Suzhou is located in the southern part of Jiangsu Province- same province I will be living in this year。Since ancient times, the city has been referred to as "Land of Abundant Landscapes" and the "World of Gardens" and it is easy to see why. I visited 2 of the famous four gardens and even in winter without the flowers they are exquisite. The Humble Administrators Garden is known as the "number one" of the four and dates back to the Tang Dynasty. It is huge, covering an area of 52,000 square metres, one third of which is covered in water. The pavilions, halls and rockeries are all constructed around the pond. The Master of the Nets Garden is much smaller but is typical of a Suzhou private garden and was inspired by the simple and solitary life of a fisherman – hence the name. Being more compact every hall has a door or walkway leading to the garden. The buildings hide amongst the trees and rockeries so there is a different view every time you turn around….wish my garden looked like this!!

No visit to Suzhou would be complete without a visit to the silk factory…..and as everyone who knows me, knows how much I LOVE silk, I was more than happy to oblige. You will all be very proud of me as I was very constrained in my shopping (probably because my suitcase is already 3 kgs overweight!!) and bearing in mind I still have Shanghai and Beijing to go yet!!

And of course a visit to the “Venice of the East” had to involve a canal cruise. It's a nice contrast to the city living and many of the bridges are reminiscent of those in Venice. Just no gondolas or singing gondoliers!!!

The last place I visited was Tiger Hill. Legend has it that it was so named because a white tiger used to come and guard the hill following the burial of King Helu thousands of years ago. Atop the hill is a leaning pagoda, similar to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, although the lean is not quite so obvious. My guide tells me the Tiger Hill Pagoda is an octahedron, 7 stories tall and has a lean of 4 degrees!! There are also many cultural relics in Tiger Hill which I found fascinating such as the 1000 workmen stone – legend says that all the workmen who built the tomb were killed by King Helu’s son and in the wet the stone is red with their blood. On one rock there are 4 Chinese characters written by the famous Chinese calligrapher Yan Zhenqing in the Tang Dynasty that say “Sword Lake, Tiger Hill”. Sword Lake is also interesting; not because it is shaped like a sword but it also has a story behind it…it is believed that there are over 3000 swords buried behind a wall under the pool of water, however if anyone tries to remove the bricks from the wall the leaning pagoda will fall over….so no-one is sure if the pagoda guards the swords or the swords guard the pagoda.

I love all the stories behind so many of the Chinese cultural sights. Some are true history, some are mere legends but all make for such an interesting insight into China. Everything is placed with meaning and the perfectionist in me simply loves the symmetry of so many cultural areas. If you look at some of the photos in the garden pavilions you can see the perfect symmetry…….music to my heart. I’m feeling very lucky that I will be living in this province as I will certainly be making a trip or 2, or 3 down here to Suzhou in the different seasons to see the beautiful gardens in all their glory!!!