No Bruises

Hello Family and Friends,

Some more facts about Suzhou City. We were told that the city has more than 200 gardens, many of which are preserved perfectly. The one we visited, which is similar to other gardens, is ingenious man-made landscape. We were told that it is the ideal of harmony between heaven and human beings. The gardens in Suzhou are said to be the best in China and perhaps in the the world.

The tour guide explained many symbolic strutures such as a gateway, which if we walked though, we were told that we would be given an increase in salary. If you think that sounds intreging, there was also the money tree. If you took picuture next to the money tree, he said good fortune and money will follow. So obviously it was a garden of wealth. Inside some of the home structures were royal chairs that had a similar appearances to those at the Shanghai Musuem. The window glass consisted of diamonds shaped blue glass. It was gorgeous. Then there was a beautiful tree dangling its brances and leaves like an umbrella. Underneath, in a cirlce lay smooth rock, which were meant to massage the feet. A few of us took our shoes and socks off and scretched. What can I say, it's rocks. It's not the softest thing in the world. But it felt great after a few seconds.

Overall, the garden is presitine. It is hard to believe that everything was walked on and glanced at was the work of man 2,000 years ago. To think about the vision these people must have had, and the man-power to create it, I find enthralling.

Then we were taken to a silk factory and given a description about the life of a moth. We were shown how the threads were made wth eight coccons at a time. And of course, we were taken to their eye catching linens store, where you could buy quilts, sheets, pillows, table clothes, etc. After everyone made their purchases, we were taken to modeling runway. I initially thought of you, Alana and yours fashion shows. Here were given a display of fashionable silk attire wore by relatively beautifully tall Chinese women. We were then shown the next store. This, though, was all clothing. And yes, I bought a black tiger silk shirt. This, however, was not cheap in China. Yet, really liked it and thought it was worth it. Check out the picuture under silk factory of me wearing it next to Alica and James.

The day didn't end there. We then left for Hangzhou; another two-hour drive from Suzhou. When we arrived, we had dinner at another beautiful resturuant and then went to the international hotel. What an eventful day!

Well, here is another eventful day.

The next morning, Sunday, at hotel's complementry breakfast, I meet the travel agent. She spoke little English, which made an interesting and useful dialogue. When we arrived back on the bus, I decided to sit in the backseat. I had been sitting next to Philip and the other students. Most of who didn't know squat about Mandarin. In the backsit of the bus was Chinese man, and I thought, "I am in China, I didn't come here to speak English!" So I sat next to him. He didn't spoke hardly any English. It was great. I learned that he was a teacher for the Shanghai Business School. One of the classes he teaches is about the Chinese cultural. Together, I would practice my classwork with him from textbook. We read the dialogues and worked on my pronunciation. He was a great asset. He said to me, in Chinese, if you want to learn the language, you need to be in China at least 2 months and stay with a family. Three weeks is not enough time! I conqured. In two years, after I recieve my undergraduate degree, that summer I want to return. I will see what happens.

We were only on the bus for about ten minutes when we arrived at Westlake in Hangzhou. It is all natural lake, mountain feed, but it is only 2 meters deep. (I could walk across it, with my head tilted :) We took a shuttle that held about 50 people. In terms of the weather, that morning, it was pouring rain. Nothing compared to the trentual rains my first week. But it was wet. We all had umbrellas. If hadn't rained, we were told the temperature could reach the teens in the hundred degree level. I think in that case were fortunate. Out on the water, the view was breathtakig. It was absolutely gorgeous. Surrounding the Westlake was rolling hillsides a thousand or two thousand feet tall. But what made even more beautiful was the fog that slithered across the peaks. It was like I was looking at a Chinese drawing of a mountain range. I felt I had escaped the real world for a moment in time.

Then we headed to a Lingying Temple, a Buddhist Temple. This temple is said to be traced back over 2,000 years ago between 317 B.C and 420 AD. If you would like to read more about it, I have provided a website for you to visit http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/zhejiang/hangzhou/lingyin.htm

I will quickly say that there were many buddhist carvings in the limestone rocks. A faculty member and one of my teachers, Leslie could point me out to the different Buddas and what the purposes was. Inside one of these enormous temples were four huge gatekeepers into heaven. I felt like Jack and the giant bean stock. It was a great cultural learning experience.

Here again, I have to go. Dinner time.

In future posts, I will not be explaining the next week and half in this great of detail, but the main highlights.

Enjoy,

Kevin