Suzhou & Zhu jia jiao

Ok, so the names of these places are quite a mouthful.. But, wait til you see the pictures - it'll be worth it!

My dad insisted that we take a day trip out of Shanghai and visit Suzhou, a provinceabout 80km west of Shanghai, which was famous for its amazing sights and beautiful girls, and Zhu jia jiao, one of the lovely water villages near the Yangtze River (incidentally, the longest river in China and the 3rd longest in the world!), which are collectively known as 'Venice of the East'. (FYI, there is a famous Chinese proverb and it goes: 'There is paradise in heaven and Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth'. Cool, huh?)

The most famous place in Suzhou, was 'Tiger Hill', a beautiful (and huge) hillock which is renowned for its picturesque surroundings and some famous historical sites including the Tiger Hill Pagoda (known as the Leaning Tower of China), the tomb of King He Lu and many more. It is so famous that a prominent Song Dynasty poet, 'Su Tong Po' once said, "It is a lifelong pity if having visited Suzhou, you did not visit Tiger Hill".

So here we are, Tiger Hill!

Such beautiful surroundings.. an epitome of peace and tranquility..

It all looks so beautiful, doesn't it?

They say that Suzhou girls are the most beautiful in all of China.. whaddaya think? ;)

Did you know that the 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' movie was filmed here? Haha, just joking.. it sure looks like it though..

I love these interesting funny-shaped stones

The Leaning Tower of China.. it really is leaning!



This is one of the roads in Suzhou.. looks like it was plucked straight out of a movie, huh?

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The second place we visited in Suzhou was the 'Lingering Garden', a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is characteristic of the classical gardens in the south and is one of the 4 most famous gardens in China (one of which is the Summer Palace, Beijing!). It covers an area of about 23,000 square meters and is 'renowned for the artistic way in which the spaces between various kinds of architectural forms are dealt with'. (Quoted from Travelchinaguide.com)

This is my favourite picture in Suzhou! (and yes, I've said it before, I love stones!)

Think these are all man-made.. impressive, huh?

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As I said above, we visited Zhu jia jiao, a very quaint and unique water village by the Yangtze River, and it was indeed very beautiful. Sorry I can't give you a more detailed history about the place, but again, I blame it on the lack of a proper tour guide.. :P Feast your eyes on pretty pics instead!

Aren't those little boats so cute?



More boats!





On one of the very famous bridges in the village





Look at all the cute little shops.. they were very cheap!

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So ends my journey in China. It was truly a memorable trip and I really did enjoy and learn a lot more about my own ancestral culture. :) My next and final stop: Hong Kong!!!