Suzhou: This time with Gardens!

Yes, yes. We did actually make it to a few gardens.

Yi Yuan
The first was very quiet and one of the most relaxing. There were a
few other people there, mostly playing cards or actually sleeping,
like the guy in the second photo. Mike and I found a nice table and
sat down and read for about an hour. It was really nice to be in the
city but have this peaceful setting to relax in. This garden also had
the great feature of being very close to our hotel. Always a nice
bonus.

Beisi Ta
A giant pagoda that was apparently a favorite of Marco Polo. At one
time it was 11 stories, but now it just has 9. Although we
contemplated climbing to the top, Mike and I were scared off by the
crowds and quickly scurried to the the silk museum, like hungry grubs
in search of a mulberry leaf.

Silk Museum
The best part about the whole museum was the live silkworms! You
could hear them munching away noisily at the mulberry leaves. There
is a very odd, creepy mannequin holding the silkworm basket. She
tricks you into thinking that they aren't alive. Then when you lean
in really close you can see that they are moving and hear them eating!
It is pretty amazing. There were also several incredible looms and
some women using one. The museum sells the silk pieces that they
make, but they were a bit out of our price range.

Ou Yuan (The Couples' Garden)
The second garden was larger and very beautiful. Unfortunately we
picked the first day of October, the beginning of a mega-holiday for
China, and were inundated with noisy tour groups and guides noisily
lecturing through their megaphones! We snuck off to the far corner of
the garden, relatively quiet after the rest, to sit and relax.

Ann