. OK, so maybe there is some resemblance...