Suzhou Sojourns

 "Up in Heaven there’s a paradise, down on Earth there are Hangzhou and Suzhou.”

Cold Mountian Temple

I couldn’t leave China without a trip to Suzhou, one of China’s most famous scenic hotspots and Victoria’s sister city. When I lived in Victoria and made my treks down to Chinatown to buy cheap vegetables and the occasional snack I missed from Asia, I’d pass through a large Chinese gate that was sent to Victoria as a gift from Suzhou. So I thought I ought to go check it out before I kissed the Mainland goodbye for good.

Suzhou is known as the Venice of the East and was described in the travel journals of Marco Polo. It is most famous for its Venice-like waterways and its gardens. The gardens were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997 and are considered to be the best gardens in China. Though the gardens are supposed to reflect natural beauty, they are meticulously designed and controlled. For a wild Canadian girl like me these gardens are just a little controlled and look like artful landscaping. However, we shouldn’t compare BC apples and mandarins! And after living in Shanghai for so long, you can't really complain about nature of any kind. But it was nice to see Victoria's counterpart and I have to admit, for some reason, downtown Suzhou reminded me of a Chinese version of downtown Sidney, BC.

 When I mentioned my plan to Francis, he immediately volunteered to take me in Big Shiny Blue. We left on Sunday morning, coffees in hand, for the two hour drive to Suzhou. Here are some pictures from the excursion:

Humble Administrator’s Garden:

Francis and I had a good laugh over the name, which is a direct translation from the Chinese. I felt it sounded too communist, which got a big laugh out of Francis. He thought the name sounded awkward.

A few facts about the garden:

It was created in 1509 during the Ming Dynasty.

It was created by a government worker named Wang Xianchen, who after retiring wanted to hone his gardening skills, which was said to be the work of a humble man, hence the name. The garden was created upon the old relics of a resident and a temple, and is representative of the Ming Dynasty architectural garden style.

I'm a sucker for Hardware of the Silkroad. I suspect these are fish.

Love the stained glass. This is off the Mandarin Pond, and in the water on the far left is the Mandarin Duck's little home.

I love mosaics. Left: Five bats surrounding the long life character, middle: a bat, Right: two cranes. A crane is a symbol for longevity because of it's incredibly long life span.

Water and bridges are an important part of Chinese gardens. Sometimes, the bridges are crooked because the Chinese believe evil spirits cannot turn corners and only walk in straight lines.

Garden of the Master of the Nets

Another bizarre name. This garden is a mini garden, only one tenth of the size of the Humble Administrators’ Garden, but supposed to be the best example of everything about Chinese gardens in one. This garden has been replicated both in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of New York and the Pompidou Center in Paris.

I have a bat fetish in Chinese art, I admit it.  Can you see the bats? The reflection you see doesn't belong to me.

Crazy Calm Reflections. This is the part of the garden that was recreated in New York and Paris.

Windows into the next garden. None were the same.

Bamboo reflections. I loooove details.

More bats, more details and a reflection of friends.

Cold Mountain Temple

This was on the outskirts of Suzhou to the west. The temple was first built in the Liang Dynasty (502-557). There is a famous poem written by Zhang Ji, a Tang poet that went like this:

Moon sets, crows cry and frost fills all the sky;

By maples and boat lights, I sleepless lie.

Outside Suzhou Hanshan Temple is in sight;

Its ringing bells reach my boat at midnight.

There is a neat story about the temple that is circulated around by the residents of Suzhou.

After a heavy rainfall, an ancient bell was found bobbing around in the river next to the temple. When it hit the rocks in the river it would make a beautiful sound. Two brother monks, Han Shan and Shi De went out to the bank and tried to haul the bell up the bank to the temple. But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t get it up out of the water. Shi De out of exasperation jumped into the bell and punted himself away from the river bank, using the bell as a boat. It carried him away from his brother to a far off land. The natives of the new land welcomed him and Shi De planted the bamboo pole to create a lush bamboo forest. He continued his Buddhist practices in his new home, and rang the bell everyday.

Meanwhile Han Shan missed his brother very much. Eventually he heard the sound of the bell coming across the waters and assumed it was his brother. So he had another bell cast and rang it to let his brother know how much he missed him. According to the legend, the place Shi De settled was Japan.

When we arrived, the sun was going down. We wandered around quickly and admired the architecture among the pine trees. I love Chinese Pine trees. They remind me of Beijing. We got to listen to the monks chanting and watch incense and candles burning. When the sun went down, it was time to go home.

More holy burnin' incense.

It was a really fun afternoon, with great weather, great experiences and best of all, great company.

Thanks again, Francis!!!

Melanie