Suzhou day trip

We finally made it to Suzhou, the most famous attraction in Jiangsu because of its silk production, old Chinese gardens, and canals with the old bridges. Before we went I was expecting a somewhat quiet and historic town but the truth is a little different. Unlike the picturesque Hangzhou it's pretty modernized with a number of Chinese gardens dotted around here and there. And like many tourist spots in China the place was packed with tourists, a bit of a nuisance but I am sure the people said the same thing about us. We started our trip at the Garden of the Master of the Nets. We picked it because of its funny name but it turned out to be a cute little garden. Built in the 12th century, it was abandoned and restored in the 18th century by an retired official who wanted to be a fisherman - hence the name of the place.

We then visited the Lion Grove, constructed in 1350 by a monk as a memorial to his master. The place was full of abstract stone lion sculptures but I thought the mazes and the buildings were more interesting.

When things started to look a bit similar after two gardens we decided to have lunch. Then it was time to see the new Suzhou Museum, designed by I.M.Pei. The relatively small exhibits of wood carvings, porcelains, jade, and other artifacts were interesting, but the museum itself was rather captivating.

The next stop was the North Temple's pagoda. The nine-storey wooden structure provided a birds eye view of the city it's worth the climb.

Lastly we decided to take a look at the Grand Canal, which links Beijing and Hangzhou together. Traffic was a lot busier than we thought and the barges could go fast!