Leaving our hotel in Suzhou, we're going to do some more visiting in the city before we leave for Shanghai late in the afternoon. Shanghai is the largest city in China.......
But first, after breakfast at our hotel in Suzhou, we visit the Liu Gardens, a silk workshop where caterpillars weave their silk cocoons, move to Shanghai, and take a boat cruise around the city's harbour. But first, the Liu Gardens.
Liu Gardens
Occupying 6 acres, the Liu or Lingering Garden is located outside Changmen Gate in Suzhou. Originally a private garden, it is one of the four most famous gardens in China, being well-known for the beauty of its magnificent halls, and the various sizes, shapes, and colors of the buildings. In 1997, it was declared a world heritage site.
The garden was first built in 1593 during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) by a retired official named Xu Tai. During the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), it was bought by Liu Shu. As a calligraphy lover, he carved masterpieces on both sides of the corridors of the buildings. He had also collected unusually-shaped stones for the garden. Succeeding owners followed his model when doing restoration work. Destroyed and rebuilt many times over its life and almost demolished in the 1930s, the garden was repaired under government sponsorship and opened to the public in 1954.
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| Liu or Lingering Garden |
Like other famous gardens in Suzhou, the Lingering Garden seeks to create stunning natural landscapes within a limited space. It includes residences, ancestral temples and private gardens. Buildings, trees, and flowers blend harmoniously with their surroundings.
The garden can generally be divided into four parts - the central, eastern, western and northern parts according to the style of the buildings - with the central part being the focal point of the whole complex. The central part was the original Lingering Garden while the other three were added during the Qing Dynasty. After going through winding corridors from the gate, we arrive at the central part. The central part is divided in two - the western half and the eastern half. The eastern half features pools and hills while classical buildings dominate the western half.
In the eastern part, we find the Celestial Hall of Five Peaks, the largest hall in the garden. Built from a large rockery of stacked stones and soil during the Ming Dynasty, the western part is enchanting for its natural scenery. Maples cover the hill. The northern part used to be a vegetable garden, but now is used to exhibit potted plants of which the citizens of Suzhou are quite proud.
These four parts are connected by a 700-meter long (0.4 miles) corridor with calligraphy carved on the stone walls
The Silk Workshop
At the Silk workshop we'll see the traditional technique of producing silk. Suzhou is the silk capital of China. During the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties, it was the silk producing centre of China. In the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties most of the high-grade silk produced for the royal families was made by silk weavers here. With the advent of the railways in North America, silk trains sped across the continent from the Pacific coast to New York City with their valuable cargoes of silk for the New York fashion trade. The Suzhou Silk Museum is located in this famous city, which people call 'Paradise on Earth'.
Late afternoon we arrive in Shanghai –the biggest city in China.
We take a cruise on the Huangpu River to take in the sights of the city. We'll describe Shanghai in our next post.
Our Hotel - Shanghai Hongqiao Grand Mercure Hotel
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Grand Mercure Shanghai Hongqiao |
Tomorrow we take a closer look at Shanghai, the Shanghai Museum of Art, Nanjing Road and see a performance put on by some acrobats.
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