Several colleagues of mine are visiting this month from the U.S. and Brazil. Kevin from the U.S. is spending two weeks here and four Brazilians are spending three weeks each in Suzhou, all to participate and assist in our pilot motor grader production. On Sunday, Kevin, Marco, Maria, and I headed to downtown Suzhou for some garden hopping, sightseeing, and bargain hunting.
Kevin has been been to Suzhou six times now since 2007 and finally got a chance to visit the finest garden in southern China, the Humble Administrator's Garden. It was first built during the Tang Dynasty (600-900 AD) and became the private residence of Wang Xianchen during the early 1500s. The garden consists of a large lake, 48 buildings, many connected islands, 21 ancient trees, and over 800 penjing (Chinese bonzai trees). The garden was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
From the garden, we walked down "Bird & Flower Street" and enjoyed seeing the flowers, fish, fruit, and furniture shops. Marco and Maria were encouraged to keep walking by the promise of an ice cream when we reached McDonald's on Guan Qian Jie or Walking Street.
Kevin had committed to his wife to bring back pearls and designer handbags. He already had bought several strings of pearls early last week, so we were on the hunt for a knock-off Gucci or two. We were approached by a "friend" who was promoting a sidestreet watch and handbag shop by reeling in foreigners like ourselves. We followed him into a second floor showroom and found two wallets and a purse that fit Kevin's wife's descriptions. We bargained as hard as two men buying purses can and were given the feedback by Kathleen that we were "not screwed too badly".
I have posted the full collection of pictures at snapfish.com.
Kevin has been been to Suzhou six times now since 2007 and finally got a chance to visit the finest garden in southern China, the Humble Administrator's Garden. It was first built during the Tang Dynasty (600-900 AD) and became the private residence of Wang Xianchen during the early 1500s. The garden consists of a large lake, 48 buildings, many connected islands, 21 ancient trees, and over 800 penjing (Chinese bonzai trees). The garden was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
From the garden, we walked down "Bird & Flower Street" and enjoyed seeing the flowers, fish, fruit, and furniture shops. Marco and Maria were encouraged to keep walking by the promise of an ice cream when we reached McDonald's on Guan Qian Jie or Walking Street.
Kevin had committed to his wife to bring back pearls and designer handbags. He already had bought several strings of pearls early last week, so we were on the hunt for a knock-off Gucci or two. We were approached by a "friend" who was promoting a sidestreet watch and handbag shop by reeling in foreigners like ourselves. We followed him into a second floor showroom and found two wallets and a purse that fit Kevin's wife's descriptions. We bargained as hard as two men buying purses can and were given the feedback by Kathleen that we were "not screwed too badly".
I have posted the full collection of pictures at snapfish.com.
1 comment:
Dear Tony,
I have been following your blog for some time now from Germany. I came across it, when I entered "Golden Lough" in google. We will be moving to Suzhou, Golden Lough in May, and it has been really nice to get to know a bit about the neighbourhood via your blog.
I now have some specific questions regarding living in Golden Lough,so maybe you could contact me via e-mail? (katrin.tuffe@yahoo.com)
Thanks a lot
Katrin and Familiy
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