3-22-09

 

Our first impression of Suzhou was that it was a small city with tree lined streets and the same pollution that plagues most of the places we’ve visited. Our hotel was nice enough to let us check in early and we were both impressed with the fit and finish of our room considering the low cost ($20). We set out around 12pm to start visiting the gardens that Suzhou is famous for, went through an hour of “which restaurant has any English or pictures” until we found a dumpling place that didn’t serve 70% of the pictures hanging from their ceiling.

 

We made a quick walkthrough of a (book) recommended silk museum and then walked to “The Humble Administrators” garden. It was expansive and enjoyable. We got some nice photos. After that we went to “Lion’s Garden” and ran into a couple of American guys who were making short films about people’s experiences in China. We volunteered to help them out. They recommended the leaning Tiger pagoda outside of town so Rachel and I struggled to find a taxi and check it out before it closed.

I immediately liked the gardens outside of the Tiger Pagoda. They made great use of space by elevating things and using colorful plants. The pagoda itself was unique because it was one of the first structures of its kind that used brick building technology. It was just under a thousand years old, it weighed something like 60,000 tons and had a greater lean than the Tower of Pisa. Very cool.

Rachel and I enjoyed the gardens surrounding it and then spent around an hour trying to find a restroom. All of this would have taken a much shorter time if the people would have been a bit more helpful.

After that we bought some beer/supplies and went home to relax when I discovered that I’d lost a small audio cable used to connect my ipod speakers and the computer. Without it, we had to rely on the feeble speakers in this little computer. I was crushed and had no idea how I would go about finding a replacement in China.