10/19/07-Hangzhou/Suzhou (Garden of the Fishing Net Master, Grand Canal )

After breakfast, we traveled 3 hours by bus to Suzhou (6.5 million people). Suzhou is the sister city of Portland, Oregon and is renown for its canal system, bridges, and gardens. It is known as the Venice of China. Our local guide, Yvonne, spoke English fluently and was very informative. After lunch, we visited the Garden of the Fishing Net Master, one of the three famous gardens in Suzhou. Here we had a very pleasant tour of the home of one of the past city administrators and walked through the house and beautiful garden. Then, we bussed to a dock area on the Grand Canal and took a 1 hour cruise through a part of the canal system. It's quite extensive and has numerous bridges. At one point we noticed a person washing clothes at the canal bank.

As we had some free time before dinner, some of us went out to explore the area near the hotel and immediately came across a local market.that ran for about 5 blocks. This market specialized in fresh produce and meats. There were some meat parts and vegetables that we had never seen before. The locals were very pleased when we stopped to admire their children. The whole experience was fun. After dinner, we again hit the street, passing the market and eventually buying some snacks and ice cream cones at local stores. Then, by 9 PM we were back at the hotel.

To see pictures from this day click Hangzhou/Suzhou.