Our last day and we were taken to Suzhou, a city about an hour west of Shanghai known for its canals, bridges and classical gardens. The Humble Administrator’s Garden, dating to 1513, contains zigzag bridges over connected pools and islands. The Lingering Garden features ornate viewing pavilions and the Crown of Clouds Peak, a striking limestone rockery. The guide rushed us a little so we probably didn't absorb all of it.
We then went to Tongli, know as the "Venice of the East" It is one of the six famous ancient towns to the south of the Yangtze River. We loved this ancient town. The beautiful Tuisi Gardens and the little lanes. Once again we were rushed but said we wanted time on our own to explore. We took a boat along the canal where we had a Venetian style recital from the boat owner, The guide was determined to take us to her "special" restaurant where we were expected to have a menu that she chose and she ate! We refused this as we were meeting up with friends in the evening.
We passed a couple that had just married the woman dressed in her finery. We passed a boiled egg shop! Eventually we got back to the fascinating artists shop where we spent sometime. We saw a variety of paintings (with ink) and just could not resist buying one oursleves. It measured about 3ft x2ft and cost £10. Could have had it framed for another few pounds but we decided to have it rolled up for easy transportation. We cherish this painting which is now proudly hanging in our lounge. It cost £100 to frame it!!!
Lovely last day.
2025-02-16