Our first stop was the Master of the Nets Garden. It was the smallest Garden in the Suzhou – but the oldest at 800 years! It didn’t seem small in there, each garden piece flowed onto the next in what was almost like a maze. Each section had the four elements – rock, corridor, pavilion and water. They each had unique windows or arches through which you glimpsed aspects of another section. Just stunning!
The silk factory was another great stop! It was fascinating to see the process of silk being taken from the cocoon, to thread, to fabric. Each 5m of silk fabric takes a full day to weave! No wonder it is expensive!!
Lunch was also at the factory and I gave in and had a Shandy – the wine options are non existent! It was surprisingly nice!
On to Tiger Hill! This is the place of the tomb which is said to be guarded by three white tigers. At the very top is a leaning pagoda that was built in 960 AD. It was made from brink and wood – but not with very good foundations!
There were 53 steps leading up to the temple as he had 53 disciples. The stairs then continued up to the tower and then down the other side.
There were crowds of people there due to the 8 day holiday for the moon festival. There were performances and celebrations all over the hill.
From there we were taken to a master silk embroidery place. It was just amazing. Only 5 masters exist and 3 of them worked for this place! The embroidery was exquisite and very detailed. Some of them were double sided, with different colours and sometimes even designs on each side of a single piece of fabric!!
The drive back to Shanghai was long and hairy! Many people were returning from holidays so the roads were even busier, bumper-to –bumper. AS our guide Amy put it – there are no road rules in Shanghai, only road suggestions! The toll gates were incredible! – at one I counted 13 lanes on our side of the road – traffic was going everywhere. But not only that – there are cars parked on the highway, people walking up and down and vendors flogging all sorts of things. Sheer chaos!
After dinner at the Rainbow Hotel we were lucky enough to see two Chinese weddings! At the second one we caused much excitement as we peaked in. The groom was from Melbourne!! He and his new wife were moving back there after the wedding. Some of us ended up in the official wedding photos (in our daggy travelling clothes!) and received little gifts (picnic bars wrapped in pink tulle!).
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