Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuzheng, China

On April 28, 2012 we enjoyed another weekend trip with the Kennedy Teachers in Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Wuzheng, China. Hangzhou is a beautiful city in Zhejiang Povince in eastern China. We visited the Hupao Spring Park and the Old Town area. It was a perfect day to take a boat trip to the famous West Lake. Suzhou is the home of canals and classic Chinese style gardens and is sometimes referred to the “Venice of the East”. The Lingering Gardens in Suzhou were amazing. In the 10th century the largest traditional garden was built in Suzhou. The “Humble Administrator's Garden” was built by a very wealthy man. It took 16 years to build and the man died before it was finished. His son inherited this beautiful garden only to loose it one night while gambling. Tiger Hill is said to be Suzhou's finest park as it contains a remarkable learning pagoda built out of brick, seven stories high and dating from 961 AD. Our boat tour of Suzhou in the Grand Canals really gave us a feel for ancient China,

Every good tour starts with food.  These ladies entertained
 us while we enjoyed a Chinese snack.

This dessert is a little sweet red bean soupy
 stuff....a favorite of the Chinese

Our tour guide - Marvin Yu  -  He makes our trips fun with 
his insightful information and wise jokes.  We 
celebrated his birthday - just a young guy  that
 has done very well for himself, his wife and daughter.

This little cutie is Mia, the 12 year old granddaughter 
of the Butler's from Utah.

This is where my camera started giving me trouble.

The tour boat down the canal

Ancient bridges from the Ming Dynasties. You can tell
 the dynasties by the style of the roof.  So peaceful and
 beautiful...the water was very polluted.

This was the crew chief...a very ancient way to paddle the boat

We actually had to wear these orange life jackets
...must have been the city ordinance!

What dynasty is this pagoda from?

These ladies were perform a little Chinese opera along the canal

People had their wash hanging out this Saturday afternoon.

It is a city ordinance that the outside of the houses 
cannot be hanged but they change the inside.  Looks 
like some occupants have solar panels on their roofs.

A little restaurant along the way and you could pull 
over and have lunch.

A busy town along the canal

This looked like ancient China

You have to love these signs.  Wonder why they put them 
in English...The town area was wall to wall people.

Shannon Butler with her daughter's Tiffany, Tara and Mia

The kitchen that cooked our lunch for 29 people!!

Many, many people came visit the leaning Pagoda.

A different canal..beautiful trees and ancient boats

The legend goes that the Emperor tested his sword by splitting
 rocks here.  Nice and sharp for splitting heads!

The Thousand People Rock - legend has it that 1000 people 
stood on this rock.  The cute kids are having fun 
on this family day in the gardens.

The leaning Pagoda.  It is suppose to fall in 100 years.
It happens to be 1000  years old but is built on sand and
 no way to rectify the problem but probably someone 
will come up with a solution before  100 years.

Those crazy Butler kids leaning like the Pagoda!  
Tiffany and Brandon

Look at all of the detail...brick 1000+ years ago

Did they mean ME or the garden?

The garden were beautiful but my camera
 stopped focusing for distance

The Ancient Pagoda

A tin punch door..right along the canal

Inside someone's home

This was the gate of a very wealthy home.

These ladies were doing their wash in the water from the canal

This is their source of water

Love these Chinese arch ways...

Dock your boat and you are home...

Thekitchen of this humble home.

A  little repair work is needed but the tarp works??

Looks like the water level in the canal is a bit low. 
You can see clothes hanging in the house.

There is no place like home.

This lady is washing her pot to prepare dinner

We had to pull over for a boat to pass

Decorations along the canal and the ole town

Our canal tour lasted an hour and went on for miles

A cool bridge and our little boat fit just right...

This wall doesn't look so hard to build

A funny sign - that means not to park your boat!

Laundry day or maybe they are for sale.  It is against
 the law to sell used clothing in China.

A front or back porch .a dog was in the cage.  
Was that a pet or for eating?

We gave this sweet man a little money that he was begging for

Look at his coat...Waste not want not!

A silk factory.  The lady is grading the cocoons from the 
silk worms.  Notice the silk in her hand.

My traveling companion

Homes where people live their entire lives.

You have to love these signs