Suzhou is known as the Venice of the East because of the myriad of canals that flowed through the city.


There is a famous Chinese saying: "In the sky is Heaven’s paradise, on Earth is Suzhou and Hangzhou."  Translation: Suzhou, and neighboring Hangzhou, are the closest things to Heaven on Earth.


After hours of walking around the city desperately searching for food someplace where we could read the menu that was not KFC - one of us (for once it wasn't me!) hit a moment of VERY low blood sugar and we had to make a quick choice between chicken feet vendor or mystery bun vendor.


We obviously went with mystery bun which wasnt bad.  Still not too sure what we ate, I think it was some kind of sweet black bean paste, but it was sweet so served its purpose as a sugar boost.



Wish we had found these rental bikes earlier in the day.  There are rental stations all over the city which would have saved hours of walking and quite possibly "the sugar crash". But overall we had a wonderful day exploring "Heaven on Earth" Suzhou.

The Humble Administrator's Garden (another of China’s official UNESCO World Heritage Sites) was originally built in 1509 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).  It is one of the four most famous gardens in all of China.

It was initially a private garden of a former government servant named Wang Xianchen. It was said he intended to build a garden after he retired and just do some gardening work like planting trees and vegetables there - to live the of a humble man by him. Hence that is the name of the garden.



Love love love that in China (and also most of Asia) you find couples and families that dress alike.  You never know...if we live in Asia long enough Kingsley and I may just become "one of those couples".

The garden contains 48 different buildings with 101 tablets, 21 precious old trees, and over 700 Suzhou-style bonsai. It was also bursting with people. Many who were more interested in snapping our photo then the landscape but overall it was beautiful.


Kingsley and I don't typically have a huge attention span for museums or gardens but we found the ancient trees, rockeries, waterways, pagodas and pavilions, to be peaceful and calming despite the Chinese paparazzi.
 

We took the G (bullet) train from Shanghai to Suzhou for a day trip which was quite the adventure.


We had NO idea what to do or which line we should be in.  So we just got in a line and hoped for the best.  Thankfully the guy in front of us in line spoke english and helped us purchase the correct tickets.

Once we had our tickets secured we walked around looking for some lunch.
KFC was the only brand that we recognized/looked appealing. So although we had already eaten there once that week we went again.  Did you know KFC's in China (at least the locations we went to) don't serve french fries or soda?  Sides with your chicken include: bread, corn or chinese soup and drinks are chinese tea or soya milk.


Everyone waits in the main terminal - then exactly 10 minutes (and I mean exactly) before your train arrives you can enter into the gates that take you down to the train platform.
The train trip only took about 30 min - it was amazingly empty and incredibly clean.

Enjoyed a authentic Chinese dinner with the Amazon team at the famous South Beauty restaurant.



We got to try a special dish known as zong zi, rice dumplings which is a traditional food that is only served during the Dragon Boat Festival.

After dinner Kingsley and I went for a walk along Nanjing Road - the most luxurious shopping street in Shanghai and a fantastic spot for people watching.  The road was full of clusters of people singing Chinese opera and dancing.  We could have spent hours people watching along this road!

The Bund (which means the "Embankment") is Shanghai's famous waterfront running along the west shore of the Huangpu River.

Once a muddy towpath for boats along the river, the Bund was where the foreign powers that entered Shanghai after the Opium War of 1842 erected distinct Western-style banks and trading houses. From here, Shanghai grew into Asia's leading city in the 1920s and 1930s, a cosmopolitan and thriving commercial and financial center.

Looking out over the river I watched various cargo vessels, tourist ferries and other locally owned boats float by. The skyscraper on the far left is called the Oriental Pearl Tower. 

The Summer Palace was built around 1100AD after the Imperial capital was moved to Beijing. Although its only about 40mins (with no traffic) outside the city center today, it was considered the pastoral countryside at the time of its construction. The grounds consists of a huge lake along the shore of the 200-foot high Longevity Hill. What's fascinating about the lake is it is entirely man-made, dug by hand and excavated by ox-pulled carts. The purpose of this was two-fold: built a magnificent lake, and use the earth to construct a 200 foot hill upon which to build a castle.

Notice a difference in the photo above and below? Pollution is a huge issue in Beijing. Shame that such a beautiful location is so dulled by the smog.

The Summer Palace has fallen prey to two acts of major destruction. The first took place in 1860 when the Anglo-French forces invaded Beijing. In 1888, Empress Dowager Cixi (AKA the Dragon Lady) diverted 30 million taels of silver originally designated for the Chinese navy into the reconstruction and enlargement of the Summer Palace.

The second great act of destruction took place in 1900 when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing. The great temples rebuilt in the 1880s were completely demolished and almost every valuable object in sight stolen by the invading troops. In 1902, when Empress Dowager Cixi returned to Beijing from Xi' an, she ordered the reconstruction of the park. According to historical records, she "rebuilt the Summer Palace with unbounded extravagance and opulence, spending some 40,000 taels of silver per day.



Just past the lake you enter the inner grounds of the Palace. The gardens here are decorated with enormous boulders, that were gifts to the Emperor. Its said the donor went bankrupt expending all his resources to move these giant rocks to the palace. As a result, its ok to photograph the rock (in photo below), but one should never be photographed with the rock or you too will suffer the same fate.






The magnificent Long Corridor is 728 metres in length (was listed in the Guinness book of world record as the longest corridor in the world).

The Long Corridor is richly decorated with 14,000 paintings. The paintings depict historical and legendary figures from folk tales, episodes from Chinese classical literature, as well as traditional classical landscapes with birds, fish, flowers and all the beauty of nature. They are quite astonishing in their brilliance of color, detail and design.

The photos above and below give a glimpse of the scale of the corridor.

We really enjoyed our stay at the Grand Hyatt in Beijing.  The location was fantastic just a few blocks from the Forbidden city.  And it was a invaluably (english speaking) serene oasis to return to after our full days of effort, exploring and adventures.



The pool at the Hyatt really has to be seen to be believed. The underground oasis is set in a tropical rainforest in the basement of the Hyatt. There were multiple hot tubs that you could swim to, grottoes, palm trees and waterfalls. The workout room, jacuzzis, saunas and other facilities were equally impressive.

Jingshan Park which is located just north of the Forbidden city, is an especially a popular place for elderly people to gather together and socialize. On the weekends, one can often find elderly folks dancing, singing opera and doing other cultural activities.





Lets just say we were fascinated and maybe a little overwhelmed by the cacophony of the park. We witnessed ballroom dancing, singing groups, accordion playing Bollywood dancers and even watched a choir practice. I had never seen anything quite like it. There were literally hundreds of people singing and dancing in different groups, each trying to out do the other groups.

Yes I could not resist forcing Kingsley to dress up in the traditional bride and groom Chinese costumes.  I love how Kingsley is wearing the pearls and I'm wearing a tie!