Comments | liralen: Suzhou, the Humble Administrator's Garden, and the Last Dinner in Shanghai

liralen

Suzhou, the Humble Administrator's Garden, and the Last Dinner in Shanghai - June 1, 2013

Sep 26, 2013 14:08

Suzhou is just West of and a little north of Shanghai, and it's on the Grand Canal, an enormous canal that was built all the way from Beijing, and was used by an emperor or another to do the Grand Inspection, a euphemism for Tax Collection. It's beautiful, though thinking about the fact that it was all dug by hand with what was essentially slave ( Read more... )

food, china, travel

Comments 6

flemmings September 26 2013, 22:43:54 UTC

What a gorgeous garden that is-- utterly dream-like.

liralen September 26 2013, 23:56:37 UTC

Mmm.... yes... and so many facets polished so brightly. I could have spent days there.

incandescens September 27 2013, 02:40:31 UTC

That is a gorgeous garden. I mean, the rest of the trip is fantastic too, but a garden like that... especially gorgeous.

(Makes a note for dragon kings.)

liralen September 27 2013, 03:46:58 UTC

Yes, the garden was amazing.... and yes, most befitting a Dragon King of Order... it was fascinating to see one section of the garden where every flower was in its own pot, so that when the flower faded, the pot could be removed and a new, fresh flowering plant could be put in its place. And none of the pots were larger than three inches in diameter.

Or that 550 year old maple, carefully trimmed of branch and root to keep its shape and size to fit exactly where it was supposed to. Nature made to look natural is a very bemusing thing.

elfkura September 27 2013, 17:05:55 UTC

Oh, the memories... =)

Thanks for sharing =). It's been a few years since I've been. Wondered how much has changed since historical parts like that tend to be under maintenance here and there - refreshing paint, rebuilding parts that have been weathered, etc.

If you haven't been, the Grand Buddha at Ling Shan is spectacular. My family and I went with my parents' friends and their families in Spring 2008. I had a wonderful time. It's gorgeous up there. I may have some pictures stashed away somewhere.

Happy Fall =).

liralen September 30 2013, 03:52:30 UTC

Hope you're having a good Fall, too!

Neat that you got there, too! Cool to know about the Grand Buddha! Probably another trip sometime.... glad you had a good one!