Monday, October 23, 2006

Observations Regarding Suzhou

We did a little bit more research about Suzhou this morning. Found out why it’s called the Garden City. Hint: it’s not because of the Tiger Pagoda. Here’s what the UNESCO World Heritage Center has to say about it:

“Classical Chinese garden design, which seeks to recreate natural landscapes in miniature, is nowhere better illustrated than in the nine gardens in the historic city of Suzhou. They are generally acknowledged to be masterpieces of the genre. Dating from the 11th-19th century, the gardens reflect the profound metaphysical importance of natural beauty in Chinese culture in their meticulous design.”

I guess we’ll see the gardens next time!

We are true believers in the UNESCO World Heritage Center, having immensely enjoyed our visits to Goslar and Lubeck, two locales in Germany that they have also recognized. You can read the diary of that trip (written in the pre-blog era) by clicking here.

Suzhou also got a good writeup on Wikipedia. It tells us that Marco Polo was indeed in Suzhou, and that he loved the place! According to the various quotes in the Wikipedia article, Hangzhou and Suzhou are two of the most desirable places in China, so we really did luck out on this trip.

This will be a short blog, since we have to start packing. Sue just spent some time looking out the window, watching a bunch of school kids doing their morning exercises 21 stories down below. Stay tuned. We’ll blog again once we get to our next Internet connection.

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