Any article on either Suzhou or Hangzhou would probably start with an old Chinese saying that goes something like: If heaven has paradise, China has Hangzhou and Suzhou. The place is said to be that drop dead gorgeous. Although frequently mentioned in tandem, the two actually belong to different provinces but both easily accessible from Shanghai. For some reason, Suzhou won in terms of personal preference. I began to question that choice when I finally arrived.
If I am not mistaken, Hangzhou owes its fame to its canals; and
Suzhou, for its gardens. Gardens. I love parks and anything that has greenery
in it, but my short attention span begins to wane after seeing two or more.
Sure, bonding with mother nature is awesome, most of the time, but after a few hours
they start becoming all the same to me. So yeah, that is my lousy excuse for my
laziness in Suzhou, not to mention winter.
Oh, yes. Winter. I was supposed to spend two whole days in Suzhou,
but the first day came to nothing because I was caught unaware by winter in
Shanghai and indulged in sleep, leaving after lunch, and arriving at around
4:30 PM at Suzhou, half an hour before most of the garden attractions call it a
day. One day wasted. Let us proceed to day two.
I admit. I was not really that excited to visit Suzhou. The truth
is, this trip was supposed to be a Manchurian winter getaway, and Suzhou is
nowhere near Manchuria, but somehow I booked landing tickets in Shanghai
instead of Beijing, so i thought I would take advantage of that. Even so, I
have decided that I would only visit one garden. That would be more than enough
for me. And that is what I did, and rewarded myself with a pagoda trip
afterwards.
What welcomed me in Suzhou was the site of heavy construction, at
least when I got to the city's main artery at Renmin Road, a name which you
would easily find in any corner in China. Winter in Suzhou is like Shanghai's.
Muggy. I felt like I was going to die of pneumonia any moment, and that even
under the half a dozen layers I enveloped myself with. Anyway, the construction
is for the second line of Suzhou's metro line along Renmin road. The existing
one cuts Renmin in the middle, sort of. I forgot the name of that street, but I
think it is where most of the happenings are. I never found out because I no
longer bothered to visit.
Sleeping early on my first day for lack of better things to do did
not help. I still woke up late the next day, just in time for check out. My
mantra for this trip has been the same all throughout: sleep until checkout,
this is an effin' vacation. I was overworked the weeks prior to this so I
figured I would just cut myself some slack. After checking out, I left my stuff
for later retrieval and set out for five hours of adventure before all the
attractions close down for the day. I decided against renting a bike, which was
cheap at 15 yuan for half a day, because I doubted my legs could function well
on the pedal while they are busy freezing to death. I knew I should have bought
leg warmers!
The first stop was supposed to be the northern pagoda because it is
just along Renmin road, but I decided to go to the Humble Administrator's
Garden first because it is bigger in land area and just a few blocks away from
Renmin road. But before that, lunch break! I found a cheap fast food type
eatery serving local dishes. It was cheap, and with servings of rice, was a
good breath of fresh air from all the KFC fries I have been consuming in the
last 48 hours. The walking tour commenced after that.
The pedestrian street leading to the garden has loads of tourists in
it, mostly domestic from different parts of the country. Bikes and motorcycles
also spring out of nowhere pretty much unannounced like in the rest of the
city. Take caution. You will pass by a museum and a canal before reaching the
garden. If you want a cheap boat ride, there are many touts hawking their
services, although I see nothing special about te said activity. If you want a
picturesque canal boat ride, Suzhou has one or two special districts for that,
better do it there. Back to the garden, the entrance fee is usually 70 yuan,
but drops to 50 during off-peak season, which includes most of winter.
Let me tell you, though, that there are probably a dozen other
gardens in Suzhou, lest you forget that they are what it is popular for. Among
all of them, the Humble Administrator's is said to be the biggest and the one
that levies the most expensive admission fee. However, once you enter its
premises, you would find out that the fee is not unjustified, as that place is
simply awesome, and no, you will never run out of spots to unleash your inner
camwhore at, if that is what you came here for.
And so, what do you find inside? Artificial lakes and streams, plenty of pavilions, and a truckload of camwhoring
tourists. Thinking about it after the tour, the administrator does not appear
to be humble at all, building an extavagant garden like this one. You have got
to be kidding me. It is said that such places were built for scholars so they
would have a place for themselves that is conducive for reflecting about
whatever they wanted to reflect about in life. Well, congratulations, scholars!
I bet they were able to reflect oh so well given how peaceful the place should
have been back then when camwhoring tourists were still an out of this world
concept.
Wow, I have not really described the place in
detail, huh. Who the hell do you think am I? Pigafetta? Just click on the
photos to enlarge them. They pretty much speak for themselves. All I could say
is that the many pavilions and bodies of water inside were able to hild my
attention for a while, but I only stayed for a little over an hour, which would
be all the time you would really need if you just want to walk around and not
truly explore or take time to take everything in. Again, there are many gardens
across the city if you want other options that are cheaper and smaller, but
since you are already here, might as well visit the north pagoda as well.
I do not even know of it is really called as
such but that is what was stated on my map. This is not The pagoda here in
Suzhou. I think that distinction belongs to Tiger Hill, but since I was already
out of time and I really could not find that one on my map, I settled for this
one, which was not that bad after all. The view from the top is breath-taking,
either because of the terrific aerial view of the city or because of your
acrophobia. Mine leaned more towards the latter. The entrance fee is 25 yuan.
This is a Buddhist pagoda, made obvious by the Buddha statue
guarding its front entrance and the base of the structure itself. You could ice
skate for free at the patio without the need for special boots care of the icy
floor. At your own risk, of course. The climb is exhausting but as already
mentioned a gazillion times, the view up there is worth it.
There are more garden hopping to do in Suzhou, but as I said, one
was more than enough for me. If you are a nature lover or a horticulturist, you
might fall in love with this place. Otherwise, just visit a garden and a pagoda
and be on your way to your next destination. A word worth noting before I end
this, Suzhou is a haven for bikers. They even have those bike/motorcycle
hybrids here that look like malnourished motorbikes. Most people would even
suggest that you start here if you are to embark on a biking tour of the
country. That said, beware of bikes, because in Suzhou, there really is no such
thing as a pedestrian walkway.
SUZHOU: 02 - One Garden Too Many
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