Day 8: What?! How can it be Day 8 already?

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Cruising Suzhou"s Grand Canal










Inside the Master of the Net's Garden




And just like that, it was our last day in China. It's amazing how quickly the time went, like a "travel week" is an alternate unit of time playing out at a noticeably higher rpm than real time.
On this, our final day, we heeded a lesson learned at the start of this trip...that not all "optional tours" are to be mocked, avoided and summarily dismissed. We already knew we had a great guide and an easy-going, enjoyable group, so we saw no reason to follow through on the original plan of venturing out on our own. Instead we signed up for the last tour and joined Michael, Mr. Bell/ Bill and all the rest on an excursion to Suzhou, a 2,500 year old city, saddled with the predictable moniker "the Venice of the East". The nickname comes from the city's abundance of canals and bridges, but truthfully, I was reminded more of Bangkok's klong district than Venice due to the way the homes opened directly onto the waterways and how the residents relied on the water for bathing, washing, etc. Incidentally, can you guess what the nickname of the klong district is? For kicks, I just googled the phrase "the Venice of.." and ended up with results as varied as Dubai, Brugges, Udaipur Rajasthan, even Geithoorn.

Overused nickname aside, Suzhou has a lot going for it, particularly its plethora of carefully maintained private gardens. The one we visited, the Master of the Nets garden is among the smallest, but is considered to be the most exquisite. As in Shanghai's Yu Garden, we saw a small space play tricks on the eye to give a much larger appearance. By incorporating meandering walkways and paths, the view is constantly changing, giving an illusion of depth. The artistry of this garden is so renown that it served as the model for the Ming Garden Hall in NY's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Upon leaving the garden, we battled, or more accurately, our driver battled rush hour traffic to get us back to Shanghai in time for our farewell dinner. Unbelievable, considering it felt like only hours since we had gathered for our welcome dinner. Where did all the time, and bok choy, go?

Comments

  1. RamblingRolandMarch 14, 2008 at 7:04 AM

    Lots of interesting architecture, and lots of water. Look forward to the March adventure, wherever that may be.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Susie FelberMarch 15, 2008 at 9:09 AM

    Amazing stuff! I cant begin to tell you how cool this is. Thanks for sharing it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. L@ur@March 20, 2008 at 6:35 AM

    hi woman!! congrats for no 70!!!
    i like the ideea with the city tour from the airport, sounds interesting...but unfortunatly i haven seen this anywhere yet...
    wiating for county no 71...buy the way when was this trip done, between hawai and california??

    ReplyDelete

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