Suzhou, China

The next stop in China was Suzhou. It is famous for its classical gardens, in fact, the Chinese Garden in Portland is modeled after the gardens of Suzhou. The appreciation of the beauty of nature is apparent here and other cultures have much to learn in this department.

this rock formation, carved by a river, resembles a hawk (upper left)
staring down at a dog (lower right)

Suzhou is also known as "The Venice of China" due to its elaborate canal system throughout the city. We took a boat ride down a canal at dusk and enjoyed an enchanting cruise into the night. Many of the houses along the canals are adorned with lights and lanterns.

After the cruise, we had dinner and then went for a walk around town. As with the other cities we visited, there was a robust night life with people dining and shopping into the night.




The next morning, we were back on the road. Driving through the city, a common scene is to see several cranes on each block. I apologize for the glare from the window, but I am still in awe of how fast this economy is growing:

We also visited a silk factory. They feed the silk worms mulberry leaves and let them spin a cocoon. The silk cocoons are harvested by hand and then unraveled onto spools:

workers in a factory unwinding the silk cocoons onto overhead spools

dried cocoons for sale for use as skin treatments

After lunch, we were off to the next city....Nanjing (you know the drill...next blog) :)